New College Grad - Physicist/Scientist III - PhD (2027 Summer Cohort) - Santa Clara, CA, United States

Originally posted 15 September 2026 by the employer.

This role focuses on understanding, modeling, and predicting plasma–surface interaction processes.

About the role

This role is for a PhD-level scientist or engineer to develop and apply advanced modeling capabilities for plasma processing applications. The focus is on understanding, modeling, and predicting plasma–surface interaction processes using a combination of physics-based methods and data-driven approaches.

What you'll do

• Develop and apply advanced models for plasma etching, deposition, and plasma-based surface modification processes.
• Combine physics-based and machine learning-driven approaches to improve process understanding and predictive capability.
• Collaborate with experimental teams to guide process development and interpret experimental results.
• Contribute to the development, validation, and maintenance of internal software tools, modeling frameworks, and best practices.
• Communicate modeling results clearly and effectively to multidisciplinary teams and customers.

What you'll need

• PhD in Engineering (e.g., Chemical, Materials, Mechanical) or Science (e.g., Physics, Chemistry) or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience modeling plasma–surface or gas–surface interaction processes using ab initio quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, and/or kinetic Monte Carlo methods.
• Strong background in machine learning, particularly in the context of scientific computing or high-performance computing (HPC) environments.
• Experience working with large, complex simulation datasets and integrating modeling results with experimental data.

Skills: plasma processing, plasma etching, atomic layer etching, ab initio quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, machine learning