Staff 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 stability of new processes, including data analysis for statistical process control and investigation of root causes during excursions

· Manage the configuration, qualification and time-sharing of deposition equipment including coordination of R&D experimental runs

· Interface with the wider RD 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 define hardware paths needed for advanced capability and manufacturability

· Manage experiments, projects and wafer tracking to deliver results to the designated schedule

· Participate in technology transfers to the product development engineering team

· Contribute to Seagate’s IP portfolio in the form of invention disclosures, patents, trade secrets, peer-reviewed journal articles, and/or white papers

About you:

 

· You are self-motivated, intellectually curious, able to work independently and have a 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 have a track record of innovation and problem-solving, and regularly use outside sources (journals, patents, university projects and conferences) to inspire new ideas and directions

· You are interested in and able to provide technical leadership to junior staff members

· You are able and eager to work in a mix of clean room and laboratory environments

Your experience includes:

 

· PhD degree in Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Chemistry or related science and engineering fields with 3+ years of direct industry experience OR MS degree in same with 8+ years of industry experience.

· Strong hands-on experience and in-depth understanding of the materials science, deposition, and characterization of thin films. Expertise in thin film nucleation and growth, microstructural evolution, plasma physics, ion-surface interactions and surface chemistry are particularly helpful.

· Expertise in thin film and nanostructure characterization techniques (e.g. XRD, AFM, 4pt 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 and ANOVA. Familiarity with JMP or R preferred but not essential.

Location:

 

The estimated base salary range for this position is $105,600 - $154,000. The individual salary is based on work location and additional