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Xcimer Energy is developing inertial fusion energy (IFE) systems using advanced laser architecture to deploy fusion power plants for global decarbonization. As an Electro-Optical / Adaptive Optics Engineer, you will work across simulation and hardware to develop wave-optics propagation models, write and tune control algorithms, and align and operate adaptive optics (AO) hardware that closes the feedback loop. You will help specify next-generation AO components and collaborate with vendors to build them, working alongside a multidisciplinary team of optical, mechanical, controls, and software engineers.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop and implement optimization routines for the adaptive optics control loop and characterize performance against measured data
- Design and implement algorithms for spatial beam shaping using phase plates and adaptive optics
- Align, calibrate, and operate adaptive optics hardware on a high-energy laser system, including deformable mirrors, wavefront sensors, and supporting diagnostics
- Build auto-alignment methods and routines to make beamline setup repeatable and fast
- Characterize the optical environment (aberration sources, thermal drift, vibration, jitter, beam path turbulence) and translate findings into AO requirements
- Leverage and improve wave-optics propagation code in close collaboration with the Theory and Computation team, anchoring models against measurements
- Contribute to wavefront error budgets and tolerance analyses spanning system to component level
- Collaborate with vendors to develop next-generation AO platforms, focusing on deformable mirrors and wavefront sensors
- Work with control system engineers to integrate AO within the larger laser control system
- Write and maintain test plans, alignment procedures, and calibration records
- Maintain contamination-control discipline appropriate to deep-UV, high-fluence optics
Your work will directly contribute to improving beam quality, stability, and system performance, enabling unprecedented laser capabilities for inertial fusion energy.
REQUIREMENTS:
Education: B.S. in optical science/engineering, physics, or related field.
Experience: 5+ years of optical science/engineering experience, including 3+ years directly related to adaptive optics systems. Must have experience developing adaptive optics systems using wavefront sensors and deformable mirrors, including established optimization and reconstruction methods. Experience with high-fidelity physical wave-optics propagation in the near and far field. Experience with hands-on optical subsystem integration and alignment. Experience working across multidisciplinary engineering fields including optical, opto-mechanical, software, and controls systems. Working proficiency in at least one of MATLAB, Python, or C/C++/C# for modeling, analysis, and hardware control. Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.
DESIRED: M.S. or Ph.D. in optical engineering/science, physics, or related field. 5+ years of experience directly related to adaptive optics. Depth in turbulence characterization in beam paths, wavefront reconstruction and control law design, radiometry and imaging diagnostics, statistical and systems analysis, or experimental work with high-energy laser systems. Experience with high-energy optical systems operating in the deep UV, including laser-induced damage considerations and contamination control. Experience designing adaptive optics coupled to beam pointing and jitter stabilization systems. Experience defining and flowing down adaptive optics requirements from system to component level. Familiarity with real-time control implementation (LabVIEW, embedded firmware, FPGA-based control, or low-latency computing architectures). Familiarity with opto-mechanical practice: kinematic and flexure mounting, adhesive bonding, cleanroom assembly, and STOP analysis.
