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Silicon Debug Engineer

Apple
Posted 15 days ago, valid for 3 days
Location

Beaverton, OR, US

Salary

Competitive

Contract type

Full Time

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Sonic Summary

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  • The Silicon Debug Engineer position requires a Bachelor's degree in a related field and a minimum of 10 years of relevant industry experience.
  • Candidates should have experience in areas such as SRAM circuits, custom circuit design, and silicon debug, particularly in low-voltage and low-power custom circuits.
  • The role involves investigating and root-causing failures in advanced custom digital megacells used in high-performance SoCs, bridging electrical debug and physical failure analysis.
  • Proficiency in scripting languages like Python or Perl, along with knowledge of CAD automation tools, is essential for handling large datasets and supporting silicon debug processes.
  • The salary for this position is competitive, reflecting the expertise and experience required to ensure the quality and reliability of state-of-the-art ASICs.
Do you have a passion for solving the hardest problems in silicon? Do you thrive at the intersection of circuit theory, device physics, and hands-on failure investigation? As part of our Silicon Debug group, you'll take complex, often elusive silicon failures and systematically uncover their root cause — from electrical characterization all the way down to physical analysis. You and your team will apply deep engineering fundamentals and cutting-edge failure analysis techniques to enable product ramp at scale. Your efforts will directly impact the quality and reliability of state-of-the-art ASICs that power experiences for millions of customers worldwide. Join us, and you'll play a central role in ensuring the silicon we build is everything it needs to be. We have an extraordinary opportunity for Silicon Debug Engineers to investigate and root-cause failures in advanced custom digital megacells (SRAM memories, on-chip sensors, custom data paths) used in high-performance, low-power SoCs. You will bridge the gap between electrical debug and physical failure analysis, working at the frontier of silicon investigation.

Description


Imagine yourself at the center of our SoC bring-up and product ramp effort, collaborating across circuit design, process engineering, DFT, and failure analysis teams — with a critical impact on getting functional products to millions of customers quickly.

Minimum Qualifications


Bachelor's degree in a related field + 10 years of relevant industry experience

Preferred Qualifications


Experience in one or more of the following areas: SRAM circuits, custom circuit design, silicon debug. Experience in design or debug of low-voltage / low-power custom circuits. Deep understanding of deep-submicron device physics, leakage mechanisms, and technology interactions with device behavior. Solid understanding of device matching, device noise sources (1/f, thermal), extrinsic noise sources (supply noise, jitter), and their impact on high-precision circuits. Familiarity with electrical failure analysis (eFA) techniques and physical failure analysis (pFA) workflows, and the ability to plan FA strategies based on electrical debug data. Understanding of Dynamic Lock-in Thermography (DLS) and Lock-in Thermography (LIT) for localization of resistive and leakage defects, including their sensitivity limits and how thermal signatures correlate to specific circuit fault modes. Knowledge of Nanoprobe techniques for electrical probing of deep-submicron nodes, and appreciation of how probe contact, voltage bias, and electron beam exposure can perturb sensitive analog or memory circuits. Awareness of how physical sample preparation steps (deprocessing, FIB cross-section, delayering) can alter or destroy evidence of electrical failures, and how to coordinate FA plans that preserve failure signatures. Ability to interpret FA results (photon emission maps, OBIRCH, thermal maps, TEM/SEM imagery) in the context of circuit topology and failure electrical signatures. Ability to conduct structured experiments during silicon debug, gather and analyze large datasets, and utilize scripting to support efficient handling of debug data. Proficiency in scripting languages (Python, Perl, or others) and CAD automation tools. Knowledge of industry-standard circuit design and simulation tools.



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