SPM Researcher
To meet the soaring demand for ever more powerful and complex chips, the global semiconductor industry needs to boost productivity and drive down defect resolution times. Nearfield Instruments’ unique high throughput metrology systems offer the solution, meeting today’s and future process and quality control requirements. Your challenge as an SPM researcher is to design, build and operate SPM set-ups geared to measuring the most complex wafer structures. Would you like to see the results of your research put into practice by the world’s leading chipmakers? Join us and grow your career at a rapidly growing scale-up.
As part of our rapidly growing R&D team, you will be working closely with experts in fields ranging from application development, and mechanical and electronics engineering to physics design and software engineering. You’ll play a crucial role in the development of new measurement modes, translating theory into experiments. Performing measurements, you will assess and validate proofs of concept geared to optimising our QUADRA and AUDIRA systems.
Your responsibilities include:
• Researching the latest developments in the field of SPM, including scientific literature, and studying industry R&D roadmaps. Based on these insights you will identify the potential for product development as well as potential future customer needs and the related system requirements.
• Devising tests based on the latest theory, for which you will design and build the experimental set-ups geared to high throughput quality and defect inspections.
• Initiating and conducting measurement campaigns, from planning and execution to issue resolution and reporting. You will also instruct engineers who assist you on safety and technical aspects.
• Performing measurements of novel and challenging measuring modes, including sub-surface measuring, analyzing differences with expected results and recommending design changes. You may be using customer samples, or acquire the necessary sample from research consortiums or market parties.
• Taking part in customer demonstrations from time to time, explaining the technology and answering questions.
• Assessing the feasibility and challenges of new design proposals, for which you will design the necessary alterations to the SPM set-up and perform measurements.
• Assisting our in-house patent experts to secure our intellectual property, writing papers, and attending and speaking at leading conferences, which involves some travelling.
Nearfield Instruments being a rapidly growing scale-up, we have no closely defined boundaries or hierarchy. We all work together to realise Nearfield Instruments’ growth strategy. What connects us is a drive to develop and build deep-tech metrology solutions, enabling 5G connectivity, AI, medical technology, autonomous mobility and so much more. As an international team, we have different cultural backgrounds, which is why diversity and inclusion come naturally to us. Our combined identities and ambitions enrich our culture and make up our strength. We encourage you to be authentic and empower you to grow your role and career in an open, friendly and supportive atmosphere. Because at Nearfield Instruments, Together Everyone Achieves More.
At Nearfield Instruments, you’ll be joining the most creative minds in science and technology from all over the world. We share a drive and have the potential to become the leading metrology instruments manufacturer. This is your chance to visibly contribute to growing our company and building revolutionary machines for the global semiconductor industry. The benefits we offer include:
• A salary matching your skills, expertise and experience.
• A one-year contract, which we hope to convert into a permanent contract.
• Benefits like a good pension scheme, a commuting allowance, and a discount on your health insurance.
• A holiday allowance of 8% and plenty of time to relax with 30 days of annual leave, based on a 40-hour week. And the possibility to exchange public holidays for alternative days off.
• An engaging onboarding program and a buddy to mentor you, so you can start with confidence.
• Unrivalled on-the-job training as you’ll be working with the industry’s top scientists, developing technology that doesn’t yet exist. And lots of opportunities to grow your career at our rapidly growing scale-up.
• The opportunity to travel and even work abroad, as and when we’re opening research and production facilities across the globe.
• An employer that is a proud ally for women and has a diverse and inclusive culture. People from over thirty countries inspire, care for and support each other. We encourage you to be or become who and what you want to be.
• An open and transparent working environment: we listen to you and empower you to take initiative and get the job done in the way that works best for you.
• A community that loves working at our high-tech facilities. Because that’s where we connect at a professional and a personal level, learning and growing together. Which is why we maximize working from home to one day a week.
• A fun place to be. You can join our running club and take part in our many social events, which include lunches and milestone parties. And if you have ideas of your own, feel free to take us along!
Bridging fundamental science and its application in truly unique machines that add value to the semicon industry’s processes. That’s what drives you. Taking ownership of your research, you effortlessly alternate between projects and adapt to shifting priorities and deadlines. And you harness your communication skills to interact and collaborate well with colleagues, strategic suppliers and our customers. Participating in demos to customers across the globe means you have no trouble working outside office hours occasionally. Supporting your work-life balance, we do, of course, reciprocate your flexibility.
You also have:
• A PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Physics or related fields.
• Extensive experience of using and developing SPM technology, preferably geared to semiconductor devices.
• Technical expertise and a keen interest in the broad spectrum of SPM.
• Experience of measurement analysis and automation, using both standard SPM analysis tools and Python scripts, which you can adapt to tailor specific experiments.
• A good command of spoken and written English, as English is our and our customers’ main language.
Learn more about Nearfield Instruments
The selection process will include two, and sometimes more, interviews, including a meeting with our CEO and CTO. If we have a match, we’ll make you an offer and, hopefully, we’ll be welcoming you at Nearfields Instruments, where you’ll participate in an extensive onboarding programme!
If the above mix of technical- and personal challenges excites you, we encourage you to send us your details using the Apply now button. If you have any questions before applying or would like to have a general conversation about Nearfield Instruments, you can contact our Recruiter, Bram Baaij on +31(0)6 14 24 93 23 or send an e-mail to bram.baaij@nearfieldinstruments.com.