Implant / RTA Process Engineer - R&D

The Implant / RTA Process Engineer is responsible for sustaining daily operations, ensuring stable tool performance, and maintaining high process reliability for ion implantation, rapid thermal annealing (RTA), and related thermal processes. This role emphasizes equipment health monitoring, preventive maintenance leadership, recipe integrity, process recovery, and rapid issue resolution. Familiarity with Epitaxy (Epi) processes is advantageous for broader device and material stack considerations. AI- and data-driven techniques are used to predict drifts, shorten downtime, and enhance process robustness.

Key Responsibilities:

Data Analytics & Process Control

• Monitor and maintain Implant/RTA performance using SPC, structured analytics, and data-driven fault detection methods.
• Develop statistical models or machine learning workflows to predict drift, equipment degradation, or anomalous behaviour.
• Build automated dashboards for dose uniformity, activation yield, chamber stability, and thermal cycle repeatability.
• Perform DOE studies to identify key parameters impacting junction control, leakage, and defectivity.

Process Sustaining & Control

• Maintain and improve process recipes for dose control, energy accuracy, tilt/twist angles, anneal temperature profiles, and soak times.
• Ensure day-to-day process SPC stability, addressing out-of-control conditions and yield-impacting trends.
• Conduct routine process checks, run qualification wafers, and verify performance against control limits.
• Lead defect reduction, contamination control, and process recovery after maintenance.
• Apply AI/ML-based or analytics-driven methods to:

1. Detect early tool drift or implant misalignment
2. Predict RTA lamp degradation or heater failure
3. Automate trend and anomaly detection

• Support DOE studies with a focus on operational stability and corrective actions.

Equipment & Operations Support

• Troubleshoot ion implanter and RTA equipment issues in collaboration with equipment engineers and tool vendors.
• Support system calibration, beam tuning, wafer temperature profiling, recipe setup, and equipment qualification.
• Lead improvements for tool stability, beam quality, thermal control accuracy, and wafer-to-wafer repeatability.
• Ensure safe handling of high-energy ion beam systems and thermal processing tools in compliance with cleanroom protocols.
• Drive tool matching and chamber qualification to ensure consistent results across multiple tools.
• Lead troubleshooting for tool alarms, hardware failures, sensor issues, beam tuning instability, or unexpected drift.
• Support installation, acceptance tests, calibrations, and upgrades for new Implant/RTA systems.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with equipment engineers, technicians, and integration teams on:

1. Tool PM scheduling.
2. Consumable lifetime tracking.
3. Chamber cleans and hardware replacements
4. Safety and compliance activities

• Interface with vendors on tool issues, performance improvement, and software/hardware updates.

Documentation & Reporting

• Maintain structured documentation including SOPs, process recipes, qualification reports, failure analysis documents, and continuous improvement proposals.
• Document process changes, recipe updates, and corrective action reports.
• Present experimental results, data analytics insights, and recommendations to R&D and management teams.

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Physics, or related fields.
• Relevant experience with Ion implantation (high current, medium current, high energy), RTA/RTP systems (spike anneal, soak, millisecond anneal), Basic Epi concepts (dopant incorporation, epi quality, film stress)
• Strong understanding of equipment fundamentals such as vacuum systems, plasma physics (implant), lamp/thermal systems (RTA).
• Proficiency in data analytics (Python, JMP, MATLAB, or similar).
• Exposure to AI/ML-based predictive models for process or equipment monitoring.
• Knowledge of SPC, FDC, DOE, and semiconductor manufacturing best practices.
• Hands-on cleanroom experience, safety-oriented mindset, and strong problem-solving capabilities.