Backend Process Engineer

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

- To be responsible for wafer back-end processes like dicing, sorting, top/bottom/facet AOI, frame creation, tape/detape, wafer/frame cleaning, etc.

- Monitors process performance using SPC, inspection yield, defect pareto, false-call/escape metrics, and equipment health indicators; maintains process control and responds to excursions.

- Maintains especially AOI/dicing/sorting stepwise yield and investigates defect excursions, nuisance defects, false rejects, and defect escapes; develops and implements corrective and preventive actions.

- Develops, characterizes, optimizes, and releases process recipes for semiconductor laser facet inspection, including lighting, focus, image acquisition, inspection regions, thresholds, algorithms, and defect classification criteria.

- Develops and maintains control plans, OCAPs, inspection specifications, defect libraries, golden samples, acceptance criteria, and recipe change-control documentation.

- Plans and executes engineering experiments, gauge studies, correlation studies, and capability analyses to improve defect detection sensitivity, repeatability, reproducibility, and discrimination between true defects and cosmetic variation.

- Correlates process results with manual microscope inspection, downstream electrical/optical test, reliability results, and failure analysis to validate inspection effectiveness and reduce risk of defect escapes.

- Drives continuous improvement activities to reduce scrap and reinspection, improve process capability and throughput, reduce cycle time and cost, and increase automated disposition where technically justified.

- Partners with Equipment Engineering and suppliers to troubleshoot image quality, motion, optics, illumination, software, recipe, and hardware issues and to support qualification of equipment upgrades or new inspection capability.

- Supports new product introduction and process changes by defining inspection requirements, establishing baseline defect signatures, qualifying recipes, and completing process readiness documentation.

- Trains Process Technicians, Operators, and Engineers on facet inspection methods, AOI/dicing/sorting recipes, defect classification, reaction plans, and proper handling of inspected material.

- Collaborates with Operations, Equipment Engineering, Process Integration, Design, Quality, Reliability, Failure Analysis, and Supply Chain to achieve business unit and organizational objectives.

Education & Experience

Required Minimum Education: 4 year college degree (Bachelor or Equivalent)

Expected Minimum Years of Related Experience: 2+ years

- A bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Optics/Photonics, Computer Engineering, or a closely related science or engineering major and at least 2 years of relevant experience in semiconductor, optoelectronics, precision inspection, machine vision, or automated manufacturing; or a Master or PhD degree in a related field without industry experience.

- Experience with semiconductor laser devices, GaAs/InP processing, optical microscopy, machine vision, or automated optical inspection is preferred.

Skills

- Working knowledge of semiconductor wafer/device processing, engineering practices, and manufacturing process control.

- Deep Knowledge of automated optical inspection (AOI), machine vision, optical microscopy, image acquisition, lighting, focus, and defect detection concepts.

- Ability to develop and optimize recipes, thresholds, regions of interest, defect classifiers, and acceptance criteria for high-volume manufacturing.

- Knowledge of engineering statistics including SPC, DOE, process capability, measurement system analysis, gauge R&R, correlation, and hypothesis testing.

- Ability to analyze inspection images and large defect datasets, build paretos and trend analyses, and distinguish true process defects from inspection artifacts or nuisance calls.

- Experience with semiconductor laser facets, cleaved/coated optical surfaces, GaAs/InP devices, or optoelectronic manufacturing is preferred.

- Strong structured problem-solving skills and ability to lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions across process, equipment, material, and inspection contributors.

- Good written and oral communication skills, including clear technical documentation and cross-functional communication.

- Fluency in MS Office suite and JMP or other statistical analysis software; experience with AOI software, image analysis tools, SQL/Python, or manufacturing data systems is a plus.

- Working Conditions

- Work in a class 100/1000 clean room for extended periods as required by manufacturing support activities.

- Wear full cleanroom attire (smock, mask, gloves, etc.) and follow material-handling requirements for semiconductor devices.

- Work with and/or around manufacturing equipment, optical inspection systems, illumination sources, and chemicals used in semiconductor processing in accordance with site EHS procedures.

- Physical Requirements

- Stand for up to 4 hours at a time

- Lift up to 16-30 Pounds

- Push/Pull up to 16-30 pounds

- Sit for up to 4 hours at a time

- Safety Requirements

- All employees are required to follow the site EHS procedures and Coherent Corp. Corporate EHS standards.

- Quality and Environmental Responsibilities

- Depending on location, this position may be responsible for the execution and maintenance of the ISO 9000, 9001, 14001 and/or other applicable standards that may apply to the relevant roles and responsibilities within the Quality Management System and Environmental Management System.

- Culture Commitment

- Ensure adherence to company's values (ICARE) in all aspects of your position at Coherent Corp.:

- Integrity - Create an Environment of Trust

- Collaboration - Innovate Through the Sharing of Ideas

- Accountability - Own the Process and the Outcome

- Respect - Recognize the Value in Everyone

- Enthusiasm - Find a Sense of Purpose in Work

Coherent Corp. is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.