Thin-Film Deposition Scientist (Postdoc)

Periodic Labs; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Visa sponsorship

Job summary

Periodic Labs seeks a hands-on Postdoctoral Associate in Thin Films to run advanced deposition and nanofabrication processes, generate high-quality experimental data, and collaborate closely with AI and materials teams. In the near term you will operate at external partner facilities before Periodic’s own tools come online, then transition to in-house deposition and metrology.

This 12-month fixed-term role offers equity and potential to convert to full-time as the lab scales, with

Qualifications

• PhD or advanced degree in materials science, physics, chemistry, or related field.
• Hands-on experience operating thin-film deposition equipment - sputtering, evaporation, PLD, ALD, CVD, MBE.
• Familiarity with target conditioning, chamber qualification, substrate prep, recipe troubleshooting.
• Basics of XRD, ellipsometry, SEM/EDX for thin-film analysis.
• Strong documentation habits and detailed record-keeping.

Responsibilities

• Execute thin-film deposition and related nanofabrication processes.
• Prepare substrates and manage process flows with detailed metadata.
• Perform structural and functional thin-film characterization (XRD/XRR, ellipsometry, profilometry, SEM/EDX).
• Monitor in-situ metrology during deposition for quality control.
• Collaborate with AI and materials teams to interpret results and guide parameters.
• Troubleshoot issues and document failures and fixes for institutional knowledge.

Skills

PhD or advanced degree

Thin-film deposition experience

Thin-film characterization

Documentation and data quality

Independent work in shared facilities

Education

PhD or advanced degree in materials science/physics/chemistry

Tools

Sputtering

Evaporation

PLD

ALD

CVD

MBE

Job description

Periodic Labs seeks a hands-on Postdoctoral Associate in Thin Films to run advanced deposition and nanofabrication processes, generate high-quality experimental data, and collaborate closely with AI and materials teams. In the near term you will operate at external partner facilities before Periodic’s own tools come online, then transition to in-house deposition and metrology.

This 12-month fixed-term role offers equity and potential to convert to full-time as the lab scales, with