Senior PECVD Process Engineer

Coherent Corp.•Sherman, TX

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Coherent is a global leader in lasers, engineered materials and networking components. We are a vertically integrated manufacturing company that develops innovative products for diversified applications in the industrial, optical communications, military, life sciences, semiconductor equipment, and consumer markets. Coherent provides a comprehensive career development platform within an environment that challenges employees to perform at their best, while rewarding excellence and hard-work through a competitive compensation program. It's an exciting opportunity to work for a company that offers stability, longevity and growth. Come Join Us! This role serves as the process owner for PECVD, developing, sustaining, and optimizing processes for GaAs and InP device manufacturing. The engineer will conduct process characterization and troubleshooting, working cross-functionally with R&D, production, and equipment teams. They will apply Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Design of Experiments (DOE) to monitor and improve process stability and yield, and interface with equipment vendors to evaluate tool performance and upgrades. The role also involves serving as the technical owner for PECVD equipment and associated metrology, leading troubleshooting efforts for process deviations, equipment issues, and yield excursions, and working with vendors and maintenance personnel to improve tool performance, reliability, and uptime. Support for equipment qualification, preventive maintenance, and continuous improvement activities is also expected. Additionally, the engineer will support automated recipe download and verification, work with automation and equipment teams to ensure correct recipe selection, parameter control, and lot tracking, and develop and maintain process limits, alarms, interlocks, and fault detection rules. Reviewing tool and process data to identify trends, excursions, and early indicators of equipment or process issues, and supporting fault detection and classification systems to improve process control, reduce scrap, and prevent repeat excursions are key responsibilities. Participation in automation improvements that enhance tool utilization, data collection, traceability, and manufacturing consistency is also part of the role. The engineer will perform failure analysis and defect characterization to identify root causes of process variation, and develop and implement process improvements to increase yield, improve film quality, and reduce defectivity. Leading continuous improvement initiatives focused on productivity, equipment utilization, and process capability is also required. Finally, the engineer will develop and maintain process documentation, work instructions, FMEAs, process specifications, and control plans, and train technicians and junior engineers on equipment operation, process control, troubleshooting, and best practices. Support for new equipment installations, process qualifications, and technology transfers is also part of the role.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
5+ years of experience in semiconductor PECVD or thin films process engineering.
Strong understanding of SiNx, SiOx, and other PECVD films, including the relationship between process parameters, gas chemistry, plasma conditions, chamber conditioning, clean cycles, and resulting film properties.
Experience with thin-film metrology including ellipsometry, reflectometry, profilometry, FTIR, stress/bow measurement, SEM, or similar techniques.
Experience in optimizing film thickness, RI, deposition rate, uniformity, stress, and film composition.
Ability to work on-site in a semiconductor manufacturing and cleanroom environment.
Ability to provide off-hours support as needed for critical manufacturing or equipment issues.
Solid background in SPC, Gage R&R, DOE, and root cause analysis.
Proficient in JMP, Excel, and other Microsoft Office software.
Excellent documentation, troubleshooting, and communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience with MES systems (e.g., Camstar) is a plus.
Direct GaAs and/or InP process experience is highly desirable.
Experience with high-volume semiconductor manufacturing.
Knowledge of additional fab areas such as photolithography, etch, or metals.
Familiarity with device-level impacts of film properties and process integration.

Responsibilities

Serve as the process owner for PECVD, developing, sustaining, and optimizing processes for GaAs and InP device manufacturing.
Conduct process characterization and troubleshooting, working cross-functionally with R&D, production, and equipment teams.
Apply Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Design of Experiments (DOE) to monitor and improve process stability and yield.
Interface with equipment vendors to evaluate tool performance and upgrades.
Serve as the technical owner for PECVD equipment and associated metrology.
Lead troubleshooting efforts for process deviations, equipment issues, and yield excursions.
Work with equipment vendors and maintenance personnel to improve tool performance, reliability, and uptime.
Support equipment qualification, preventive maintenance, and continuous improvement activities.
Support automated recipe download and verification for production tools.
Work with automation and equipment teams to ensure correct recipe selection, parameter control, and lot tracking.
Develop and maintain process limits, alarms, interlocks, and fault detection rules.
Review tool and process data to identify trends, excursions, and early indicators of equipment or process issues.
Support fault detection and classification systems to improve process control, reduce scrap, and prevent repeat excursions.
Participate in automation improvements that improve tool utilization, data collection, traceability, and manufacturing consistency.
Perform failure analysis and defect characterization to identify root causes of process variation.
Develop and implement process improvements to increase yield, improve film quality, and reduce defectivity.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on productivity, equipment utilization, and process capability.
Develop and maintain process documentation, work instructions, FMEAs, process specifications, and control plans.
Train technicians and junior engineers on equipment operation, process control, troubleshooting, and best practices.
Support new equipment installations, process qualifications, and technology transfers.