Senior Scientist - Nanofabrication (18 month fixed-term/Hybrid)

About Xanadu:

Xanadu’s mission is to build quantum computers that are useful and available to people everywhere.

At Xanadu, we are learners, innovators, researchers, collaborators and problem solvers. We are creating something that has never been built before. Few people in their life will be able to be a part of something like this, where if we are successful, the technologies we develop will solve some of the world’s most challenging problems, and literally change the world. And that is something to be excited about!

Your role and responsibilities:

As part of the Hardware Team, you will work with our established team of physicists and engineers to support existing efforts to improve the performance of photon number resolving (PNR) cryogenic detectors and room-temperature photodiodes (PDs). In this role you will contribute your experience spanning cleanroom fabrication, thin-film characterization and metrology, all aimed at optimizing Xanadu’s detector technologies. You will join the Fabrication Process Engineering Team dedicated to the development and optimization of fabrication processes required to build Xanadu’s photonic quantum computing hardware. A key part of the role will involve travel within Canada for cleanroom development in partner facilities. In addition, you will interface with internal stakeholders to understand the critical performance requirements of the detector technologies you will be building.

Basic qualifications and experience:

• PhD with 2+ years additional experience (postdoc or industry) in Physics, Engineering, Experimental Sciences, or related relevant discipline with a focus on device fabrication, or Masters with 5+ years of cleanroom process development experience
• Experienced in the operation of clean room tools including photolithography, deposition (PVD, CVD), wet & plasma etching (RIE, ICP), and characterization (AFM, ellipsometry)
• Knowledge of optical thin film stack metrology, characterization and optimization
• Experience developing cleanroom recipes and maintaining detailed process documentation
• Experience with statistical process control
• Experience working in a collaborative team-based development environment
• Ability to operate autonomously in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple competing priorities

Preferred qualifications and experience:

• Understanding the physics of optical detector technologies, including superconducting devices and photodiodes
• Experience fabricating and working with cryogenic detectors or their applications, for example in TES, MKID or SNSPDs
• Experience fabricating and working with PDs, including PIN PDs, avalanche PDs, etc.
• Experience writing Python code
• Experience with large data set analysis and statistical reporting

Our values are important. They are fundamental and lay the foundation for culture at Xanadu. Learn more about our values here.

At Xanadu, we are committed to building an inclusive, safe, and equitable culture and fostering an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. We are committed to meeting the needs of all individuals and support a barrier-free workplace. Should you require accommodations at any point during the recruitment process please contact Recruiting at [email protected].

Note: Xanadu will never ask you for bank account information as part of the interview process. Please report any suspicious activity to [email protected].