Magnets and Insertion Device Engineer SOLEIL

Located on the Paris-Saclay plateau, about 20 kilometers from the capital, the SOLEIL synchrotron is one of France’s leading research facilities. Since it began operating in 2008, it has served the national and international scientific communities. Research conducted at SOLEIL covers a wide range of scientific and industrial fields — including physics, biology, chemistry, materials science, environmental science, Earth sciences, and cultural and natural heritage — all connected to current societal challenges. Experiments carried out on the beamlines rely on the use of synchrotron light emitted by electrons accelerated to nearly the speed of light within a storage ring. SOLEIL is jointly supervised by the CNRS and the CEA and offers its staff a dynamic, innovative, multidisciplinary, and international working environment.

At the forefront of technology,SOLEIL IIis an ambitious project designed to provide new opportunities for scientific and industrial research.SOLEIL II consists of a major upgrade of the existing infrastructure and aims to significantly improve the performance of electron accelerators and beamlines. It is designed to address major current and future societalchallenges, particularly in areas such as advanced materials research, energy and sustainable development, health and well-being, and the environment.

Construction work on the SOLEIL II project began in 2024, marking the start of a phase of development and technological innovation. In parallel, the existing facility will remain operational until the fall of 2028. SOLEIL II is scheduled to start operations in 2030, with a gradual ramp-up phase continuing until 2035.

Context and mission

To remain competitive in a dynamic international environment and to develop scientific and technological solutions addressing major societal challenges, SOLEIL is carrying out a major upgrade of its accelerators and beamlines, known asSOLEIL II.

The storage ring will be equipped with over one thousand new magnets, some of which will be permanent magnets.

The Magnetism Engineer will work within theMagnetism and Insertions Group, responsible for accelerator magnets (linac, booster, transfer line, storage ring) and magnetic insertions (undulators and wigglers).

His or her role will primarily be focused on magnetic insertions and their operation in the storage ring, and is structured around three main areas:

1. Design, construction, measurement, and optimization of various types of undulators(permanent magnet undulators with variable polarization, cryogenic planar undulators, etc.). As part of the construction of a SOLEIL II beamline, the successful candidate will be responsible for the magnetic design, mechanical design (in collaboration with the engineering office), construction, magnetic characterization, installation on the accelerator, and commissioning for users of an Apple‑X type variable polarization undulator.
2. Development of high‑precision measurement instrumentationfor the various magnetic characterization benches currently in operation (Helmholtz coils, magnetometer, Hall probe, stretched wire, pulsed wire). Adaptation of the Hall probe measurement bench for a 5‑meter undulator. Development of a dedicated Hall probe measurement bench for the Apple‑X type undulator.
3. Contribution to the proper operation of the Group’s magnetic equipment:
4. The successful candidate will participate in on‑call duties aimed at minimizing downtime of magnetic equipment in operation on the facilities and will be required to intervene during troubleshooting and repairs.
5. During scheduled SOLEIL shutdowns, he or she will take part in the maintenance of insertion devices installed on the storage ring, as well as in the maintenance and development of the laboratory’s measurement systems.
6. He or she will carry out “machine” sessions dedicated to the operation of insertion devices (beam effects, first observation of radiation with the beamline, radiation characterization) to ensure final validation. For this purpose, he or she will be required to develop tools (scripts in Matlab or Python) enabling the control of insertion devices, as well as the recording and analysis of session data.

Profile

This position is open to candidates holding an engineering degree or a PhD.

The candidate must have demonstrated experience in the fields of insertion devices (from design through commissioning), magnetism, and synchrotron radiation.

Essential core skills

• Design and construction of undulators
• Magnetism and use of magnetic modeling software (TOSCA, RADIA, or CST Studio)
• Project management
• Synchrotron radiation and use of simulation software (SRW, SPECTRA, etc.)
• Magnetic field metrology
• Strong knowledge of measurement techniques
• Instrumentation and con