Senior Research Fellow in Advanced Photonics for Semiconductor Warpage Metrology (PhD-level) National Institute of Standards and Technology in United States

George Washington University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are advertising a Senior Research Fellow in Advanced Photonics focused on solving semiconductor warpage problems under the CHIPS Act initiative.

The project sits at the intersection of Physics, Materials Science, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science. The research aims to understand and control stress, curing dynamics, and viscoelastic behavior in polymeric binding materials used in heterogeneous integration and advanced microelectronics packaging.

The successful candidate will design and automate custom optical microscopy and spectroscopy systems, including Brillouin scattering, low-frequency Raman scattering, and fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM). The role emphasizes instrumentation engineering, polymer physics metrology, lab automation, and data analysis using Python.

This is a research fellow opening at the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States. The post explicitly seeks a Ph.D. physicist or materials scientist with strong experimental expertise in optical spectroscopy, imaging, and custom instrument development. Experience with FLIM in both time-domain and frequency-domain methods is highlighted, along with the ability to build automated acquisition and analysis pipelines.

Responsibilities include building high-resolution optical setups, measuring viscoelastic properties and cure kinetics of complex polymers and interfacial layers, coordinating collaborations, mentoring junior researchers, and publishing in high-impact journals.

No deadline, salary, or tuition funding details are provided in the post. Interested applicants should use the linked application page and prepare evidence of relevant Ph.D.-level research experience, spectroscopy expertise, and Python-based automation skills.