Electronic Systems (FPGA) Physicist– Laser-Plasma Diagnostics

Founded in 2019, Marvel Fusion is Europe’s leading fusion energy company, uniting 120 scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs across our locations in Munich and Colorado.

Backed by over €385 million in public and private funding, we’re driven by a shared mission: to deliver clean, abundant energy to the world.

We are seeking an experienced Electronic Systems FPGA Physicist to establish and lead the electronics development stream for advanced particle and radiation diagnostics used in ultrashort-pulse laser-matter interaction experiments. This role focuses on detector and camera systems for ion, electron, neutron, and X/gamma-ray measurements that must operate reliably in high-field experimental environments, where strong electromagnetic pulses and demanding operating conditions render standard analogue and passive instrumentation unreliable.

This role establishes a new technical capability within the company and offers the opportunity to shape it from the outset. Beyond the initial development programme, the successful candidate will continue to develop the next generation of camera and detector systems for harsh experimental environments, extend them towards higher repetition rates and reactor-relevant conditions, and support the wider team across the full diagnostics portfolio. There are clear opportunities to grow the electronics activity into a dedicated sub-team and to take a leading role in the transition of diagnostics from experimental prototypes to deployable, industry-ready systems.

• Investigate, evaluate, and select readout, data link, and processing architectures for detectors operating in harsh interaction environments; own the resulting system architecture and document the trade-offs behind it.
• Design and implement readout electronics for imaging and particle detectors, including CMOS/CCD sensor interfacing, high-speed serial data links, and FPGA-based data acquisition.
• Develop FPGA firmware (VHDL/Verilog, Vivado/Vitis or equivalent) together with host-side acquisition, control, and visualisation software.
• Develop robust triggering and gating schemes with sub-nanosecond timing accuracy, including fibre-optic trigger and data distribution, synchronised to laser operation at repetition rates up to 10 Hz and beyond.
• Engineer EMP- and EMI-resilient electronics: grounding and isolation topologies, shielding concepts, cable and connector selection, and mitigation of coupling paths into in-chamber and near-chamber electronics.
• Specify and qualify components and subsystems for sustained, long-lived operation in the experimental environment; define and run the associated test and validation campaigns.
• Identify, evaluate, and manage external partners – specialist component suppliers, design houses, and research institutes – where capability is best sourced externally, and integrate their deliverables into our systems.
• Engineer diagnostics as transportable, beamtime-ready packages, and support their commissioning and field deployment at remote experimental facilities including the communication path from device to database storage
• Collaborate closely with IT, mechanical engineers, physicists to ensure networking, electronics, enclosure, cooling, and vacuum concepts are developed as one system.
• Participate in experimental preparation and execution alongside the rest of the scientific team
• Provide electronics and readout expertise across the wider diagnostics portfolio of the team.