Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Laboratories
(September 2026) What new optical phenomena become possible when light-matter interactions are engineered at the wavelength and subwavelength scales? Can concepts such as chirality, topology, non-Hermiticity, quantum coherence, and strong optical nonlinearities reveal qualitatively new regimes of photonic physics?
We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher to pursue fundamental research in nanophotonics. Possible directions include chiral optical metasurfaces, quantum photonics, light-matter interactions in 2D and ultrathin materials, topological and non-Hermitian photonics, and nonlinear optics. The scope is intentionally broad and will be shaped in substantial part by the interests and ideas of the successful candidate. The position is open to both theorists and theoretically inclined experimentalists, with opportunities to develop independent research directions and collaborate closely with researchers at Sandia, CINT, universities, and institutions worldwide.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please do not hesitate to reach out; being a postdoc at Sandia has some significant benefits, and this position is entirely dedicated to fundamental science with plenty of room for intellectual freedom.
You can apply on Sandia's website, Fundamental Nanophotonics.
(September 2026) What new dynamical regimes emerge when traveling acoustic waves and mobile charge carriers interact strongly enough that conventional perturbative descriptions break down?
We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher to develop new theoretical frameworks for acoustoelectric systems in strongly interacting and nonlinear regimes. The goal is to build a unified description of coupled acoustic propagation and electronic transport that captures feedback, screening, dissipation, nonlinear dynamics, and the physical mechanisms that ultimately regulate and saturate these interactions. This position is primarily intended for a theorist or computational physicist and is embedded within a broader Sandia effort spanning theory, materials, device design, fabrication, and experiment. The successful candidate will work closely with experimentalists to interpret measurements, identify new physical regimes, and help guide the development of next-generation acoustoelectric devices. If interested, the successful candidate could also lead the analysis of some experiments, resulting in first author publications discussing these results.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please do not hesitate to reach out; being a postdoc at Sandia has some significant benefits, and this position is entirely dedicated to fundamental science with plenty of room for intellectual freedom.
You can apply on Sandia's website, Theory of Acoustoelectric Systems.
(Note, both positions are available to US citizens and non-citizens alike. The Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies hosts a vibrant and diverse group of scientists from all over the globe.)
Alexander Cerjan
Justin Schirmann, 2026-present.
Hyosim Yang, 2025-present.
Ki Young Lee, 2024-present.
Sounak Sinha (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, primary advisor Barry Bradlyn), 2026-present.
Chris Bairnsfather (Purdue Univ., primary advisor Ralph Kaufmann), 2024-present.
José Garcia (Univ. New Mexico, primary advisor Terry Loring), 2022-present.
Olivia Hilton (Florida A&M Univ.), 2025-present.
Stephan Manua Wong, postdoc 2022-2026, now a postdoc in CNRS.
Xingwei Gao, Graduate student 2024-2025 (Univ. Southern Calif., former primary advisor Chia Wei Hsu), now a postdoc at UT Austin.
Hao He, Graduate student 2024-2025 (Univ. Southern Calif., former primary advisor Chia Wei Hsu), now at Yale to complete their PhD.
Kahlil Yusef Dixon-Whyte, Postdoc 2021-2023, now at Northrop Grumman.
Dominic Cordova, Undergraduate 2023, now at mathematics graduate school at Purdue University.