Senior Staff Process Development Engineer
About The Position
SkyWater is seeking a Senior Staff Process Development Engineer for its Advanced Technology Services group. The role focuses on fabricating and integrating quantum devices in a semiconductor foundry environment, with particular emphasis on developing and optimizing wafer-level processes for low-loss photonic waveguides and supporting components relevant to quantum applications. The engineer will work with customers and cross-functional teams to troubleshoot manufacturing issues, characterize device performance, establish and document process flows, and help transition devices to full-scale production. The position supports development of novel, customized technologies such as superconducting ICs, quantum computing devices, carbon nanotube devices, MEMS, biosensors, DNA sequencing devices, silicon photonics, and III-V devices. SkyWater describes its work environment as collaborative and focused on integrity, excellence, empowerment, growth, and employee development.
Requirements
- BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, or a related discipline.
- Experience with cleanroom fabrication tools, including lithography, etch, deposition, CMP, and metrology.
- Engineering experience in a semiconductor fab or lab environment: 7 years with a BS, 5 years with an MS, or 2–3 years with a PhD.
- Basic knowledge of semiconductor fabrication and equipment.
- Strong organizational skills and work ethic.
- Exceptional oral and written communication skills.
- Ability to thrive in a large cross-functional program environment.
Nice To Haves
- PhD in a related field.
- Research experience in materials used in semiconductor manufacturing.
- Exposure to various aspects of semiconductor manufacturing processes.
- Experience with foundry-scale (200mm/300mm) photonic process design kits (PDKs).
- Hands-on experience with photonic integrated circuit (PIC) fabrication in a cleanroom or fab environment.
- Demonstrated experience with low-loss waveguide fabrication, including etch processes, cladding deposition, and propagation loss reduction techniques.
- Strong understanding of optical characterization techniques, including loss measurement and spectral characterization.
- Familiarity with high-speed modulator design, fabrication, or characterization; RF/electro-optic co-design is a plus.
- Working knowledge of quantum photonics principles applied to at least one of quantum networking, quantum sensing, or quantum computing.
- Familiarity with cryogenic packaging or testing quantum hardware.
- Background in RF/microwave engineering for modulator driver integration.
- Publication record or patents in integrated photonics, quantum optics, or related fields.
- Prior work in a semiconductor fab or foundry environment.
Responsibilities
- Develop and optimize fabrication process flows for wafer-level manufacturing of low-loss photonic waveguides.
- Support integration of components relevant to quantum applications.
- Collaborate with process integration teams to troubleshoot yield, optical loss, and reliability issues across the fab flow.
- Develop test and characterization methodologies for waveguide loss, modulator bandwidth, coupling efficiency, and device-level quantum metrics.
- Interface with customer, design, process, packaging, and test teams to ensure manufacturability of quantum photonic devices.
- Document process recipes, integration flows, and failure analysis for internal knowledge transfer and process control.
- Collaborate with CAD engineers to validate incoming layout files and construct frames with essential metrology boxes and electrical test structures.
- Implement data collection schemes and collaborate with process and tool experts to formulate effective process recipes.
- Design and conduct experiments to validate and optimize process recipes.
- Liaise with the failure analysis lab to submit samples for cross-sectioning and support continuous improvement.
- Monitor customer material and proactively address processing issues to ensure a smooth workflow.
- Conduct regular customer meetings and provide project progress updates as materials move through production.
- Deliver process reviews to support transitioning devices to full-scale production.
Benefits
- Competitive salary.
- Opportunity to participate in incentive plans.
- 401(k) match.
- Life insurance.
- Benefits eligibility on day one.
- Medical benefits.
- Dental benefits.
- Mental health benefits.
- Vision benefits.
- Legal planning.
- Short- and long-term disability.
- Paid time off.
- Paid holidays.
- On-site fitness facility.
- On-site self-serve market.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
