Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's (LBNL) Accelerator Tech-Applied Physics (ATAP) Division has an opening for a Physicist Postdoc to join the team.
In this exciting role, you will be working on developing ultrafast fiber laser technologies, nonlinear laser pulse compression, and their novel applications on laser-plasma accelerators (LPA). The BELLA Center at LBNL's ATAP Division seeks to develop high repetition rate, terawatt, ultrafast fiber laser technology, with the goal to drive multi-kHz, MeV-class LPAs.
The successful applicant will explore novel methods in the field, including coherent combination of laser pulses in temporal, spectral, and spatial domains, gain narrowing compensation, state-of-the-art high-power fiber amplification, nonlinear pulse compression, new LPA methods, and advanced digital control of laser and accelerator systems including machine learning. Combining these methods with numerical and analytic physics models, we have been running proof-of-principle demonstrations of energy-scalable technologies, moving toward increasingly energetic laser systems.
What You Will Do:
Design and perform experiments to investigate spectral combination of fiber chirped-pulse amplifiers (FCPA), as well as temporal stacking of amplified femtosecond pulses using cascaded optical interferometers.
Investigate pulse dynamics (including nonlinearity, gain narrowing and saturation, dispersion) in multi-stage, high-power FCPA systems, their interplay with coherent combination processes for amplified pulses, and methods to control and optimize them.
Characterize different kinds/designs of large-mode-area fiber amplifiers in temporal and spectral regimes, and use data to refine numerical models for system design and optimization.
Build and test optical systems (fiber and free-space) to spectrally broaden and temporally compress energetic ultrashort laser pulses to the few-cycle regime, by manipulating optical nonlinearity and dispersion.
Document and communicate the results of work in reports and oral presentations, including participation in meetings, reviews, conferences and publications in refereed journals.
Additional Responsibilities as needed:
Study and apply feedback control methods to stabilize temporal and spectral combination of amplified, ultrashort laser pulses. Explore advanced digital control concepts, including machine learning, for laser and accelerator systems.
Study and conduct low-energy (kHz, MeV) LPA experiments.
Build and perform experiments to investigate spatial beam combination schemes, comparing different stabilization algorithms and sensing methods.
What is Required:
PhD in Physics or Engineering, in the field of lasers, optics, or laser applications.
Experimental experience with at least one of the following: (1) coherently combined ultrafast fiber laser systems, their diagnostics and controls, (2) the design, characterization, operation of high-power FCPA lasers, (3) nonlinear ultrashort laser pulse compression.
Experience with simulations or modeling of ultrafast laser systems.
Ability to work closely in a team with other scientists, postdocs, graduate students and technicians.
Desired Qualifications:
Experimental experience with digital or/and analog feedback control of optical/physical systems.
Experience with programming and machine learning.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Notes:
This is a full-time 1 year postdoctoral appointment with the possibility of renewal based upon satisfactory job performance, continuing availability of funds and ongoing operational needs. You must have less than 4 years of paid postdoctoral experience. Salary for Postdoctoral positions depends on years of experience post-degree.
This position is represented by a union for collective bargaining purposes.
Salary will be predetermined based on postdoctoral step rates.
This position may be subject to a background check. Any convictions will be evaluated to determine if they directly relate to the responsibilities and requirements of the position. Having a conviction history will not automatically disqualify an applicant from being considered for employment.
Work will be primarily performed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA.
Berkeley Lab is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We heartily welcome applications from women, minorities, veterans, and all who would contribute to the Lab's mission of leading scientific discovery, inclusion, and professionalism. In support of our diverse global community, all qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.
In the world of science, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is synonymous with excellence. Thirteen scientists associated with Berkeley Lab have won the Nobel Prize. Fifty-seven Lab scientists are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. Thirteen of our scientists have won the National Medal of Science, our nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research. Eighteen of our engineers have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and three of our scientists have been elected into the Institute of Medicine. In addition, Berkeley Lab has trained thousands of university science and engineering students who are advancing technological innovations across the nation and around the world. Berkeley Lab is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the University of California (UC) and is charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Located on a 200-acre site in the hills above the UC Berkeley campus that offers spectacular... views of the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley Lab employs approximately 4,200 scientists, engineers, support staff and students. Its budget for 2011 is $735 million, with an additional $101 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, for a total of $836 million. A recent study estimates the Laboratory's overall economic impact through direct, indirect and induced spending on the nine counties that make up the San Francisco Bay Area to be nearly $700 million annually. The Lab was also responsible for creating 5,600 jobs locally and 12,000 nationally. The overall economic impact on the national economy is estimated at $1.6 billion a year. Technologies developed at Berkeley Lab have generated billions of dollars in revenues, and thousands of jobs. Savings as a result of Berkeley Lab developments in lighting and windows, and other energy-efficient technologies, have also been in the billions of dollars. Berkeley Lab was founded in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a UC Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that opened the door to high-energy physics. It was Lawrence's belief that scientific research is best done through teams of individuals with different fields of expertise, working together. His teamwork concept is a Berkeley Lab legacy that continues today.
