Postdoctoral position Ultrafast Coherent XUV Imaging of Quantum Materals, IMDEA Nanoscience, Madrid, Spain
5+ years postdoctoral fellow/staff scientist position in the Ultrafast Science of Quantum Materials group at IMDEA Nanoscience, Madrid to construct and run a high-harmonic generation based ultrafast coherent diffractive imaging beamline. This beamline will be the first of it's kind dedicated to measuring nanoscale dynamics inside quantum materials with high spatial, temporal and spectral resolution at cryogenic temperatures. The beamline and initial 5 year position are funded by the ERC Starting Grant "KnotSeen". The successful candidate will oversee all technical aspects of the new dedicated laboratory including design, construction, commissioning and operation, as well as future operation and upgrades.
Apart from a PhD in physics, chemistry, or similar, the candidate should have experience in at least some of the following areas:
- High harmonic generation and XUV/soft X-rays (mandatory)
- Amplified femtosecond lasers, few-cycle pulse compression, pulse characterization methods
- High and ultrahigh vacuum systems, cryogenics, compressed gas handling
- Coherent imaging methods/computational imaging
- Quantum materials/ultrafast dynamics of materials
- Laboratory control coding (python preferred)
- Data analysis, training students, experimental design
As well as possess good communication skills, personal organization and team spirit.
The candidate is not expected to acquire external funding, supervise students or develop their own research line, but can potentially undertake some of these activities if desired by the candidate and agreed upon with the group leader.
The position is available from January 1st 2025. We especially welcome applications from women and other under-represented groups in physics. Please include a CV and two references, and contact the group leader, "Ramon y Cajal" researcher Dr. Allan Johnson at allan.johnson@imdea.org. Informal queries are also appreciated.
About the group: The Ultrafast Science of Quantum Materials group at IMDEA Nanoscience in Madrid, Spain studies light-driven phenomena in quantum materials, particularly phase transitions and the out-of-equilibrium phases using a variety of laboratory and facility-based experiments. Based in the north of Madrid at the Campus of International Excellence UAM+CSIC, IMDEA Nanoscience is dedicated to the exploration of nanoscience and the development of applications of nanotechnology in connection with innovative industries.
Relevant recent publications:
A.S. Johnson et al., Nature Physics 19 (2), 215-220 (2023)
A.S. Johnson et al., Nature Physics 20, 970–975 (2024)
A. Sarkar and A.S. Johnson, Mater. Adv. 5, 6378-6387 (2024)
A.S. Johnson et al., Science Advances 7 (33), eabf1386 (2021)
D Perez-Salinas, AS Johnson, D Prabhakaran, S Wall. Nature Comms. 13, 1-8 (2022)
A.S. Johnson et al., Science advances 4 (5), eaar3761 (2018)