Available Postdoctoral Fellows research opportunities

Postdocs interested in submitting an application for a postdoctoral position must select from the following Research Opportunities and submit a statement of interest.

Synthetic Actinide Chemistry

• Mentor: Jaqueline L. Kiplinger, C-IIAC
• Research Opportunity Focus: Synthesis and characterization of thorium and uranium compounds and materials. Work will apply organometallic/inorganic synthesis, electronic structure theory, and a variety of characterization techniques (e.g., electrochemistry, NMR, electronic absorption, vibrational, and emission spectroscopies, X-ray crystallography, magnetometry, etc.) to study and manipulate the unusual chemistry performed by actinides. 
• Required Expertise: PhD in chemistry. Experimental background and strong publication record in main group, transition metal or f-element chemical synthesis. Strong communication and language skills.
• Keywords: Thorium, uranium, f-element, organometallic, inorganic, chemical synthesis

Computational Studies of Actinide Chemistry and Materials

• Mentor: Enrique R. Batista, T-CNLS
• Research Opportunity Focus: Study of the electronic structures, spectroscopic signatures, bonding interactions, and reactivity of actinide-containing molecules and solids using the first-principle methods. Development of new computational framework to address chemical complexity of large systems based on semi-empirical methods aiming to investigate their long-time scale dynamics and kinetics.
• Required Expertise: PhD in Computational Chemistry, Chemical Physics, or Molecular Physics
• Keywords: Actinide-containing molecules, spectroscopic signatures, materials science, dynamics, kinetics

Using Optics to Study Heavy Fermion Materials

• Mentor: Rohit Prasankumar , MPA-CINT
• Research Opportunity Focus: This project will involve the use of optical techniques, particularly ultrafast time-and-angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, to shed new light on heavy fermion materials. The primary goal is to unravel the interplay between electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom, impacting LANL’s mission in several areas.
• Required Expertise: Ph. D. in physics or a related field. Expertise in ultrafast optical spectroscopy, particularly time-resolved ARPES. Experience with low temperature measurements. General knowledge of condensed matter physics, particularly strongly correlated electron materials.
• Keywords: ultrafast phenomena, ultrafast spectroscopy, heavy fermion, ARPES, and correlated electrons

SPM Techniques for Pu Surface Investigations

• Mentor: Miles Beaux , MST-7
• Research Opportunity Focus: Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) measurements of atomic and electronic structure of plutonium materials using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS), respectively, and mapping of sample-probe interactions using a Bruker Multimode® 8. Work will involve plutonium metal and compounds, as well as potentially other actinide materials.
• Required Expertise: Experience in hands-on scanning probe microscopy techniques (required) with additional experience in actinide research (preferred). PhD-level education in materials science and engineering, chemistry, condensed matter physics, or a related field. Measurements using Los Alamos National Laboratory's plutonium SPM capabilities and publication related thereto.
• Keywords: scanning probe microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), plutonium (Pu), actinides, electronic structure, atomic structure

Thin Film Actinide Reference Samples

• Mentor: Igor Usov , MST-7
• Research Opportunity Focus: Development of thin film fabrication techniques for metallic and compound actinides. Project will be focused on actinide thin film fabrication and characterization. 
• Required Expertise: PhD-level education in Materials Science, Chemistry or Physics. Hands-on experience in Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) equipment design and maintenance. Analysis of thin films composition, microstructure, morphology, optical and electrical properties.
• Keywords: actinides, thin film fabrication, thin film characterization, Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)

Theoretical Studies of Actinide Chemistry and Nanomaterials

• Mentor: Ping Yang , T-1
• Research Opportunity Focus: My research focuses on understanding electronic structures, optical and magnetic properties, reactivity, and dynamical behaviors of actinide chemistry and nanomaterials. I am interested in both applications of current high-performance computing frameworks and development of new computational methods for long time-scale simulations of complicated actinide systems.
• Required Expertise: PhD in Theoretical/Computational Chemistry, Physics or Materials. A strong background in electronic structure theory (density functional theory, wave-functional theory, semi-empirical methods), molecular dynamics, and global optimization methods. Good analytical and programming skills.
• Keywords: f-element chemistry, actinide nanomaterials, theoretical modeling

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