Senior Thermal Diffusion Engineer – High-Volume Solar

T1 Energy; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

T1 Energy in Wilmer, Texas is seeking a Thermal Process Engineer to join our fast-moving team supporting the ramp of our G2 solar cell fab. You will own critical diffusion and thermal processes that affect cell efficiency, yield, and throughput in a high-volume manufacturing setting.

The role offers hands-on work in a clean room environment, close collaboration with equipment engineers and procurement, and opportunities to transfer processes from development to production at scale.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related field.
• 5+ years of process engineering experience in semiconductor, photovoltaic, or advanced manufacturing environments.
• Hands-on experience with high temperature diffusion toolsets.
• Strong working knowledge of ion implantation processes and diffusion thermal tools.
• Experience with DOE methodologies, statistical process control (SPC), micron-level physical inspection and optical/electrical characterization.
• Proficiency with Python, SQL, JMP, and Excel for process monitoring and optimization.
• Ability to support a fab environment, including occasional travel to the G2 facility as needed.

Responsibilities

• Support thermal doping process integration across the G2 solar cell fab, working closely with equipment, facility, quality, and yield engineering teams.
• Drive process characterization, DOE execution, and data analysis to improve dopant uniformities and throughput.
• Troubleshoot process excursions and equipment issues on diffusion tools and sub-inspection modules, identifying root causes and implementing corrective actions.
• Collaborate with equipment engineers and tool vendors to qualify new tool integrations, execute preventive maintenance reviews, and maintain process baselines.
• Develop and maintain detailed process documentation, including recipes, SOPs, and control plans.
• Optimize process performance through statistical process control (SPC) and lead OEM work inspection development integration with urgency.
• Support technology transfer from development to high-volume manufacturing, ensuring processes are robust, repeatable, and scalable.
• Partner with cross-functional teams including core equipment engineering, material procurement, and manufacturing operations to meet cell efficiency and production targets.

Skills

Thermodynamics

Transport phenomena

Vacuum systems

Hall effect

Thin film characteristics

Data-driven problem solving

Python

SQL

JMP

Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related field

Tools

Python

SQL

JMP

Excel

Job description

T1 Energy in Wilmer, Texas is seeking a Thermal Process Engineer to join our fast-moving team supporting the ramp of our G2 solar cell fab. You will own critical diffusion and thermal processes that affect cell efficiency, yield, and throughput in a high-volume manufacturing setting.

The role offers hands-on work in a clean room environment, close collaboration with equipment engineers and procurement, and opportunities to transfer processes from development to production at scale.