Sr. Process Engineer, Metal Deposition, Terafab

About the role

• Sr. Process Engineer, Metal Deposition, Terafab | Tesla (Terafab)
• Location: Austin, Texas | Req ID: 267836 | Job Type: Full-time
• What to Expect

We are building Terafab, a vertically integrated semiconductor factory at an unprecedented scale. The facility houses logic, memory, packaging, test, and lithography mask production under one roof, optimized for rapid iteration and maximum compute density per square foot.

Process engineering is where Terafab technology gets built, atom by atom, and metal films determine device speed and reliability. You will develop and own metal deposition processes across three distinct chip families: edge-inference processors, space-hardened chips for orbital satellites, and high-bandwidth memory. You'll control resistivity, adhesion, and step coverage while managing electromigration, stress, and interface quality across diverse thermal and mechanical environments.

You should have deep expertise in metal deposition but be ready to work across core process domains such as plating, etch, and metrology as integration evolves. This is a highly hands-on role at one of the most ambitious fab programs in the world.

What You'll Do

• Develop and qualify ALD, CVD, and PVD processes for metal gate, work function metals, barrier layers, seed layers, and local interconnect (Co, Ru, W, TiN, TaN) at 2nm-class nodes
• Characterize metal film properties—resistivity, conformality, step coverage, grain structure, and adhesion
• Evaluate novel metal materials including Ru and Co local interconnect and backside power delivery network (BSPDN) metallization schemes
• Qualify deposition tools from installation through production readiness, including chamber matching, target management, and process window qualification
• Analyze processes from a first-principles, physics-based approach to understand and manipulate mechanisms, not just recipes
• Lead root cause analysis, establish inline metrology and SPC control strategies, and drive systematic yield improvement
• Support 24/7 manufacturing operations through rotations, on-call availability, and rapid response to critical production issues
• Drive next-generation metal materials and process development

What You'll Bring

• Degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related technical field, or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of hands-on thin films process engineering experience in a semiconductor fab, especially advanced logic, memory, or foundry environment
• Deep experience with ALD/CVD/PVD tool qualification, metal deposition process development, and process of record (POR) establishment at advanced nodes
• Proficiency with metal films metrology tools, film stress measurement, and defect inspection
• Strong Design of Experiments skills and statistical analysis
• Ability to work closely and proactively across lithography, etch, thin films, integration, and equipment engineering teams