Job Opportunity: Postdoctoral or Graduate Studies on Cryogenic Refrigerators

LOCATION: NIST (Boulder, Colorado), Quantum Sensors Division (687)

The Cryocoolers Team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, seeks multiple candidates to study and develop novel cryogenic refrigerators. The Team is primarily interested in the energy efficiency and accessibility of refrigerators that cool to temperatures near 4 K; these refrigerators are critical for a variety of quantum sensing and quantum computing applications. Experimental, numerical, and analytical methods are used by the Team to develop, demonstrate, and commercialize new technology.

QUALIFICATIONS: 

Positions are only open to U.S. citizens. Competitive candidates will have completed (or soon will complete) a Ph.D. in engineering or physics with expertise in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, or acoustics. Postdoctoral candidates are preferred, and these positions are expected to last at least three years. Students pursuing doctoral degrees may also be considered. Experience with cryogenics or cryogenic refrigerators is not required. Experience manufacturing and operating complex experimental systems is desired.

PROPOSED PROJECTS:

• High-efficiency compressors for cryogenic refrigerators (cryocoolers)
• Miniaturization of cryocoolers operating near temperatures of 4 K
• Reverse Brayton cycle and Claude cycle coolers for intermediate-scale 4 K cooling
• Vibration and temperature-oscillation mitigation in low-temperature cryostats
• Commercialization of recent and future cryocooler technologies

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

• “Low-frequency cryocoolers are compressed inefficiently”, Physical Review Applied.
• “Dynamic acoustic optimization of pulse tube refrigerators for rapid cooldown”, Nature Communications.

INQUIRIES FOR THE POSITION: Interested candidates should contact Dr. Ryan Snodgrass, Cryocoolers Team Leader, at ryan.snodgrass [at] nist.gov (ryan[dot]snodgrass[at]nist[dot]gov).