Postdoctoral Researcher in Doppler and Sympathetic Cooling of Radioactive Ions

Postdoctoral Researcher in Doppler and Sympathetic Cooling of Radioactive Ions

University of Jyväskylä - Department of Physics

Jyväskylä, Finland

€ 3700 - € 4200 per month gross

The Department of Physics is seeking to recruit a Postdoctoral Researcher within the newly funded Research Council of Finland project DopCool (Doppler and Sympathetic Cooling for Ultra-High Precision Mass Measurements of Short-Lived Radioactive Ions), hosted at the IGISOL facility within the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä. The position will start in November 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter, for a duration of 1 year with the possibility of extension by another 2 years. The position is fixed-term, as it is related to the research project DopCool.

The project will pioneer laser-based cooling techniques for short-lived radioactive ions and establish a new experimental paradigm for ultra-high-precision mass measurements at the IGISOL facility and beyond. Using lasers, the ions will be slowed and cooled close to absolute zero before injection into the JYFLTRAP Penning trap mass spectrometer. The ultra-high-precision mass measurements will be key to testing the limits of the Standard Model of particle physics and to exploring possible new physics.

The postdoctoral researcher will take a leading role in the installation and operation of the laser systems, in the optimization of the laser-cooling trap built by our collaboration partners at KU Leuven, in the first Doppler and sympathetic cooling measurements of stable and radioactive ions and in the integration of the laser-cooling trap with the JYFLTRAP Penning trap mass spectrometer. Furthermore, the postdoctoral researcher will have opportunities to participate in mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopic measurements, to propose and conduct measurements at IGISOL, and to collaborate with researchers from all over the world.

The postdoctoral researcher will work in an international environment at the IGISOL facility, within the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä. The facility is used to conduct research at the intersection of fundamental symmetries, nuclear and atomic physics using techniques in laser spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and ion trapping.

The selected postdoctoral researcher will:

• Develop laser-cooling techniques for trapped ions including the setup and operation of laser systems
• Optimize the laser-cooling trap built by our collaboration partners from KU Leuven, Belgium
• Design, commission and optimize beam-manipulation devices for optimal ion injection into the Penning trap
• Integrate the laser-cooling trap with the JYFLTRAP Penning-trap mass spectrometer
• Perform Doppler and Sympathetic Cooling measurements of stable and radioactive ions
• Study ultracold ion ensembles and their application to precision mass spectrometry
• Participate in experiments at the IGISOL radioactive-ion-beam facility
• Develop and apply simulation tools for an improved understanding of the ion motion and cooling dynamics
• Present scientific results at international conferences and publish in peer-reviewed journals

Who should apply:

The duties, qualification requirements, and language skills of a postdoctoral researcher are stipulated by the University of Jyväskylä Regulations and language skills guidelines. The PhD degree required for the position must have been completed before the starting date.

Experience in the following areas is required:

• Experimental atomic, nuclear or particle physics
• Laser systems
• Vacuum technology and instrumentation
• Electronics, data acquisition and scientific programming (e.g. Python)
• Data Analysis

Experience in one or more of the following areas is considered advantageous:

• Doppler and Sympathetic Cooling
• Ion trapping and charged-particle manipulation
• Mass spectrometry
• Laser Spectroscopy
• Familiarity with the production of radioactive ion beams with the IGISOL or ISOL technique
• Mentoring of less experienced team members (i.e. students)

Strong motivation for experimental research, excellent problem-solving skills, the ability to work effectively in an international research environment, and good written and spoken English skills are essential.