College Station, Texas
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Urbana, Illinois
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Danville, Illinois, Illinois
Posted: 28-Aug-24
Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland
Type: Full-time
Salary: Open
Internal Number: A-152997-26
General Description
PREP Research Associate
CHIPS Funded Project.
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:
Quantitative Determination of the Efficiency of Ultrafiltration of Ultrapure Water using Aerosol Metrology
The work will entail:
The International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS) has identified that a "Lack of proven particle metrology limits the ability to confirm whether UF (ultrafiltration of ultrapure water, UPW) is effective in controlling killer size particles down to the critical particle size". Specifically, dielectric, and electrically active particles larger than 9 nm and 3 nm, respectively, in UPW and liquid chemicals has been identified as the #1 challenge for the near term (2020-2027) due to insufficient metrology and marginal treatment technology capability.
As part of CHIPS Project 1.04 - Advanced Chemical Metrology for Semiconductor Cleaning Chemicals: Organic Contaminants, Native Particles and Precursors, and Rapid Particle and Impurity Characterization, the candidate will work in the native particles and precursors component to quantitatively assess performance of ultrafiltration systems using biological macromolecules to address the need identified by the IRDS. This work is part of a larger project trying to quantitatively assess the purity, properties and provenance of cleaning chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing.
Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
§ Quantitatively assessing the efficiency of UF using aerosol metrology.
§ Identifying commercially available biological macromolecules with a range of morphologies and chemistries with sizes spanning ˜ 2 nm to ˜ 50 nm to test UF performance.
§ Comparing the efficiency of UF to biological macromolecules and silica nanoparticles (the currently accepted standard).
§ Develop special grade ultrapure water (UPW0) that is at least an order of magnitude purer than specified in the IRDS for the development of new test materials and/or standard reference materials (SRM).
§ Presenting results at internal meetings, occasional meetings with external stakeholders and external conferences.
§ Using laboratory data to assist standards organizations for semiconductor manufacturing and/or material purity, properties, and provenance.
§ Ensuring that results, protocols, software, and documentation have been archived or otherwise transmitted to the larger organization.
§ Publishing results in peer-reviewed journals or NIST internal reports.
Qualifications
§ A Ph.D. in chemical engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
§ Minimum of 1-year relevant post-doctoral experience.
§ Familiarity with common aerosol instrumentation (e.g., DMA, CPC, particle generators, and particle precipitators).
§ Familiarity with particle characterization methods (e.g., photoacoustic FTIR, SMPS, nanoparticle tracking analysis, SEM, etc.)
§ Familiarity with developing mathematical models to describe the behavior of nanoparticles in complex systems (e.g., filtration efficiency, Flory-Huggens theory, etc.)
§ Familiarity working with sub-100 nm nanomaterials in liquid and gaseous media (i.e., dispersible engineered nanomaterials).
§ Strong oral and written communication skills.
Application Instructions
Please upload the following (preferably in a single PDF) with your application:
- Cover Letter
- CV/Resume
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 the 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.