Materials Research Scientist

At Reality Labs, our goal is to make exceptional consumer virtual, augmented, and mixed reality experiences. Come work alongside world leading scientists and engineers to create the technology that makes VR and AR pervasive and universal. Join the adventure of a lifetime as we make science fiction real and change the world.Our Optics, Photonics, and Light Systems (OPALS) Research group is looking for a Materials Research Scientist with a proven track record for innovation to join our team in developing novel near-eye display technologies. We are seeking a scientist to lead internal R&D and influence external productization of new materials that will be used in advanced optical components relevant to future Augmented Reality display architectures. You will join a highly cross-functional team tasked with concept innovation, design, development, and prototyping of optical components to support future AR optics productization. This role requires close collaboration with internal cross functional partners and external vendors to define and deliver complex solutions to support novel concept prototyping, process development, and performance optimization. You will receive full support from the management and leadership team to grow your technical skills.

Materials Research Scientist Responsibilities:

• Lead the development of new inorganic and hybrid coatings, such as sol-gels, nanocomposites and adhesives, including their synthesis, formulation and characterization
• Lead the development of materials for waveguide coatings, including technologies related to liquid crystals and holographic materials
• Develop materials deposition processes and integration with patterning hardware to enable fabrication of near-eye optical components
• Leverage detailed knowledge of formulation and process variables to assess the impact on product cost, and performance
• Innovate materials concepts to overcome limitations of existing technologies and achieve step-function improvement over conventional approaches
• Build and manage network of collaborative relationships, both internally and externally, to support materials development for a next generation of near-eye displays
• Engage and collaborate cross-functionally with metrology, design, and process team members to co-optimize materials, design and processes, establish a fundamental understanding of as-built physical optics, and to identify, validate, and address sources of gaps in desired display performance
• Partner with cross functional teams, technical program managers and leadership to devise and execute on the program priorities

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• PhD degree or equivalent experience in Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Polymer Chemistry or a related field
• 3+ years of experience in inorganic synthesis, semiconductor materials, hybrid materials and/or liquid crystals
• 1+ year of experience in thin film coating processes
• 3+ years of experience with characterization of inorganic thin films using techniques like ellipsometry, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-ray Diffraction and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
• 1+ year of experience in materials mechanical characterization and optimization
• Experience with optical materials structure-property chemistry-process relationships
• Experience in scientific programming and data analysis tools (e.g. MATLAB, Python, Mathematica, or similar)
• Track record of novel research and publications in the field of chemistry or materials science

• 3+ years of experience in an industrial Research and Development environment developing scalable processes
• Demonstrated experience working within a team towards sol-gel, nanoparticle synthesis, nanocomposite and/or liquid crystal materials innovation
• Experience working with and characterizing porous materials
• Experience characterizing and tuning materials photo-chemistry and photo-physical properties
• Experience with photo-imageable resins and inorganic materials, and their underlying mechanisms
• Experience with materials coating technologies, such as ink-jet printing, casting and/or slot-die coating
• Experience leading focused materials program with external partners
• Demonstrated experience identifying and growing partnerships and to manage sophisticated external engagements
• 1+ year of experience in delivering novel chemistries for optical device applications
• Experience with organic and inorganic optical materials development and formulations
• Track record of translating design parameters into material properties and establishing CTQs
• Experience in material reliability performance and test methods
• Experience in developing permanent materials for consumer electronics
• Experience in building thin-film stacks especially for optical applications
• Experience designing and building custom experimental and analytical setups for materials testing and demos