Product Engineer 4 - Etch ESC product development

The group you’ll be a part of

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. 

The impact you’ll make

At Lam, as a Product Engineer, you thrive in high-stakes, dynamic environment, driving product development at the forefront of the semiconductor equipment industry. Collaborating closely with customers and internal teams, you will provide real-time problem-solving to customer challenges and to enhance our products. Your passion for engaging with customers and innovative engineering drives progress in our industry, tackling the once unsolvable. 

What you’ll do

ESCs are a highly multidisciplinary technology and offer the opportunity to innovate at the intersection of physics, materials, and software algorithms to provide our customers with differentiated solutions. Lam etch customers continue to tighten requirements on defectivity, process window, and uniformity to meet the needs of ever-shrinking device dimensions. Electrostatic chucks are at the forefront of these needs, as thermal uniformity, voltage process window, and, to a large extent, defectivity limits are defined by this piece of hardware. Lam is continually improving ESC performance in all of these areas to meet customer needs. Understanding the performance of this particular part of Lam plasma etchers requires a multidisciplinary background, incorporating elements of materials science, physics, and mechanical and electrical engineering to fully understand the implications of design changes on customer processing.

Responsibilites:

• Manages new product introduction and production support engineering for a specific product or group of products, from inception through in-house qualification to customer support.
• Participates in design, process, test, reliability, and manufacturing engineering to solve product issues and production problems.
• Develops and sustains process improvements to reduce production costs and increase yields.
• Develops new or modified hardware designs for electrostatic chucks (ESCs) and supporting hardware used in Lam plasma etchers.
• Reviews process and customer requirements to define engineering specifications for ESCs and ESC subsystems.
• Defines testing requirements for production-readiness qualification, reviews and establishes the process of record (POR) at parts suppliers, assesses the suitability of materials used in production, and supports field issues related to this hardware.
• Contributes to innovation efforts to develop novel solutions in one of the most challenging areas of an etch chamber.
• Manages the full ESC life cycle, from development through product release and field support.
• Coordinates design reviews, risk assessments, and POR reviews with Lam engineering personnel to ensure successful product release and adherence to Lam product design business processes.
• Compiles and evaluates test data to determine appropriate hardware limitations and assesses the risk of field failure based on customer process conditions.
• Senior engineers in this role lead a small team of engineers and lab personnel to coordinate multiple subsystems and deliver the wafer requirements required for the next generation of hardware.

Who we’re looking for

• Ph.D. in materials science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, or a related field (highly desired), with typically a minimum of 3 years of experience; alternatively, 3–6 years of experience with a Master’s degree or 8 years with a Bachelor’s degree; or equivalent experience.
• Semiconductor or product design experience  
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability  
• Effective communicator with the desire to understand all aspects of a problem at a fundamental level.  
• Experience designing, specifying, building, operating and maintaining capital equipment test apparatus.  
• Proficient in Python, MATLAB or other similar scientific computing language  
• Fundamental understanding of heat transfer, mass transfer, vacuum pressure and flow, thermodynamics and basic mechanics of materials

Preferred qualifications

• Prior product design and technical engineer experience is beneficial.
• Experience designing, specifying, building, operating, and maintaining semiconductor, automotive, aerospace, or related hardware, tools, and equipment.
• Experience coordinating and communicating with cross-functional teams.

Our commitment

We believe it is important for every person to feel valued, included, and empowered to achieve their full potential. By bringing unique individuals and viewpoints together, we achieve extraordinary results.

Lam Research ("Lam" or the "Company") is an equal opportunity employer. Lam is committed to and reaffirms support of equal opportunity in employment and non-discrimination in employment policies, practices and procedures on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. It is the Company's intention to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Company policy prohibits unlawful discrimination against applicants or employees.

Lam offers a variety of work location models based on the needs of each role. Our hybrid roles combine the benefits of on-site collaboration with colleagues and the flexibility to work remotely and fall into two categories – On-site Flex and Virtual Flex. ‘On-site Flex’ you’ll work 3+ days per week on-site at a Lam or customer/supplier location, with the opportunity to work remotely for the balance of the week. ‘Virtual Flex’ you’ll work 1-2 days per week on-site at a Lam or customer/supplier location, and remotely the rest of the time.

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