Physicist / Scientist V

Who We Are

Applied Materials is a global leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. We design, build and service cutting-edge equipment that helps our customers manufacture display and semiconductor chips – the brains of devices we use every day. As the foundation of the global electronics industry, Applied enables the exciting technologies that literally connect our world – like AI and IoT. If you want to push the boundaries of materials science and engineering to create next generation technology, join us to deliver material innovation that changes the world. 

What We Offer

Salary:

$176,000.00 - $242,000.00

Location:

Santa Clara,CA

You’ll benefit from a supportive work culture that encourages you to learn, develop, and grow your career as you take on challenges and drive innovative solutions for our customers. We empower our team to push the boundaries of what is possible—while learning every day in a supportive leading global company. Visit our Careers website to learn more. 

At Applied Materials, we care about the health and wellbeing of our employees. We’re committed to providing programs and support that encourage personal and professional growth and care for you at work, at home, or wherever you may go. Learn more about our benefits. 

Key Responsibilities

Technically lead and/or execute engineering projects and spearhead research and development of new technologies as appropriate.

Lead and/or develop, and executes significantly complex system projects. Oversees and approves designs in team design reviews. Takes active part in the design of complex modules / sub-modules. Approve qualification results of complex modules.

Provide physics‑based guidance during chamber, module, and sub‑module design reviews, with emphasis on E‑field / B‑field topology, plasma confinement, sputtering efficiency, thermal behavior, and vacuum performance.
Influence chamber architecture and design rules by identifying physics‑imposed constraints and tradeoffs impacting performance, uniformity, reliability, and scalability.

Problem identification and troubleshooting a wide range of significantly complex  problems. Oversees and approves research and analysis results. Supports high level / complex physics related application and system issues in the lab and in the field when required.

Lead root‑cause analysis of complex, cross‑domain chamber behaviors where plasma, electromagnetic, thermal, pressure, and vacuum effects are strongly coupled.
Diagnose non‑intuitive behaviors such as process drift, uniformity excursions, defect generation, or instability by identifying second‑order physics effects missed by purely empirical approaches.

Function as specialist for physics/scientists issues, while influencing and utilizing  expertise in interfacing with external and internal customers, lead and/or develop and execute system projects, troubleshooting system problems, and defining system specifications and schedules.  Regularly interacts with senior managers on matters involving several functional areas, departments or customers concerning projects, operations and schedules. Interactions require the ability to change thinking or gain the acceptance of others in sensitive situations. Reviews and approves system and sub-system requirements and specifications designed by other team members.

Serve as MDP PVD physics specialist for chamber‑level multiphysics issues, supporting internal product teams and selected customer escalations involving advanced PVD challenges.
Communicate complex physics concepts to engineering, management, and customer stakeholders to drive alignment and sound technical decision‑making under ambiguity.

Apply advanced principles, theories, and concepts. Contributes to the development of new principles and concepts. Takes an active part in product risk management discussions leveraging  his / her  expertise and knowledge to influence and drive risk management decisions. Takes an active part in Red-Team groups, leveraging his / her expertise to analyze competitor technologies and assess competitor architectural entitlements.

Apply and develop advanced principles in low‑temperature plasma physics, electromagnetics, sputtering physics, and transport phenomena relevant to PVD systems.
Contribute physics insight to platform and architectural risk assessments, including evaluation of competitor PVD architectures, field configurations, and process entitlements.

Initiates innovative physics/science projects, which extend boundaries of system performance or techno. Leads the selection and management of  strategic vendors. Maintains relationships with outside customers of innovation, Universities, Consortia. Leads technological customer engagements driving innovation & development. Meets high level executives on the customer side  effecting customer decision making 

Initiate and lead physics‑driven innovation projects targeting next‑generation PVD performance limits, including scaling, uniformity, materials capability, and manufacturability.
Engage with universities, consortia, and strategic partners on applied plasma, deposition, and chamber physics topics aligned with MDP roadmaps.

Provide mentoring for less experienced physicist/scientists.

Research new technologies and analyze competition technology. Evaluate new technologies. Plan and execute complex feasibility studies of new technologies and lead the decision making process. Prepare and deliver papers regarding new technologies, share and promote new ideas and capabilities. Plans and executes feasibility studies of complete systems / sub-systems, leveraging new technologies and design concepts. Leads the demonstration of new capabilities and drives the decision making process.

Mentor engineers and physicists in applying first‑principles, system‑level thinking across coupled plasma, EM, thermal, pressure, and vacuum domains.

Functional Knowledge

• Regarded as the technical expert in their particular field,.

• Demonstrates in-depth and/or breadth of expertise in own discipline and broad knowledge of other disciplines within the function

Business Expertise

• Anticipates business and regulatory issues; recommends product, process or service improvements 

Leadership

• Leads projects with notable risk and complexity; develops the strategy for project execution

Problem Solving

• Solves unique problems with broad impact on the business; requires conceptual and innovative thinking to develop solutions

• Solves complex problems where multiple physical domains interact and where root causes are not directly observable, requiring hypothesis‑driven analysis and conceptual physics insight.

Impact

• Impacts the direction and resource allocation for program, project or services; works within general functional policies and industry guidelines

Interpersonal Skills

• Communicates complex ideas, anticipates potential objections and persuades others, often at senior levels, to adopt a different point of view

Additional Information

Time Type:

Full time

Employee Type:

Assignee / Regular

Travel:

Yes, 10% of the Time

Relocation Eligible:

Yes

The salary offered to a selected candidate will be based on multiple factors including location, hire grade, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and with consideration of internal equity of our current team members. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package, candidates may be eligible for other forms of compensation such as participation in a bonus and a stock award program, as applicable.

For all sales roles, the posted salary range is the Target Total Cash (TTC) range for the role, which is the sum of base salary and target bonus amount at 100% goal achievement.

Applied Materials is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law.

In addition, Applied endeavors to make our