Failure Analysis Engineer

General Summary

The responsibility of this position is to perform Failure Analysis of Semiconductor IC devices. Evaluate the electrical characteristics of systems and/or integrated circuits to determine the cause of failure by using electrical fault isolation tools and techniques. Review of test data logs from multiple sources will be necessary as part of the investigation. A high level of collaboration and interaction with Product Engineering, Design Engineering, Quality Engineering, and Foundry Engineering teams is required. Summarize completed analysis work to drive corrective action. The qualified candidate will work individually and in cross‑discipline teams to analyze design, reliability, yield, or field failures down to a physical root cause. The analysis will involve the use of state‑of‑the‑art analytical tools, processing the acquired data and information sets to arrive at a conclusion regarding the cause of failure. Ability to seamlessly support and work with cross‑functional multi‑national engineering teams is essential.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Science, Engineering, or related field and 2+ years of chip or wafer‑level failure analysis or related work experience.
• Master's degree in Science, Engineering, or related field and 1+ year of chip or wafer‑level failure analysis or related work experience.
• PhD in Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 1+ year of working experience in a physical/chemical laboratory setting.

Primary Responsibilities

• Performs failure analyses on complicated issues requiring creative problem solving and acts as the case owner for multiple issues and devices in parallel.
• Applies advanced knowledge in an area of failure analysis (e.g., physical failure analysis, electrical microscopy, nanoprobing) to solve problems and seeks resources from other teams to find alternatives.
• Administers non‑destructive testing on devices using imaging tools (e.g., X‑ray, C‑SAM) and/or optical inspections.
• Hands‑on electrical fault isolation analysis using static laser techniques such as XIVA, OBIRCh and photo‑emission microscopy, lock‑in thermal microscopy to localize areas of interest and isolate location of defect.
• Hands‑on advanced electrical fault isolation techniques, dynamic laser stimulation, thermal and photonic fault injection while interfacing with system‑level, automated test equipment and bench testing platforms for functional debug.
• Performs physical failure analysis on modules, packages and individual ICs to identify evidence of defects on high‑risk, isolated issues in which analysis can only be performed once on a single device.
• Documents results of failure analysis, reports identified root causes and delivers conclusions to requesters.

Skills Requirements

• Fast learner able to perform independent work.
• Strong knowledge of semiconductor physics, semiconductor devices, circuitry analysis and wafer fabrication process.
• Proficient in various physical and electrical analysis techniques such as mechanical polishing, chemical delayering, SEM inspection, curve trace, thermal emission, photon emission, OBIRCH/TIVA.
• Proficient in tester interface optical fault isolation including soft defect localization, laser voltage probing, frequency mapping, time‑resolved emission and thermal mapping.
• Experience in SEM‑based nano‑probing with EBIC, EBAC and EBIRCH on planar, SOI and FinFET technologies.
• Familiar with SCAN logic, memory BIST and RF/analog design strategies.
• Familiar with reliability testing for device and packaging product qualification including CDM, HBM, TLP, HTOL, BHAST, BURN‑IN, etc.
• FA experience in semiconductor industry preferred.
• Effective communicator, organized with project‑management skills, able to work in a laboratory environment and achieve results by collaborating with multi‑functional teams.
• Flexible working time and able to work on weekend or midnight shifts.
• Experience in programming languages such as Python, scripting, Power BI, etc.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Master’s in Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics, Physics or related field.
• Work Experience: 2+ years of chip‑level failure analysis (e.g., physical failure analysis, electrical microscopy, nanoprobing) or related work experience.
• Skills: Automated Test Equipment (ATE), data analysis, failure analysis, product development, product reliability.

Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer and provides accommodations for individuals with disabilities. If you need assistance during the application process, please contact Qualcomm’s accommodations team.

If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.