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Computational Plasma Physicist

Applied Materials


Job Location:

Santa Clara County, CA - USA

Yearly Salary: USD 138000 - 190000
Posted: 31 October 2026 (5 days ago)
Application Deadline: 28 January 2027
Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

Who We Are


Applied Materials is the global leader in materials science and engineering solutions that are at the foundation of virtually every new semiconductor chip and advanced display in the world. The equipment that we create and service is essential to advancing AI and accelerating the commercialization of next-generation semiconductor chips. Join us and push the boundaries of materials science and engineering in a company at the foundation of the electronics industry. The work we do together advances the worlds technology.


What We Offer


Salary:

$138000.00 - $190000.00

Location:

Santa ClaraCA

Youll benefit from a supportive work culture that encourages you to learn develop and grow your career as you take on challenges and drive innovative solutions for our customers. We empower our team to push the boundaries of what is possiblewhile learning every day in a supportive leading global company. Visit our Careers website to learn more.

At Applied Materials we care about the health and wellbeing of our employees. Were committed to providing programs and support that encourage personal and professional growth and care for you at work at home or wherever you may go. Learn more about our benefits.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Model and simulate low-temperature DC and RF plasmas (e.g. inductively and capacitively coupled discharges) and electromagnetic fields in semiconductor processing equipment to support concept development technology assessment and product design.
  • Develop extend validate and test internal plasma electromagnetic and multiphysics simulation codes and apply commercial simulation tools where appropriate.
  • Analyze simulation results compare against experimental data and recommend hardware design changes that improve plasma uniformity stability and process performance.
  • Explore and apply physics-informed machine learning surrogate modeling and other data-driven methods to accelerate simulation workflows and design optimization.
  • Communicate modeling insights and recommendations clearly to product development and engineering teams and serve as a technical resource on plasma physics and electromagnetic phenomena.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

  • Demonstrated experience in plasma physics simulation and modeling preferably of low-temperature or partially ionized plasmas
  • Experience developing or applying numerical methods for plasma electromagnetic or multiphysics problems (e.g. fluid hybrid or particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision models)
  • Proficiency in Python and at least one compiled language (C or Fortran)
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams

Preferred

  • Knowledge of RF discharge physics sheath dynamics electron kinetics or plasma chemistry and plasmasurface interactions
  • Experience with RF/electromagnetic field simulation (e.g. finite element or finite-difference time-domain Maxwell solvers)
  • Experience with parallel programming (MPI OpenMP or GPU/CUDA) and high-performance computing (HPC) environments
  • Experience with scientific machine learning surrogate modeling physics-informed neural networks or other data-driven approaches for computational physics
  • Experience developing scientific software collaboratively including version control (e.g. git) code review and testing practices

REQUIREMENTS / EDUCATION

  • PhD in Physics Applied Physics Electrical Chemical or Mechanical Engineering Applied Mathematics or a related technical discipline
  • 03 years of relevant post-PhD experience (postdoctoral research counts toward experience; recent graduates are encouraged to apply)

Additional Information

Time Type:

Full time

Employee Type:

Assignee / Regular

Travel:

Yes 10% of the Time

Relocation Eligible:

Yes

The salary offered to a selected candidate will be based on multiple factors including location hire grade job-related knowledge skills experience and with consideration of internal equity of our current team addition to a comprehensive benefits package candidates may be eligible for other forms of compensation such as participation in a bonus and a stock award program as applicable.

For all sales roles the posted salary range is the Target Total Cash (TTC) range for the role which is the sum of base salary and target bonus amount at 100% goal achievement.

Applied Materials is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color national origin citizenship ancestry religion creed sex sexual orientation gender identity age disability veteran or military status or any other basis prohibited by law.

In addition Applied endeavors to make our careers site accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process please contact us via e-mail at or by calling our HR Direct Help Line at option 1 and following the prompts to speak to an HR Advisor. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.


Required Experience:

IC


About Company

Company Logo

Applied Materials, Inc. is the global leader in materials engineering solutions for the semiconductor, flat panel display and solar photovoltaic (PV) industries.

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