Postdoctoral Researcher - Autonomous Experimentation for Semiconductor Materials

NLR is located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado and is the nation's primary laboratory for energy systems research and development. Join the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration. From foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions.

About the role

A postdoctoral research position is available in the Materials Discovery and Development group, focused on autonomous experimentation at the intersection of semiconductor materials research, artificial intelligence methods, and research equipment automation. Our team is developing a next-generation autonomous semiconductor research laboratory as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's METALLIC platform.

The successful candidate will support building closed-loop experimental systems that integrate advanced scientific instrumentation, AI-driven decision-making, data infrastructure, and workflow orchestration. The platform will accelerate the discovery of advanced thin film inorganic semiconductor materials that address critical U.S. supply chain challenges, with particular emphasis on semiconductor technologies involving Ga, Ge, Sc and other critical elements and materials.

The successful candidate will also have opportunities to contribute to broader autonomous experimentation initiatives across NLR, including the U.S. Department of Energy's Genesis Mission projects aimed to accelerate scientific discovery in wurtzite oxide and nitride wide band gap semiconductor, as well as dielectric, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric materials.

Responsibilities

• Design and deploy advanced algorithms and closed-loop workflows for autonomous experimentation on synthesis and characterization instruments.
• Integrate laboratory instrumentation, data infrastructure, and workflow orchestration systems into scalable autonomous experimentation platforms.
• Deploy the developed computer vision, robotics, and artificial intelligence methods to solve challenging materials science and semiconductor research problems.
• Collaborate with materials scientists, engineers, and research technologists to apply autonomous experimentation approaches to other research projects.
• Proactively diagnose and troubleshoot scientific instrumentation, automation hardware, and software interfaces in accordance with safety practices and operational procedures.

Requirements

• Must be a recent PhD graduate within the last three years.
• Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.
• Demonstrated hands-on proficiency in Python, including the ability to independently design, implement, understand, debug, and maintain scientific software without reliance on AI-assisted coding tools.
• Proven knowledge of modern software development practices, including Git-based version control, modular software design, testing, and documentation.
• Prior experience in developing software for scientific instrumentation, laboratory automation, experimental control, or related hardware applications, and its integration with scientific objectives into robust experimental workflows.
• Experience with machine learning, statistical modeling, optimization algorithms, or data-driven scientific methods, such as active learning, Bayesian optimization, design of experiments, uncertainty quantification, or related methods.
• Basic knowledge of materials science, inorganic chemistry, semiconductor physics, vacuum-based thin film processing and characterization methods, composition/structure/property relations, and experimental laboratory equipment.

Preferred Qualifications

Semiconductor Materials Research

• Prior hands-on experience developing autonomous or closed-loop experimental laboratory instruments, including high-throughput and combinatorial experiments.
• Experience with vacuum-based thin-film synthesis and characterization equipment, such as PVD, PLD or MBE systems, electrical probe stations, photoluminescence instruments, optical microscopes, or related scientific instrumentation.
• Knowledge of inorganic thin films and semiconductor materials, particularly oxides, nitrides, wide band gap semiconductors and dielectrics, or related material systems.

Autonomous Experimentation

• Experience with databases, scientific data pipelines, or experimental data management.
• Experience deploying scientific software across networked Linux and/or Windows systems.
• Experience implementing feedback control systems, state machines, fault handling, or other control logic for automated experimental systems.
• Experience with robotics, motion control, machine vision, or robotic system integration.

Specific Software and Hardware

• Experience integrating and controlling scientific instrumentation through software APIs, instrument command sets (e.g., SCPI), industrial communication protocols (e.g., Modbus RTU/TCP), and interoperability standards (e.g., OPC UA).
• Experience with distributed systems and messaging architectures (e.g., NATS, MQTT, ZeroMQ, or similar publish/subscribe and message-oriented systems).
• Experience with PLC programming using IEC 61131-3 languages, particularly Structured Text (ST) and Ladder Diagram (LD); experience with Red Lion Graphite Edge Controllers and Crimson software is a plus.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Short-term disability insurance.
• Pension benefits.
• 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match.
• Life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance.
• Personal time off (PTO) and sick leave.
• Paid holidays.
• Eligibility for performance-, merit-, and achievement-based awards that include a monetary component.
• Some positions may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement.

Pay

Annual Salary Range: $76,600 - $126,400 (based on full-time 40 hours per week). NLR takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value, including seniority and merit systems, and internal pay alignment when determining the salary level for potential new employees.

Schedule

40 hours per week.

NLR is subject to Department of Energy (DOE) access restrictions. All employees must be able to obtain and maintain a federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card as required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), which includes a favorable background investigation. NLR is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace in accordance with the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug. If you are offered employment at NLR, you must pass a pre-employment drug test prior to commencing employment. Unless prohibited by state or local law, the pre-employment drug test will include marijuana.