​​Wafer Fab Technician – PECVD, Dry Etch & Wet Etch​ - USA - City of Industry, CA, United States

Originally posted 23 October 2026 by the employer.

Operate PECVD, ICP/RIE dry etch, and wet bench tools to manufacture InP Buried Heterostructure DFB lasers and Gain Chips.

About the role

The Wafer Fab Process Technician runs volume production in support of daily wafer fabrication schedules, while ensuring process stability, recipe control, and yield performance across InP photonic device lines. The role focuses on operating thin film and etch modules—including PECVD dielectric deposition systems, ICP/RIE dry etch systems, and wet etch benches—to support InP Buried Heterostructure (BH) DFB lasers and BH Gain Chips.

What you'll do

- Operate PECVD systems to deposit SiO2 and SiNx dielectric films for etch/regrowth masks and passivation layers, maintaining film thickness, refractive index, uniformity, and stress within specification. - Operate ICP/RIE dry etch systems for dielectric mask patterning and InP/InGaAsP Mesa etch steps supporting MOCVD epitaxial regrowth. - Execute wet etch and wet bench steps including stripe etch, BOE oxide removal, resist strip, and pre-regrowth surface cleans, while maintaining bench chemistry. - Perform chamber cleans, seasoning, preventive maintenance, and chamber qualifications using monitor wafers on PECVD and dry etch tools. - Lead root-cause investigations for process excursions and drift across assigned modules using short-loop wafers and engineering splits. - Own SPC control charts, control-limit reviews, and Process-of-Record (POR) documentation for PECVD, dry etch, and wet etch recipes.

What you'll need

- 5 to 10 years of experience in semiconductor or photonics wafer processing, with direct III-V/InP process experience. - Hands-on proficiency operating deposition, etch, and metrology tools, including ellipsometers, reflectometers, profilometers, SEM, and defect inspection tools. - Strong working knowledge of PECVD dielectric deposition (SiO2, SiNx), plasma dry etch, wet etch, and in-line fab process steps. - Working knowledge of plasma etch behavior (rate, selectivity, profile, polymer and chamber conditioning effects) and dielectric film properties. - Ability to work in a cleanroom environment around chemicals (acids, solvents) and process gases using proper safety procedures.

Nice to have

- Associate degree in electronics, chemistry, materials science, or a related technical field. - Direct, hands-on experience operating PECVD and plasma dry etch (ICP/RIE) systems in a high-volume production environment. - Hands-on wet etch and wet bench experience on III-V materials and dielectrics.

Skills: PECVD, ICP/RIE, dry etch, InP, dielectric deposition, wet etch