Sr. Materials Engineer, Silicon Crystal Growth (Starlink)
Core
Own the full lifecycle of equipment specification, validation, and process development for silicon ingot and wafer production to support Starlink solar cells.
Role type
Senior IC materials engineer (silicon crystal growth)
Builds
Silicon ingots and wafers for photovoltaic solar cells
Domain
Semiconductor manufacturing / Photovoltaics
Deliverable
production ML models | product features | dashboards & analysis | research | client delivery | infrastructure | physical/clinical work
Required skills
Silicon crystal growth fundamentals, thermal management, impurity control, defect mitigation, polysilicon feedstock knowledge, dopant management, crucible material selection, silicon characterization (ICP-MS, GDMS, XRT, SEM/TEM, FTIR, resistivity mapping, PL), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Design of Experiments (DOE), manufacturing metrics (CPK, yield, OEE), process scale-up, efficiency improvement
Preferred skills
Master's or PhD in materials science/chemical engineering, 8+ years in photovoltaics/semiconductor/crystal growth, cross-functional leadership, rapid environment adaptation
Technologies
ICP-MS, GDMS, XRT, SEM, TEM, FTIR, PL testing equipment
Responsibilities
Specify and implement in-process and off-line metrology tools for quality control; Develop silicon ingot and wafer quality specifications; Conduct testing and performance evaluation; Lead root cause failure investigations; Push material and crystal growth process limits to enable higher PV efficiency; Collaborate with leadership and stakeholders to drive scale-up plans from R&D to production
Seniority
Senior, hands-on IC
