Electro Mechanical Engineer in Springfield

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

Design 300 mm wafer chucks including vacuum chucks, edge‑grip mechanisms, compliant fingers, and kinematic supports.

Perform stress, deformation, and warp accommodation modeling to ensure ultra‑low wafer stress during handling.

Develop motion mechanisms for raise/lower (Z‑axis) and edge‑grip actuation that prevent wafer damage and meet precision requirements.

Ensure all designs meet ISO Class 1 cleanroom particle specifications and support high‑volume, 24/7 fab operation.

Select appropriate low‑outgassing, non‑particulating materials (e.g., PEEK, Vespel, Alumina, DLC, etc.) and coatings suitable for semiconductor tools.

Work with controls engineers on soft‑landing, jerk‑limited motion profiles, and closed‑loop sensing for wafer presence, alignment, and force control.

Conduct FEA simulations for thin‑wafer stress, contact mechanics, modal behavior, and static/dynamic loads.

Perform particle testing, vacuum leak testing, wafer stress validation, and endurance testing.

Generate engineering documentation: DFMEA, test plans, tolerance stackups, and SEMI/ISO compliance documents.

Collaborate with cross‑functional teams (systems, electronics, materials, manufacturing) for prototype builds and tool integration.

Technical Skills

300 mm wafer handling design (edge‑grip, vacuum, kinematic support)

Precision chuck design & compliant mechanisms

FEA (ANSYS, Abaqus, COMSOL) - stress, modal, and contact analysis

Modeling warped/bowed wafers, thin‑plate mechanics

Cleanroom design principles - ISO Class 1, low‑particle mechanisms

Vacuum system design, leak‑tight sealing, He‑leak testing

Material selection for semiconductor tools:

PEEK, Vespel, PTFE, PPS

Alumina, Aluminum Nitride, Ti‑6Al‑4V

Hard anodize, DLC, TiN, Parylene coatings

Motion system design:

Linear motors, voice‑coil actuators, pneumatic micro‑actuators

Flexures, guides, cross‑roller bearings

Jerk‑limited (S‑curve) motion and soft‑landing control

Edge‑grip mechanism design with low clamping forces

Tolerance analysis, GD&T, DFMEA, DOE

Semiconductor standards familiarity: SEMI M1, M49, E57, E84, ISO 14644

Metrology & Testing Skills

Warp, bow, TTV measurement techniques

Particle measurement and contamination control

Vacuum integrity tests (helium mass spectrometer, pressure decay)

Wafer alignment and edge detection sensors (optical/capacitive)

Reliability testing for 24/7 fab duty

Software Skills

CAD: SolidWorks, Creo, NX

Simulation tools: ANSYS/Abaqus/COMSOL

Data tools: MATLAB, Python

Motion/controls: Beckhoff TwinCAT, Siemens/Omron PLCs

Soft Skills

Strong cross‑functional collaboration

Root cause analysis (8D, 5‑Whys, Ishikawa)

Clear documentation & communication

Ownership and design‑for‑reliability mindset