Sr. Engineer - Thin Film Deposition and Materials

About our group:

At Seagate our mission is to build the world’s best data storage devices. The Advanced Transducer Development group is a global R&D organization that develops new recording head technologies to advance areal density and enable Seagate’s HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 4 year+ product roadmap.

Our process team uses state-of-the-art wafer fabrication tools and cleanroom facilities to innovate and deliver leading-edge writers and read sensors. With an emphasis on proving feasibility of new devices, processes and materials, we help build Seagate’s future time-to-market leadership. If you are excited by innovative technology development, are naturally creative, and passionate about seeing ideas come to life then this could be a perfect fit for your research and development career. 

About the role - you will:

• Develop novel thin film deposition processes to achieve critical performance and reliability targets in nanometer-scale head devices.
• Utilize a variety of vacuum deposition technologies (PVD, IBD, evaporation, ALD, CVD) and statistical experimentation methods to optimize film performance.
• Conduct detailed studies of material properties using microstructural, chemical, electrical, optical, and thermal/mechanical test methods.
• Maintain the stability of new processes, including data analysis for statistical process control and investigation of root causes during process excursions.
• Support the configuration, qualification, and time-sharing of deposition equipment, including coordination of R&D experimental runs.
• Interface with the wider R&D and Product wafer teams to integrate new process modules into advanced prototype wafer builds.
• Help assess the impact of new films on downstream head performance to drive improvements.
• Explore new deposition techniques to support the definition of hardware paths needed for advanced capability and manufacturability.
• Support experiments, projects, and wafer tracking activities to deliver results according to the designated schedule.
• Participate in technology transfers to the product development engineering team.
• Contribute to Seagate’s IP portfolio through invention disclosures, patents, trade secrets, peer-reviewed journal articles, and/or white papers.

About you:

• You are self-motivated, intellectually curious, and have strong attention to detail.
• You are an honest and respectful team player, capable of working in strong partnership with a diverse global group of engineers and technicians.
• You are a well-organized multitasker, able to balance day-to-day wafer processing needs with longer-term development work.
• You maintain thorough documentation of results and can clearly present and discuss them with other staff members in engineering and management forums.
• You are interested in innovation and problem-solving and use outside sources, including journals, patents, university projects, and conferences, to inspire new ideas and directions.
• You are interested in mentoring and collaborating with other team members.
• You are able and eager to work in a mix of cleanroom and laboratory environments.

Your experience includes:

• Bachelor's Degree in Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Chemistry and 5+ years of experience, or Master’s degree in Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Chemistry and 3+ years of experience, or PhD and 0+ years of experience or equivalent education and experience.
• Hands-on experience and understanding of the materials science, deposition, and characterization of thin films.
• Experience with thin film nucleation and growth, microstructural evolution, plasma physics, ion-surface interactions, and surface chemistry is particularly helpful.
• Experience with thin film and nanostructure characterization techniques (e.g., XRD, AFM, 4-point probe, ellipsometry, XRF, FIB, SEM, (S)TEM, etc.).
• Experience operating and/or maintaining vacuum deposition process equipment.
• Modeling of thin film growth (preferred but not essential).
• Knowledge of standard statistical experimentation methods, including hypothesis testing, DOE design and analysis,