Senior Principal Engineer, Heaters & ESC Innovation

ASM International; Phoenix (AZ); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

ASM is seeking a (Senior) Principal Engineer for Heaters and ESC to design and deliver advanced hardware solutions for 300mm wafer processing. You will lead development of JR and Coulombic ESC assemblies and coordinate cross-functional teams across materials, process, and integration.

The role emphasizes innovation over legacy approaches, requires deep expertise in ESC, heaters, ceramic materials, and thermal management in vacuum environments, and offers exposure to cutting-edge semiconductor

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Materials Science or Ceramic Engineering
• 7+ years in semiconductor capital equipment engineering, with ESC or heater experience
• Experience with 300mm wafer processing tools and OEM qualification processes
• Knowledge of high-purity ceramic fabrication techniques
• Familiarity with reactive process chemistries in ESC materials
• Understanding of electrostatic clamping mechanisms and process dependencies
• Experience with thermal management in vacuum environments
• Hands-on experience with electrical characterization equipment
• Knowledge of plasma processing systems and their ESC requirements
• Experience with FEA thermal simulation tools

Responsibilities

• Design and develop JR and Coulombic ESC assemblies for 300mm processing
• Select and qualify dielectric ceramic materials for ESC layers
• Define ESC clamping voltage, leakage, and chuck/dechuck specs
• Characterize ESC electrical properties across temperature ranges
• Analyze wafer backside contamination and arcing risks
• Support ESC integration with RF/DC power supplies
• Design multi-zone heater assemblies for uniform wafer heating
• Perform thermal modeling to optimize heater layout and zone config
• Develop closed-loop temperature control systems with sensors and PID tuning
• Characterize heater uniformity and thermal response
• Manage thermal stress and CTE mismatch for long-term reliability

Skills

Cross-functional teamwork

Analytical problem solving

Thermal management

Electrical characterization

Material science knowledge

Education

Materials Science PhD

Ceramic Engineering PhD

Tools

ANSYS

COMSOL

Job description

ASM is seeking a (Senior) Principal Engineer for Heaters and ESC to design and deliver advanced hardware solutions for 300mm wafer processing. You will lead development of JR and Coulombic ESC assemblies and coordinate cross-functional teams across materials, process, and integration.

The role emphasizes innovation over legacy approaches, requires deep expertise in ESC, heaters, ceramic materials, and thermal management in vacuum environments, and offers exposure to cutting-edge semiconductor