This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest and thus requires that such institutions be the recipients of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.
Research Title: Standards Development for Atom Probe Tomography
The work will entail: Atom Probe Tomography (APT) is a powerful tool for the semiconductor industry, offering the unique ability to identify and map the chemical identity and location of individual atoms with spatial resolution at or below the smallest critical dimensions found in modern devices. These capabilities have led most major semiconductor manufacturers to install APT systems at their manufacturing facilities and/or R&D labs. Significant advances in the technique have been made in recent years, however, it is still limited by measurement inaccuracies that may be overcome by using standards. This project will produce a series of industrially relevant reference materials, data sets, and standard practices that will improve the accuracy and repeatability of quantitative measurements made by APT.
Primary Duties:
- Design and fabrication of reference materials containing known compositions and nanoscale 3-D structures. This includes both hands-on in the CNST Nanofab and through interactions with external vendors, such as foundries.
- Organize and analyze results from inter-laboratory studies to determine consensus measurand values from these reference materials and appropriateness for semiconductor applications
Required Qualifications:
- PhD or equivalent experience in Materials Science, Physics, or other related field
- Experience with standard nanofabrication processes such as lithography, thin film deposition, dry and wet etching, etc.
- Strong written and oral communication skills
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
Preferred Additional Skills:
- Knowledge of modern semiconductor device design and materials, especially gate-all-around transistors
- Experience with semiconductor foundry PDKs and MPW services
- Familiarity with APT sample prep, experiments, and data analysis
- Experience with other standard semiconductor materials characterization techniques such as SEM, TEM, SIMS, SRP, etc.
Privacy Act Statement
Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)
Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.
PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.
Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.
Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use of the information you submit for the purpose stated.
SURA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe that no one should be discriminated against because of their differences, such as age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, religion, or sexual orientation. All employment decisions shall be made without regard to age, race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, or any other basis as protected by federal, state, or local law.
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