Applications Engineer

Position: Applications Engineer 2
## Applications Engineer 2

Apply locations:
Wilmington-MA (Upton) time type:
Full time posted on:
Posted Yesterday job requisition :
R-5998

Onto Innovation is a leader in process control, combining global scale with an expanded portfolio of leading-edge technologies that include: 3D metrology spanning the chip from nanometer-scale transistors to micron-level die-interconnects; macro defect inspection of wafers and packages; metal interconnect composition; factory analytics; and lithography for advanced semiconductor packaging. Our breadth of offerings across the entire semiconductor value chain helps our customers solve their most difficult yield, device performance, quality, and reliability issues.

Onto Innovation strives to optimize customers’ critical path of progress by making them smarter, faster and more efficient.
** Job Summary & Responsibilities
** Onto Innovation is seeking an
** Applications Development Engineer
** specializing in
** optics, imaging sensors, illumination systems, and system integration**. This role is part of the Applications Engineering organization and works closely with Optics Engineering, Sensor Integration, and Systems teams to bring advanced hardware concepts into production-ready semiconductor inspection and metrology applications.

Unlike the ML-focused sister role, this position is centered on
** understanding, characterizing, and optimizing the hardware stack**—optical subsystems, sensors, light sources, acquisition paths, and system-level performance. You will help define application requirements, guide optical/sensor integration, and identify opportunities where new hardware technologies can unlock novel inspection or metrology capabilities.

This role is ideal for engineers passionate about
** optics, imaging science, and sensor technology
** who want to help shape next-generation semiconductor tools.
** Key Responsibilities
**** Optics & Imaging Sensor Integration
*** Partner with Optics and Systems Engineering to evaluate, integrate, and optimize imaging sensors (CMOS/CCD/TDI, area-scan/line-scan) and optical subsystems.
* Characterize imaging performance: MTF, SNR, contrast, dynamic range, illumination uniformity, resolution, and sensitivity.
* Support optical path alignment, calibration, focus strategies, illumination tuning, and synchronization with motion stages and sensor timing.
* Troubleshoot image quality issues (focus, aberrations, stray light, polarization artifacts, integration noise, timing faults).
** Illumination Systems & System-Level Performance
*** Work with illumination teams to optimize LED, laser, broadband, or multi-channel illumination for specific applications.
* Evaluate and refine illumination geometry (brightfield, darkfield, structured light, polarization) for defect detection or metrology needs.
* Perform system-level experiments to quantify performance vs. application requirements (throughput, sensitivity, depth-of-focus, inspection coverage).
** Application Development Support
*** Contribute to recipe development, test plans, and application validation using new optical/sensor configurations.
* Partner with application and product teams to translate wafer-level requirements into optical/sensor performance targets.
* Provide hardware-informed guidance for application tuning, measurement strategies, and tool configurations.
* Collaborate with the sister ML Applications Engineer to ensure hardware outputs deliver the data quality needed for ML-based features (ADC, anomaly detection, regression).
** New Sensor Technology Exploration
*** Evaluate emerging sensor and optical technologies (e.g., hyperspectral, SWIR, polarization imaging, high-speed cameras, tunable filters, SPAD arrays).
* Identify where new sensors/optics can create new inspection or metrology applications or unlock improvements in speed, sensitivity, or resolution.
* Build proof-of-concept experiments, quantify gains, and generate application recommendations.
** Cross-Functional Collaboration
*** Engage with Optics, Sensor, Mechanical, Systems, and Product Engineering teams throughout platform development cycles.
* Participate in New Product Introduction (NPI) activities, including hardware…