Principal Engineer – Oxide Semiconductor Materials

Western Digital•San Jose, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

This Principal Engineer position is within Western Digital Research, a world-class research laboratory in San Jose, California with approximately 80 employees. The lab's research activities focus on information storage, sensors, spintronics, superconducting devices, and AI memory/compute architectures. The materials team is dedicated to the development of novel materials for emerging technologies through experimental and computational research. The team is fully equipped with thin film deposition tools, related characterization methods, and support staff, operating within a functional cleanroom capable of fabricating a wide array of nanoscale devices using novel materials.

Requirements

Ph.D. in materials science and engineering, physics, electrical engineering, or a closely related field.
Expertise with materials and devices in applications related to oxide semiconductors, non-volatile memory, spintronics, superconductors, or alternative computing.
Strong hands-on experience with UHV film deposition equipment.
Strong hands-on experience with film characterization instrumentation and techniques such as XRD, XPS, XRF, Raman spectroscopy, magnetometry, and AFM.
Strong knowledge of nanofabrication and general device design and operation.
Demonstrated ability to self-direct a research project.
Strong written and oral communication skills.
Ability to work both independently and in a team environment.

Responsibilities

Conduct hands-on, experimental research of thin film materials for emerging technologies.
Perform thin film growth by physical vapor deposition using ultra-high vacuum film deposition tools.
Characterize structural, electronic, chemical, and magnetic film properties.
Design materials for integration into nanoscale devices.
Collect, analyze, present, and report film and device characterization data, results, and conclusions.
Work closely and collaborate within a team of engineers and support staff.

Benefits

Paid vacation time
Paid sick leave
Medical/dental/vision insurance
Life, accident and disability insurance
Tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts
Employee assistance program
Other voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity
Tuition reimbursement
Transit
The Applause Program
Employee stock purchase plan
WD Savings 401(k) Plan
Bonuses under WD’s Short Term Incentive Plan (“STI Plan”) or the Sales Incentive Plan (“SIP”)
Eligibility for annual Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program (restricted stock units (RSUs) or cash equivalents)
RSU awards for eligible new hires