Postdoc Researcher

Essential Duties/Responsibilities

• Lead the development and implementation of enhancements to the VLTP to improve slope accuracy and repeatability.
• Identify, model, and mitigate systematic error sources.
• Design and integrate improved optical, optomechanical, and environmental control systems.
• Develop advanced calibration techniques and establish quantitative error budgets.
• Develop and maintain software for instrument control, data acquisition, and analysis.
• Implement algorithms for slope extraction and surface figure reconstruction.
• Model instrument performance and guide design improvements.
• Perform high-accuracy slope measurements of grazing-incidence X-ray mirrors.
• Develop improved measurement methodologies to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and robustness.
• Support fabrication, process development, and validation of optics for future NASA missions.
• Support milestones and deliverables for the NASA APRA-funded project.
• Publish results in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at scientific conferences.
• Collaborate with NASA engineers, scientists, and academic partners.
• Contribute to the long-term development of world-leading X-ray optics metrology capabilities.

Required Qualifications

• Education: Ph.D. in Physics, Optical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience: Experience with precision optical instrumentation or metrology.
• Strong experimental laboratory skills.
• Programming experience in LabView, MATLAB, Python, or similar scientific environments.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently on complex technical projects.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with slope profilers, interferometers, or long trace profilers.
• Experience with grazing-incidence, X-ray, or optics.
• Knowledge of optical alignment and optomechanical system design.
• Experience identifying and mitigating systematic measurement errors.
• Experience developing scientific instrumentation.
• Ability to obtain a security clearance is a benefit.