Product Validation Engineer

OMNIVISION•Santa Clara, CA

About The Position

The Product Validation Engineer is responsible for designing characterization and testing plans, collaborating with R&D and manufacturing teams to resolve technical issues and meet performance requirements. This role involves evaluating image sensor manufacturing quality through statistical analysis of electrical and functional parameters at both wafer and chip levels. Key responsibilities include driving production yield rates, debugging root causes of process and design-related yield loss in initial silicon, and coordinating with process and design engineers to implement solutions. The engineer will also manage product introduction and ramp-up for image sensors and ASIC devices, working closely with silicon foundries, image characterization, and pixel design teams. Further duties include improving product yield and performance through process optimization and layout design updates, finalizing product datasheets, and supporting quality and reliability engineers in addressing customer complaints and updating product reliability documents. The position also entails setting up new tape out product process flows and collaborating with testing engineers to develop, verify, and release testing programs and determine production testing specifications.

Requirements

Master’s degree or foreign equivalent degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related fields.
Semiconductor physics, including CMOS transistor performance and NMOS/PMOS device behavior.
Digital circuit design and hardware/software integration for system-level applications, with proficiency in digital logic design, simulation, and synthesis using Verilog and Xcelium.
Software development and research involving digital signal processing principles and statistical analysis methods.
Proficiency in data analysis and visualization using Python and Excel to manage large datasets, identify trends, and support engineering decision-making.
Ability to apply advanced engineering techniques for system modeling, optimization, and control in complex applications.

Responsibilities

Design a characterization/testing plan and work with R&D teams and manufacturing engineers to resolve various technical issues to meet performance requirements.
Evaluate image sensor manufacturing quality by statistically analyzing multiple electrical and functional parameters in wafer level characterization and chip scale testing.
Drive production yield rate reach to target yield level from new product tape out, listing parameters according to yield loss rate from high to low.
Debug root cause of process and design related yield loss happening in initial silicon; cooperate with process and design engineers to solve problems.
Conduct product introduction and ramp-up for image sensors and ASIC devices.
Work in close collaboration with silicon foundry, image characterization and pixel design.
Interact with foundry fab in improving all silicon process, color, and package issues.
Improve product yield and performance by process optimization and layout design update.
Analyze yield and drive corrective actions for yield improvements.
Drive characterization to finalize the product datasheet.
Work with pixel design group to design the most sophisticated and optimized pixel layout.
Work with characterization team to analyze and debug pixel device circuit and various image related issues.
Work with quality engineers to solve customer quality complaints and track quality improvement after solution implemented.
Support reliability engineers on production quality analysis and update relative criteria on product reliability documents.
Coordinate with company's fab to drive semiconductor processing tool vendors to optimize processes, including raw material vendor, IMP tool vendor and photo resist vendor etc.
Set up new tape out product process flows, inline handbooks, JDV check etc.
Work with testing engineers to develop, verify and release testing program at CP or FT.
Test sample sensors on manual testing board, and help testing engineer finalize ATE testing program.
Determine production testing specifications base on wafer level characterization and packaged chip testing data.
Cooperate with testing engineers to debug testing problems such as tester mechanical failure, manufacture fluctuating issue and error handling.