Carbon Electronics Research Chemist

Leidos is seeking and exceptional and motivated Research Chemist interested in pursuing their passion by working side-by-side with world experts through a research appointment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). In this role, you will work as part of DOE’s leading engineering Research & Development laboratory team supporting NETL to pursue cutting-edge research on carbon nanomaterials for electronic devices. Specifically, you will work with NETL’s carbon materials manufacturing team to develop novel methods to synthesize and functionalize graphene quantum dots and fabricate atomically thin quasi-2D amorphous carbon films for electronic memory devices such as transistors and memristors. In this role, you will engage with world-class carbon materials synthesis researchers and electronic memory device engineers, including leading DOE scientists and external partners to develop world-changing memory technologies that address internet of things and big data era challenges.

What this opportunity with Leidos supporting NETL uniquely provides you:

• Working on applied, cutting-edge projects with global impact while being mentored by the nation’s leading energy scientists and engineers.
• Real-world experience supplemented with technical development and discussions that provide unique insight into the broad range of mission critical engineering and scientific disciplines NETL leverages to support national energy research and policy development.
• Unique access to world-class, customized facilities specific to high impact energy research, technology generation, and patent development.
• Participation in novel fundamental and applied energy technology development with direct economic impact on global carbon management and resource use.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Synthesize graphene, graphene oxide, graphene quantum dots, and carbon quantum dots with tunable sizes/thicknesses using different domestic carbon feedstocks primarily by wet chemistry methods (including some air-free techniques such as the use of a glove box).
• Develop various chemical synthesis strategies/methodologies to functionalize graphene, graphene oxide, graphene quantum dots, and carbon quantum dots to tune physical and/or chemical properties, especially post-synthesis surface modification to achieve tunable dispersibility in organic solvent(s) and consistent thin film fabrication.
• Synthesize and characterize carbon thin films made from graphene, graphene oxide, graphene quantum dots, and carbon quantum dots using techniques such as spin-coating, Langmuir-Blodgett, and/or self-assembly methods.
• Characterize the chemical, structural, optical, and electronic properties of synthesized carbon materials and thin films using techniques including electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, FTIR, Raman, UV-Vis spectroscopy, DLS, XPS, and XRD.
• Participate and present results in regular team meetings, contribute to progress reports and research proposals, and lead and support  scientific manuscript development for publication in peer reviewed journals.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree with 3+ years experience in Chemistry or a relevant discipline (Chemical Engineering, Material Science, or a related engineering discipline).
• Considerable knowledge of and experimental expertise in conducting synthesis and functionalization of carbon nanomaterials such as graphenes, graphene oxides, graphene quantum dots, carbon quantum dots for electronic or other applications as demonstrated through publication record.
• Experience with common carbon materials characterization techniques such as AFM, SEM, XPS, Raman, FTIR, UV-Vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy, and XRD.
• Demonstrated ability to publish high impact research.
• Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team to solve problems of scientific and technological interest.
• Must be able to meet the requirements for gaining access to work on the NETL campus.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Chemistry or a relevant discipline (Chemical Engineering, Material Science, or a related engineering discipline).
• Experience with or knowledge of thin film fabrications such as chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, spin coating, spray coating and Langmuir-Blodgett.
• Experience with or knowledge of nano/microfabrication processes.
• Experience with or knowledge of two-dimensional nanostructured metal-oxide semiconductors.
• Experience with or knowledge of electronic memory devices such as transistors or memristors.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

December 5, 2025

Pay Range:

Pay Range $85,150.00 - $153,925.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.