Senior Quantum Materials MBE Engineer

Job Title

Senior Quantum Materials MBE Engineer

Role Summary

Senior engineer responsible for developing and optimizing MBE growth processes for semiconductor–superconductor heterostructures that support scalable qubit devices. The role is an individual contributor position embedded in an interdisciplinary R&D team working on materials, devices, fabrication, and characterization.

Position is fully on-site in West Lafayette and supports experimental execution, tooling maintenance, and integration of materials advances into device fabrication flows.

Experience Level

Senior-level. Typical experience guidance: PhD +1 year, Master’s +4 years, Bachelor’s +6 years, or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

Core responsibilities focus on MBE growth, experiment design, tool operation, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Develop, implement, and optimize MBE growth recipes for semiconductor–superconductor heterostructures to improve interface quality, composition, strain, and defect density.
• Design and execute data-driven experiments linking growth conditions to materials properties and device performance; analyze results to guide process iteration.
• Operate, maintain, and support upgrades to UHV MBE systems and in-situ diagnostics (e.g., RHEED, spectroscopy); ensure reliable operation and high data quality.
• Collaborate with nanofabrication, characterization, theory, and device teams to integrate materials improvements into fabrication flows and to communicate technical findings.
• Apply AI/ML tools to experiment planning, data analysis, and automation frameworks to accelerate optimization and reporting.
• Document experiments, results, and process changes to support reproducibility and technology transfer.
• Travel as required (approximately 25–50%).

Requirements

Must-have technical skills, operational capabilities, and clearance/eligibility requirements.

• Hands-on experience with Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) or related thin-film growth techniques and UHV tool operation.
• Experience with in-situ diagnostics (e.g., RHEED, spectroscopy) and maintaining/optimizing characterization tools.
• Proven ability in process development and growth-recipe optimization for semiconductor or quantum materials.
• Experience designing controlled experiments, analyzing materials and device data, and using scientific programming/data-analysis tools (e.g., Python).
• Familiarity with low-temperature device characterization and materials–device correlations.
• Ability to leverage AI/ML tools for research workflows and automation.
• Willingness to work fully on-site in West Lafayette and to travel roughly 25–50% as required.
• Ability to meet Microsoft security and export-control screening requirements; the role requires verification of citizenship or other protected status as stated in the posting.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with semiconductor–superconductor hybrid materials or III–V semiconductor systems.
• Experience improving materials quality, interface control, reproducibility, or scaling of growth processes.
• Previous work in interdisciplinary teams integrating materials development into device fabrication.

Education Requirements

Degree or equivalent experience required: one of the following is acceptable — Doctorate (PhD) in Physics, Materials Science, Materials Engineering, Engineering or a related field (typical: PhD +1 year industry/R&D); OR Master’s degree in Physics, Engineering, or related field (typical: Master’s +4 years industry/R&D); OR Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Engineering, or related field (typical: Bachelor’s +6 years industry/R&D); OR equivalent practical experience.

About the Company

Company: Microsoft

Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States

Microsoft is a global technology company that develops and sells software, services, devices, and solutions. Known for its Windows operating system, Office suite, and Azure cloud platform, Microsoft aims to empower individuals and organizations around the world to achieve more. The company fosters a culture of innovation and inclusion, focusing on delivering trusted experiences to customers and partners globally.