R&D Process Engineer - PECVD and Plasma Systems - US-CA-Santa Rosa-Bldg 2, United States
$138,960 - $231,600 USD yearly
Originally posted 26 August 2026 by the employer.
Develop and maintain manufacturing processes for passive interposer substrates.
About the role
This role involves developing, maintaining, and optimizing manufacturing processes to fabricate passive interposer substrates for Keysight’s Heterogeneous Integration technology, with a focus on wafer fab processes.
What you'll do
- Develop and sustain custom micro and nano-fabrication technologies.
- Own and advance plasma process performance across PECVD/CVD, dry etch, PVD/sputtering, and ashing tools by driving film quality, uniformity, and defect reduction through structured DOEs.
- Collaborate with equipment engineering on tool performance optimization, preventive maintenance strategies, and new tool installations.
- Drive process control and stability using SPC charting, daily reviews, and root cause analysis with statistical tools.
- Define process flows, develop new processes, and drive continuous process improvement efforts to maximize product yield.
- Report process metrics, root cause investigations, and process change implementations at the department level.
What you'll need
- Expertise in plasma-based semiconductor processes, with experience in PECVD/CVD, dry etch, PVD/sputtering, ashing, and related vacuum-based processes.
- M.S. or Ph.D. in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or related fields.
- Proven experience in process development, Statistical Process Control (SPC), and Design of Experiments (DOE), including establishing control charts and performing statistical analyses.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills for measurement of anomalies and tool drift issues.
Nice to have
- 5+ years of industrial semiconductor process experience.
- Familiarity with vacuum systems, RF power delivery, gas flow control, and chamber hardware configurations.
Skills: PECVD/CVD, plasma processes, wafer fab processes, process development, DOE
This role has been open 50 days — well below the 61-day median for Process Engineering roles.
Process Engineering · Deposition Process
|
Open roles in category
65
|
Median days open
61 d
|
Median salary
$145k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Keysight Technologies | All employers we track in this specialty (65 roles · 22 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 1 | 65 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 125 | 9867 · 109 employers |
| Median days open | 50 d | 61 d (−11 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $145k |
Skills observed across this category: PECVD/CVD, plasma processes, wafer fab processes, process development, DOE
Who's hiring in this category
- Micron Technology · 18 open roles · median 26 d
- ASM International · 10 open roles · median 57 d
- Lam Research · 9 open roles · median 79 d
- Applied Materials · 3 open roles · median 17 d
- STMicroelectronics · 3 open roles · median 44 d
- Texas Instruments · 2 open roles · median 36 d
How we counted: 65 open Process Engineering (Deposition Process) roles from 22 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 15 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.