Senior Packaging Failure Analysis Engineer – Silicon Photonics

nEye.ai; California (MO); On-site; USD 165,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

nEye.ai is seeking a hands-on Senior Packaging Failure Analysis Engineer to lead root-cause investigations across silicon photonics, MEMS, optical packaging, and electronic assemblies. You will own investigations from non-destructive analysis through destructive physical analysis, select appropriate techniques, and translate findings into corrective actions for design, packaging, manufacturing.

Over time you may help build in-house FA capabilities, including cross-sectioning, microscopy,

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Materials Science, Materials Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 8+ years of hands-on experience in failure analysis, materials characterization, or physical analysis within semiconductors, advanced packaging, photonics, MEMS, microelectronics, or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in cross-sectioning and analysis of bonded interfaces.
• Strong knowledge of materials behavior, phase diagrams, intermetallics, interfaces, adhesion, fracture, and material interactions.
• Hands-on experience with several analytical techniques such as SEM/EDS, FIB, XPS, XRD, optical microscopy, X-ray/CT, SAM, FTIR, and DSC.
• Ability to select the appropriate analytical technique based on the failure mechanism being investigated and understand the strengths and limitations of each method.
• Experience investigating packaging or assembly failure mechanisms involving adhesives, solder joints, wafer/die bonding, eutectic bonding, optical attach, or hermetic packages.
• Strong root-cause problem-solving skills with an inquisitive, hypothesis-driven, and structured approach to failure analysis.
• Ability to translate complex analytical findings into clear conclusions and actionable engineering recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Lead structured failure analysis and root-cause investigations across silicon photonics, MEMS, optical packaging, bonded assemblies, and PCBAs.
• Perform and interpret cross-sections of bonded structures and material interfaces, identifying defects, intermetallic formation, diffusion, cracking, voiding, contamination, delamination, and other failure mechanisms.
• Develop FA workflows using the appropriate progression of non-destructive and destructive analytical techniques, including optical microscopy, X-ray/CT, SAM, IR imaging, cross-sectioning, FIB, SEM/EDS, XPS, XRD, and related methods.
• Apply a strong understanding of materials science, phase diagrams, interfacial reactions, and failure mechanisms to interpret analytical results—for example, identifying phase formation within Au-Si or other bonded interfaces.
• Understand the capabilities, limitations, detection depths, spatial resolution, and appropriate application of different analytical and metrology techniques and select the best method for each investigation.
• Analyze fusion and eutectic bonded interfaces, including Si-Si, Si-glass, Au-Sn, and Au-Si systems, for unbonded regions, particle-induced voids, cracking, weak-bond propagation, and other interfacial defects.
• Investigate photonics fibre/FAU attach and adhesive failures, including coupling-loss shifts, alignment drift, delamination, voiding, cure shrinkage, creep, photodarkening, and outgassing.
• Support epoxy/material selection and characterization, including CTE, modulus, Tg, refractive index, ionic content, and cure kinetics, using techniques such as DSC and FTIR.
• Investigate solder and PCBA failures, including voiding, non-wet opens, head-in-pillow, pad cratering, IMC growth, fatigue cracking, warpage, and reflow-related defects.
• Support hermeticity and MEMS failure investigations, including leak testing, moisture ingress, contamination, stiction, cavity pressure shifts, and outgassing-driven drift.
• Perform or coordinate mechanical characterization including die shear, fibre pull, bond-strength/toughness testing, chisel testing, and four-point bending.
• Maintain disciplined FA documentation and a failure database, drive 8D/root-cause and corrective-action closure, and communicate findings clearly to engineering and manufacturing teams.
• Feed FA learnings into DFM/DFR, design improvements, process development, and OSAT/module partner corrective actions.
• Support product qualification and reliability investigations against relevant JEDEC, Telcordia GR-468, and MIL-STD-883 requirements.
• Help define and potentially establish in-house FA laboratory capabilities, including equipment selection, sample-preparation workflows, polishing/cross-sectioning, SEM/EDS, and laboratory best practices.

Skills

8+ years FA experience

Failure analysis

Materials characterization

Cross-sectioning

SEM/EDS

FIB

XPS

XRD

Education

Materials Science/Engineering degree

Tools

SEM/EDS

FIB

XPS

XRD

Optical microscopy

X-ray/CT

SAM

FTIR

DSC

Job description

nEye.ai is seeking a hands-on Senior Packaging Failure Analysis Engineer to lead root-cause investigations across silicon photonics, MEMS, optical packaging, and electronic assemblies. You will own investigations from non-destructive analysis through destructive physical analysis, select appropriate techniques, and translate findings into corrective actions for design, packaging, manufacturing.

Over time you may help build in-house FA capabilities, including cross-sectioning, microscopy,