Nanoscale Electronics & Device-Physics Engineer

Astera Institute; California (MO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Astera Institute in Emeryville, CA is seeking a Nanoelectronics & Device-Physics Engineer to design the electrostatic drive and the field‑effect position sensor for a nanoscale actuator, and own its fabrication process and electrical characterization. This is a full‑time position.

The role reports to Dr. Jeremy Barton and requires deep device-physics expertise, cleanroom experience, and hands‑on work translating research into robust hardware.

Qualifications

• PhD or MS in electrical engineering, applied physics, materials science.
• Experience with high-k dielectrics and thin‑film stacks, FET or biosensor charge sensing, and low‑noise electrical measurement.
• Cleanroom process design and working familiarity with electron‑beam lithography (running or directing fabrication).
• Comfort at the bench with nanoscale electromechanical characterization; AFM experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design the electrostatic drive stack — the patterned electrode, insulating (high-k) dielectric, and compliant polymer that deflect the charged DNA‑origami plate — to targets of roughly 10 nm of plate displacement and about 100 pN of force at low drive voltage, and validate the dielectric's long‑term reliability.
• Design a field‑effect (FET) sensor that reads the mechanism's position electrically, including the low‑noise readout needed to resolve nanometer‑scale motion for closed‑loop control.
• Define the full device stack — patterned electrode, high‑k dielectric, compliant polymer, and the DNA‑origami actuator — and direct its fabrication (including electron‑beam lithography) at cleanroom partners.
• Characterize the finished device on the bench: voltage–displacement response, reversibility and hysteresis over many actuation cycles, and force/displacement by single‑molecule AFM.
• Ensure the measurement toolchain can actually resolve the quantities being measured.

Skills

Nanoscale device physics

FET sensor design

Cleanroom processes

Electron-beam lithography

AFM characterization

Education

PhD or MS in electrical engineering, applied physics, materials science

Tools

AFM

Electron-beam lithography

Job description

Astera Institute in Emeryville, CA is seeking a Nanoelectronics & Device-Physics Engineer to design the electrostatic drive and the field‑effect position sensor for a nanoscale actuator, and own its fabrication process and electrical characterization. This is a full‑time position.

The role reports to Dr. Jeremy Barton and requires deep device-physics expertise, cleanroom experience, and hands‑on work translating research into robust hardware.