Sr. Process Engineer, Chemical Mechanical Planarization (Terafab)

What to Expect

We are building Terafab, a vertically integrated semiconductor factory at an unprecedented scale. The facility houses logic, memory, packaging, test, and lithography mask production under one roof, optimized for rapid iteration and maximum compute density per square foot.

Process engineering is where Terafab technology gets built, atom by atom, and chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) creates the flat surfaces that enable layer stacking. You will develop and own CMP processes across three distinct chip families: edge-inference processors, space-hardened chips for orbital satellites, and high-bandwidth memory. You'll control removal rates, dishing, erosion, and defectivity while managing pattern density effects and multi-material selectivity across diverse topographies and materials.

You should have deep expertise in CMP, but be ready to work across core process domains such as deposition, wet clean, and metrology as integration evolves. This is a highly hands-on role at one of the most ambitious fab programs in the world.

What You’ll Do

• Develop and qualify CMP processes for metal layers, dielectrics and barrier films

• Optimize removal rates, within-wafer uniformity, planarization efficiency, and surface finish through systematic DOE and first-principles analysis of pad, slurry, and conditioning interactions

• Own post-CMP clean process qualification including brush scrub and chemical clean steps

• Qualify CMP tools from installation through production readiness, including pad conditioning, slurry delivery, and endpoint detection

• Analyze processes from a first-principles, physics-based approach to understand and manipulate mechanisms, not just recipes

• Lead root cause analysis, establish inline metrology and SPC control strategies, and drive systematic yield improvement

• Support 24/7 manufacturing operations through rotations, on-call availability, and rapid response to critical production issues

• Drive next-generation CMP slurry formulations and process development What You’ll Bring

• Degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field, or equivalent experience

• 5+ years of hands-on CMP process engineering experience in a semiconductor fab, especially in advanced logic, memory, or foundry environment

• Deep experience with CMP tool qualification (Applied Materials, Ebara, or equivalent), slurry and pad optimization, and process of record (POR) establishment at advanced nodes

• Proficiency with CMP metrology tools: film thickness measurement, defect inspection, surface roughness measurement (AFM), and dishing/erosion characterization

• Strong Design of Experiments skills and statistical analysis capability

• Ability to work closely and proactively across lithography, etch, thin films, integration, and equipment engineering teams