Research Associate - Thin Films (Fixed Term)

About the role

Join a world-class team of scientists and engineers pushing the boundaries of physical R&D in a groundbreaking lab where AI and automation unlock discoveries at unprecedented speed and scale. Periodic Labs is developing AI that can both simulate science and verify its predictions to train on the full scientific method. A central challenge in that mission is the gap between bulk materials discovery and thin-film form: materials our AI predicts and our powder lab synthesizes must ultimately be validated as scalable thin films to be relevant to semiconductor, memory, and advanced materials applications. We are building a dedicated thin-film lab (PVD, PLD, plasma ALD) with construction beginning in May 2026, while actively generating early data at partner facilities including Stanford Nanofab and other user facilities in the Bay Area. We are seeking a hands-on Research Associate in Thin Films to execute advanced deposition and nanofabrication processes, generate high-quality experimental data, and collaborate closely with our AI and materials teams. This is a 12-month fixed-term position with the potential to convert to full time. In the near term you will operate at external partner facilities - Stanford Nanofab, UC Berkeley NanoLab, and others - before Periodic's own tools come online. As the in-house lab is commissioned, you will transition to running experiments on our PVD, PLD, and metrology suite. Throughout, your work directly feeds the AI training pipeline: the structural and functional data you produce shapes what our models learn about how materials behave in thin-film form.