Details
Posted: 01-Aug-22
Location: Harwell, United Kingdom
Type: Full Time
Categories:
Academia, Research Laboratory
Government/Non-Profit
Job Function:
Technician
Years of Experience:
0-3
Internal Number: 220000MI
Ultrafast Laser Scientist
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxfordshire
£31,931 - £34,709 or £39,748 to £44,166 per annum (dependent on skills and experience)
Full time or Part-time (minimum 30 hours per week)
Permanent
Come and do the kind of science that made you want to become a scientist. Explore the unknown and get to grips with the biggest challenges in Big Science. And, alongside world class engineers and technologists, use everything you've learnt to find real-answers that shape society and improve lives. Put simply, discover the kind of impact you can make when you work with some of the best facilities and brightest scientists in the world.
Discover the science your skills can enable by bringing your scientific experience to our Central Laser Facility. The facility is one of the world’s leading laser centres, providing scientists mainly from the UK and continental Europe with access to an unparalleled range of pioneering laser technology.
The CLF has two ultrafast science groups, Artemis and Ultra, who are jointly developing a new high repetition rate ultrafast pump-probe facility. Artemis focuses on ultrafast laser and extreme ultraviolet (XUV) science, using XUV pulses produced through high harmonic generation, for experiments in physical sciences. Ultra generates mid-infrared pulses for ultrafast vibrational infrared and Raman spectroscopy, with applications in chemistry and life sciences.
About The Role
We are seeking a scientist with a background in ultrafast laser science to join the Artemis and Ultra teams. Your primary responsibility will be to operate and maintain our new 100 kHz laser system, based on a thin-disk Yb:YAG pump laser and optical parametric chirped pulse amplification stages. The laser system will be used for a variety of experiments including high harmonic generation (HHG) and HHG spectroscopy, time-resolved photo-emission, x-ray transient absorption spectroscopy, ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy and Kerr-gated Raman spectroscopy. You will work with university research groups using the facility to help deliver these experiments.
There are opportunities to learn and develop your own knowledge and skills, publish your work, to participate in international conferences and to work collaboratively with partners in university and in industry.
This is an excellent opportunity for you to gain experience of “hi-tech” lasers operating at the limits of current technology.
About You
You will need to be an experimentalist, with a PhD in physics or physical chemistry (or equivalent relevant experience), and will have operated ultrafast lasers and optical parametric amplifiers.
Experience in high harmonic generation or design of optical parametric amplifiers is useful, as is experience of photoelectron spectroscopy or transient absorption. It is useful if you have experience designing and developing scientific instruments, data acquisition and instrument control software, and are proficient in LabVIEW, MATLAB or Python.
For the higher band, we expect you to have postdoctoral experience (or other relevant employment experience) and a track record of publication in peer-reviewed journals.
What we offer
We are offering a permanent position with a whole host of benefits including:
- 30 days holiday annually (in addition to 10.5 bank holidays and privilege days).
- Flexible working hours.
- An excellent defined average salary pension scheme.
- Employee shopping/travel discounts.
- Excellent learning and development opportunities.
- Visa Sponsorship for candidates applying outside of the UK.
Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!
UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.
We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of. And they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us.
What could you achieve with the world-leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible.
To find out more about this role and information on how to apply please click apply.
If you experience any difficulties with applying online, please contact us on Carl.Hutchins@ukri.org or call us on 07842 034 698.
Closing Date: 28th August 2022
