R&D Engineer for thin film depositions

What you will do

You will be part of the Lab Support and Operations team at imec, operating at the intersection of research, process development, and hardware engineering. The primary purpose of your role is to translate research questions into functional and reliable laboratory processes.

You will be responsible for developing unexplored process technologies into robust and predictable processes that align with business needs, support technical objectives, and meet project milestones. In close collaboration with development engineers and researchers - supported by targeted literature reviews - you will identify relevant process parameters and define the necessary experiments within our laboratory environment. This role involves a significant amount of hands‑on work. To ensure reliable operation and consistently high‑quality material growth, you will coordinate with the hardware support team to ensure that maintenance and calibration of the deposition tools are performed systematically.

This role therefore spans multiple domains: the scientific aspects of materials, the technical challenges of hardware, and coordination across teams. While many methods are referenced and prior deposition experience is valuable, the most essential requirement is a strong scientific mindset combined with an engineering approach. Maintaining tools in optimal condition is critical for research, and an experienced user can often detect tool degradation simply by observing changes in film quality.

More specifically, your tasks include:

• Develop deposition recipes tailored to required material properties and optimize deposition and post-processing parameters to achieve targeted performance.
• Thin-film depositions using sputter deposition, thermal evaporation, e-beam deposition, ALD, and MLD.
• Analysis of the result of the thin film characterization methods, e.g., SEM, XRD, XRR, TEM, ERD, profilometry, and ellipsometry, and resistivity measurements. The characterization techniques can be learned on job. We offer you the opportunity to fill the gaps by training with our hardware experts and researchers.
• Understanding and communicating to your teammates the challenges and potential issues related to the material application and processing. 
• Managing several deposition tools with a focus on maintaining their operation, accommodating research requests while keeping the quality of the deposited material, monitoring the health of the tools.
• Writing reports and documentation on the performed work.
• Structuring your work to timely deliver results in several ongoing projects.
• Collaboration with other engineers and researchers on ongoing projects to meet material-related challenges.
• Learning new skills and techniques that you are not familiar with yet. 

What we do for you

We offer you the opportunity to join one of the world’s premier research centers in nanotechnology at its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. With your talent, passion and expertise, you’ll become part of a team that makes the impossible possible. Together, we shape the technology that will determine the society of tomorrow.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and proud of our open, multicultural, and informal working environment with ample possibilities to take initiative and show responsibility. We commit to supporting and guiding you in this process; not only with words but also with tangible actions. Through imec.academy, 'our corporate university', we actively invest in your development to further your technical and personal growth. 

We are aware that your valuable contribution makes imec a top player in its field. Your energy and commitment are therefore appreciated by means of a market appropriate salary with many fringe benefits. 

Who you are

• You have a scientific/engineering mindset.
• You have a background in materials science, applied physics, chemical engineering, or a closely related field.
• You have a Master’s degree and relevant engineering and research experience (minimum 3 years) or a PhD degree.
• You have hands-on experience in thin-film vacuum deposition techniques (ALD, CVD, PVD) and material characterization techniques.
• You understand the materials' physicochemical properties (transport properties, morphology, interfaces).
• You have experience solving scientific problems related to thin-film coatings.
• You are comfortable reading and interpreting scientific literature, translating research goals into experimental processes, maintaining and troubleshooting laboratory hardware, and working collaboratively within project-driven research teams.
• You are eager to learn new techniques.
• You are a team player with good networking skills. You also have good reporting skills.
• You have a strong ability to work independently and a strong focus on quality.
• Given the international character of imec, good knowledge of (spoken and written) English is a must. 

IMEC and its affiliates will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. IMEC will consider unsolicited referrals and/or resumes submitted by vendors such as search firms, staffing agencies, professional recruiters, fee-based referral services and recruiting agencies (hereafter “Agency”) to have been referred by the Agency free of charge. IMEC will not pay a fee to any Agency that does not have a prior written agreement with IMEC, validated by its HR department, in place regarding a specific job opening and allowing to submit resumes.