Coatings Materials Scientist

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize fluorine-resistant optical coatings for laser-facing components, including mirrors, windows, and diagnostic optics.
• Design and evaluate fluorine-compatible material systems for broader system applications (e.g., chambers, fixtures, and exposed hardware).
• Work closely with the optics and laser engineering teams to define coating requirements, performance targets, and integration constraints.
• Lead hands-on coating deposition efforts, including thin film development, process tuning, and substrate preparation.
• Design and execute test plans and Design of Experiments (DOE) to evaluate coating adhesion, durability, chemical resistance, and optical performance.
• Perform detailed materials and coating characterization, including microstructural, compositional, and optical property analysis.
• Analyze failure modes (e.g., delamination, degradation under fluorine exposure) and drive root cause investigations and corrective actions.
• Develop and document coating processes, specifications, and qualification procedures.
• Collaborate with internal teams and external vendors to scale coating processes from lab development to pilot and high-volume manufacturing.
• Support integration of coatings into system hardware, including validation under relevant operating conditions.
• Contribute to the development of experimental infrastructure and coating test platforms within M&P.

Qualifications

• Education: PhD in Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Physics or a closely related field.
• Experience: 5–10 years of industry experience in coating development, materials engineering, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience developing optical coatings and/or protective coatings for harsh environments.
• Strong understanding of: Thin film deposition processes (e.g., PVD, CVD, IBS, ALD, sputtering, evaporation, plasma-based methods); coating adhesion, stress, and durability mechanisms; optical coating performance (reflectivity, absorption, damage thresholds).
• Hands-on experience with coating fabrication and processing.
• Hands-on expertise with materials and coating characterization tools, including: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS/EDX), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Optical microscopy and profilometry, Surface analysis and coating thickness/roughness measurements.
• Strong ability to correlate microstructure, composition, and processing conditions to coating performance.
• Experience designing and executing DOE and structured experiments.
• Ability to independently troubleshoot complex materials and coating failures.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary, hardware-focused environment.