# Nanoelectronics & Device-Physics Engineer

**Company:** [Astera](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/astera)
**Location:** Emeryville, CA
**Role:** Hardware Engineering
**Salary:** $200k – $230k/yr
**Skills:** semiconductor device physics, high-k dielectrics, thin-film stacks, fet sensor design, charge sensing, low-noise electrical measurement, cleanroom process design, electron-beam lithography, afm, device fabrication
**Posted:** 2026-07-23

> Design and fabricate electrostatic drives and FET position sensors for nanoscale DNA-origami actuators. Own the full device stack, cleanroom fabrication, and bench characterization including AFM. Requires advanced degree and experience in semiconductor device physics, high-k dielectrics, and e-beam lithography.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Design the electrostatic drive stack — the patterned electrode, insulating (high-k) dielectric, and compliant polymer that deflect the charged DNA-origami plate — to targets of roughly 10 nm of plate displacement and about 100 pN of force at low drive voltage, and validate the dielectric's long-term reliability.
- Design a field-effect (FET) sensor that reads the mechanism's position electrically, including the low-noise readout needed to resolve nanometer-scale motion for closed-loop control.
- Define the full device stack — patterned electrode, high-k dielectric, compliant polymer, and the DNA-origami actuator — and direct its fabrication (including electron-beam lithography) at cleanroom partners.
- Characterize the finished device on the bench: voltage–displacement response, reversibility and hysteresis over many actuation cycles, and force/displacement by single-molecule AFM.
- Ensure the measurement toolchain can actually resolve the quantities being measured.

## Qualifications and Experience
- PhD or MS in electrical engineering, applied physics, materials science, or a related field, grounded in semiconductor device physics.
- Experience with high-k dielectrics and thin-film stacks, FET or biosensor charge sensing, and low-noise electrical measurement.
- Cleanroom process design and working familiarity with electron-beam lithography (running or directing fabrication).
- Comfort at the bench with nanoscale electromechanical characterization; AFM experience is a plus.
- Ability to partner closely with molecular-design and controls colleagues on a tightly integrated device.

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