Internship, Process Engineer, Wet Etch, Terafab (Winter/Spring 2027)

Consider before submitting an application:

This position is expected to start around January 2027 and continue through the entire Spring term (ending approximately May 2027 or later, if available). We ask for a minimum of 12 weeks, full-time (40 hours/week) and on-site, for most internships. Our internship program is for students who are actively enrolled in an academic program. Recent graduates seeking employment after graduation and not returning to school should apply for full-time positions, not internships.

International Students: If your work authorization is through CPT, please consult your school on your ability to work 40 hours per week before applying. You must be able to work 40 hours per week on-site. Many students will be limited to part-time during the academic year.

Internship Program at Tesla

The Internship Recruiting Team is driven by the passion to recognize and develop emerging talent. Our year-round program places the best students in positions where they will grow technically, professionally, and personally through their experience working closely with their Manager, Mentor, and team. We provide an experience that allows the intern to experience life at Tesla by including them in projects that are critical to their team’s success.

We are building Terafab, a vertically integrated semiconductor factory at an unprecedented scale. The facility houses logic, memory, packaging, test, and lithography mask production under one roof, optimized for rapid iteration and maximum compute density per square foot.

Process engineering is where Terafab technology gets built, atom by atom, and wet etch is where precision meets chemistry. You will develop and own wet clean and etch processes across three distinct chip families: edge-inference processors, space-hardened chips for orbital satellites, and high-bandwidth memory. You'll control selectivity, uniformity, and defectivity across diverse material stacks—from silicon and dielectrics to metals and photoresist.

- Assist in developing and qualifying wet etch and wet clean processes for critical applications including oxide, nitride, silicon, and metal layer removal

- Learn bath chemistry formulation, concentration control, temperature management, and process window optimization for both isotropic and selective wet etch steps

- Assist in installation of wet process tools through production readiness, including bench qualification, process chamber seasoning, and particle/defect control

- Understand processes from a first-principles and physics-based approach

- Assist in root cause analysis to establish inline metrology, control strategies, and drive systematic yield improvement

- Drive next-generation wet chemistry formulations and process development

- Currently pursuing a degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related field

- Interest in hands-on wet etch process engineering in a semiconductor fab

- Understanding of wet chemistries and their interactions in relation to semiconductor manufacturing

- Knowledge in wet process metrology tools: particle counters, defect inspection, film thickness measurement, and surface analysis techniques

- Strong Design of Experiments skills and statistical analysis capability

- Ability to work closely and proactively across lithography, etch, thin films, integration, and equipment engineering teams

Benefits

As a full-time Tesla Intern, you will be eligible for:

- Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
- Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
- Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans. Both have an option with a $0 payroll contribution
- Company Paid (Health Savings Account) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High Deductible Medical Plan with HSA
- Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
- 401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
- Company Paid Basic Life, AD&D, and short-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
- Employee Assistance Program
- Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions), and Paid Holidays
- Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
- Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
- Commuter benefits
- Employee discounts and perks program