Metrology Engineer 3

Lam Research•Tualatin, OR

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

In the Global Products Group, we are dedicated to excellence in the design and engineering of Lam's etch and deposition products. We drive innovation to ensure our cutting-edge solutions are helping to solve the biggest challenges in the semiconductor industry. At Lam, as a Metrology Engineer, you will help develop next-generation on-tool metrology and sensing technologies that enable smarter semiconductor manufacturing. Working at the intersection of semiconductor processes, optical sensing, machine vision, spectroscopy, and data analytics, you will transform raw sensor data into actionable process insights that improve equipment performance, productivity, and wafer outcomes. You will work closely with hardware, firmware, software, process technology, and data science teams to develop measurement solutions capable of quantifying wafer characteristics directly on semiconductor processing equipment. Through hands-on experimentation, data analysis, and model development, you will help accelerate the transition from concept to product deployment for emerging Equipment Intelligence technologies. In this role, you will directly contribute to the development and deployment of vision- and spectroscopy-based metrology systems that enable real-time characterization of film thickness, uniformity, defectivity, process drift, and other critical wafer-level measurements.

Requirements

Master's degree in Physics, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, or a related technical discipline with 3+ years of experience; or PhD with no previous professional experience; or equivalent industry experience.
Strong experimental design, statistical analysis, and technical problem-solving skills.
Experience with scientific data analysis tools such as Python, MATLAB, R, JMP, or equivalent.
Ability to interpret complex datasets and communicate findings effectively to technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills.
Ability to travel up to 25%.

Nice To Haves

Experience with semiconductor metrology applications, including film thickness measurement, material characterization, wafer uniformity analysis, defect inspection, process monitoring, and process control.
Experience with optical sensing technologies and data interpretation, including spectroscopic reflectometry, ellipsometry, hyperspectral imaging, machine vision, optics, photonic sensors, and scientific imaging systems.
Experience developing and applying physics-based, data-driven, or hybrid models for metrology, diagnostics, process monitoring, characterization, and equipment intelligence.
Experience in optical modeling, thin-film optics, image processing, computer vision, signal processing, spectroscopy, and analysis of complex sensor data.
Experience evaluating measurement systems through calibration development, MSA, Gauge R&R, uncertainty analysis, capability assessment, correlation analysis, and repeatability and reproducibility studies.
Experience designing statistically rigorous experiments and DOE methodologies for product development, characterization, and validation.
Proficiency in Python and engineering analysis tools, with experience in machine learning, scientific computing, simulation, visualization, automation, and analysis of large-scale manufacturing and wafer-level datasets.
Experience developing production-grade analytics, diagnostics, monitoring, machine learning, or multi-sensor data fusion solutions, with knowledge of semiconductor thin-film processes and the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Responsibilities

Develop and deploy spectroscopy-, imaging-, and vision-based metrology systems for non-contact wafer characterization, including film thickness, uniformity, defect detection, process monitoring, and equipment health assessment.
Design and execute experiments to characterize sensor performance, quantify measurement uncertainty, evaluate sensitivity, and perform MSA, Gauge R&R, capability, and error-budget analyses.
Develop calibration methods, measurement models, and analytics that transform optical, spectral, image, and equipment signals into actionable metrics for monitoring, diagnostics, optimization, and process control.
Build algorithms for spectroscopy, image analysis, signal processing, sensor fusion, anomaly detection, and metrology inference using physics-based, statistical, and machine learning techniques.
Correlate on-tool measurements with reference metrology systems, analyze experimental and production datasets, and generate wafer-level analytics to improve process understanding, control, and predictive monitoring.
Characterize and optimize optical subsystems, including illumination sources, imaging systems, spectrometers, hyperspectral cameras, sensors, optics, and data acquisition hardware.
Partner with hardware, firmware, software, optics, process technology, and data science teams to define requirements, sensor architectures, calibration strategies, and product performance targets.
Support product development from concept through deployment, including prototype integration, troubleshooting, validation, customer engagement, technical documentation, and development of automated analysis and visualization tools.