PhD Internship Opportunity: Photonics & Laser Integration for HAMR Wafer Fabrication

PhD Internship Opportunity: Photonics & Laser Integration for HAMR Wafer Fabrication
The Western Digital R&D center in Fremont, CA is a world-class research laboratory, wafer fab and manufacturing center at the intersection of San Francisco Bay and Silicon Valley.  Join us for an immersive internship on our Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) device-fabrication team, where magnetic, optical, and plasmonic technologies converge at the nanoscale. We have a world-class cleanroom (complete with 24/7 support) and state-of-the-art equipment to help you bring your ideas to life. If you’re ready to learn, collaborate, and push technology forward, read on!

Why This Role is Exciting:

Cutting-Edge Tech: Work with optics, photonics, laser integration, and diode-transfer printing to evolve our HAMR wafer processes.

Impact & Visibility: Your contributions will tangibly advance our HAMR process development. You’ll also present progress to broader teams, gaining valuable industry visibility.

Team Culture: Collaborate daily with engineering and scientific experts—everyone is invested in your success and continuous growth.

Future-Focused: Our department drives next-generation head (wafer) fabrication within the development organization, meaning you’ll help define the industry’s tomorrow.

What You’ll Do:

Innovate & Integrate: Develop and refine novel processes for HAMR photonics and laser integration on a wafer scale.

Collaborate Across Disciplines: Partner with process, characterization, and design teams to optimize and troubleshoot fabrication steps.

Contribute & Present: Participate in periodic presentations to showcase project milestones and breakthrough findings to the broader organization.

Master the Cleanroom: Leverage our fully functional, state-of-the-art cleanroom to explore new fabrication techniques with a 24/7 support team at your side.

Utilize Python: Employ Python for data analysis, automation, and any coding needs in your process development work.

Must-Haves:

PhD Candidate in Engineering, Materials Science, Optics, Physics, or a related field

3rd year or higher, ideally within one year of graduating

Background in Photonics or Optics

Previous Cleanroom Experience (coursework or hands-on)

Strong Communication Skills (oral and written)

Team Player Mindset with proven collaboration abilities

Nice-to-Haves:

Laser Integration & Transfer Printing experience (diode-transfer printing is a plus)

Proficiency in Python scripting or similar coding tools

Demonstrated track record of detailed, innovative research