Staff Wet Etch Process Engineer
At Nokia Optical Networks, advanced photonic technologies become scalable products powering the world's communication infrastructure. Our team develops and manufactures cutting-edge Indium Phosphide (InP) photonic integrated circuits (PICs), enabling coherent optics, high-speed transceivers, tunable lasers, optical amplifiers, and next-generation networking solutions.
As a Staff Wet Etch Process Engineer, you will develop, integrate, and optimize wet etch and wet clean processes used in the fabrication of advanced photonic devices. You will work hands-on with wet processing equipment, chemical delivery systems, consumables, and metrology systems to improve dimensional control, selectivity, surface morphology, contamination performance, yield, and manufacturability.
Qualifications
- MS or PhD in relevant engineering or science discipline.
- 5+ years semiconductor, photonics, or process engineering experience.
- Strong understanding of wet processing, surface chemistry, contamination control, DOE, and SPC.
- Strong ownership mindset and ability to independently drive projects and deliver results.
- Ability to prioritize and respond quickly to manufacturing challenges.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with semiconductor wet benches and automated wet processing equipment.
- Experience processing InP, GaAs, SiN, silicon photonics, or III-V technologies.
- Passion for manufacturing excellence and continuous improvement.
- Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced fab environment balancing production and development priorities.
Responsibilities
- Develop, qualify, and sustain wet etch and wet clean processes for InP photonic integrated circuits and related optical devices.
- Optimize etch rate, selectivity, undercut control, surface roughness, uniformity, contamination control, and yield.
- Support fabrication of optical structures such as waveguides, SOAs, lasers, modulators, and passive optical components.
- Drive defect reduction and yield improvement using DOE, SPC, and statistical analysis.
- Analyze processes from a first-principles, physics-based approach to understand and manipulate mechanisms, not just recipes
- Provide rapid response and technical leadership for process excursions and production issues.
- Support a 24x7 manufacturing operation through on-call/on-site support and issue escalation.
- Demonstrates flexibility in work schedule and is willing to work swing shifts based on business requirements.
- Drive next-generation wet chemistry formulations and process development
- Leverage AI and advanced analytics to improve process efficiency and decision making.
Salary Range: $139,000 to $198,000