Intel Interview - Process Engineering Position

[dorkwitch]

Hi,

I have an onsite interview with Intel for a process engineering position. I believe this position is mainly for college graduates. I am graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering in May 2008. I am quite nervous about the interview and want to be as prepared as I can be, especially for the technical interview.

Since it is for a process engineering position, am assuming the emphasis is going to be on Solid State. But I have not taken a class on fabrication as such. So, I don't know what I should study for the interview.

Right now, I am studying my microelectronics circuits book by Sedra/Smith and plan on skimmng through Fundamentals of Solid State Devices book also.

Do you have any suggestions, and some advice on do's and dont's?

Thank you.

 

[las3rjock]

It would be worth seeing if you could track down a copy of Jaeger's Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication and at least skim through it before your interview. It's a nice, short book, so you should be able to pick up a lot of information from it very quickly. For a more standard textbook, look for Campbell's The Science and Engineering of Microelectronic Fabrication.

 

[dorkwitch]

Thank you

Thank you so much, I will try to get hold of those books right away.

 

[leright]

have you at least taken a course on solid state devices?

Obviously, since they are giving you an interview, they believe you are a good match for the position. Just go in there and be confident.

 

[dorkwitch]

have you at least taken a course on solid state devices?

Obviously, since they are giving you an interview, they believe you are a good match for the position. Just go in there and be confident.

Yeah I have taken the course on fundamentals of solid state devices. It is just a lot of stuff to know and difficult to recall without a reference of some sort. So, I just wish they gave me an idea about the technical part so that I can concentrate on a particular concept that they feel is important to know.

 

[leright]

Yeah I have taken the course on fundamentals of solid state devices. It is just a lot of stuff to know and difficult to recall without a reference of some sort. So, I just wish they gave me an idea about the technical part so that I can concentrate on a particular concept that they feel is important to know.

Do you have any experience with ultra high vacuum systems? I know a couple of people that went to work at Intel for a process engineer position and they do a lot of work with UHV systems.

 

[f95toli]

UHV systems are not used during fabrication, there is no need. It is true that many steps involve vacuum systems but as far as I know only "normal" vacuum equipment is used since the pressures are relatively hight( >10e-9 mBar) ; i.e. turbo pumps etc meaning most of the equipment is more or less "plug'n'play".
It still takes a while to learn how to use the equipment, but it not very difficult and besides most of the knowledge is very practical; not something you can be expected to pick up in a class.

How much do you know aboub thin film deposition, ion implantation etc?
If you want to read up on a particular topic this is what I suggest you focus on, "process engineering" will undoubtetly involve working with deposition systems so knowing something about PVD,CVD etc before the interview might be a good idea.

 

[leright]

How much do you know aboub thin film deposition, ion implantation etc?
If you want to read up on a particular topic this is what I suggest you focus on, "process engineering" will undoubtetly involve working with deposition systems so knowing something about PVD,CVD etc before the interview might be a good idea.

Aren't MBE, CVD, etc typically done in UHV? I know of a guy that went over there and is working eith MBE systems.

 

[user101]

Let us know how it went!

 

[Locrian]

MBE is typically UHV, but CVD doesn't have to be, and isn't usually. In fact, the CVD work I did was done sometimes as high as 60torr, which some people would argue is hardly a vacuum at all!

 

[leright]

MBE is typically UHV, but CVD doesn't have to be, and isn't usually. In fact, the CVD work I did was done sometimes as high as 60torr, which some people would argue is hardly a vacuum at all!

Ah, well the guys I know that took process engineer positions worked with MBE systems, and I know UHV skills are important there. But you're right, they wouldn't expect you to learn that stuff in school, and this stuff can be picked up on the job.

 

[dorkwitch]

I have some knowledge about the fabrication process from taking a quick course while I was interning at Micron Technology, but that is about it. I have picked the textbook suggested earlier in this thread and I plan on reading it for the interview. I just don't know the depth required for the tech questions.

Also, how much of circuit theory would they expect me to know?

Thanks everyone for sharing the information.