Physics | optics internship: synthetic image generator for yieldstar wafer alignment

Join ASML’s YieldStar Wafer Alignment Team as a Physics/Optics Intern

Introduction

The Wafer Alignment (WA) team within ASML’s YieldStar (YS) department focuses on precision pattern recognition to model wafer placement and deformation. This modeling is essential for accurate measurements at the micrometer scale. However, acquiring wafer images for development and troubleshooting is often costly and time-consuming. To accelerate innovation, we are looking for a Physics/Optics intern to help build a simulation tool that generates synthetic wafer images, enabling faster, more flexible access to critical data.

Your assignment

During this internship, you will contribute to the development of a simulation framework that mimics how semiconductor wafers appear under micrometer-scale imaging. This includes modeling physical phenomena such as optical distortions, camera limitations, and wafer deformations. Your work will help reduce reliance on expensive test setups and customer data, speeding up problem-solving and experimentation.

• Develop a simulation framework using MATLAB or Python.
• Model optical effects such as aberrations and diffraction limits.
• Integrate camera characteristics like resolution and noise into the simulation.
• Simulate wafer deformations and imperfections.
• Validate the simulation output against real sensor data.
• Document your findings and present results to the WA team.
• Collaborate with engineers to refine and improve the simulation tool.

This is a master’s internship for a minimum of 6 months, 3–5 days per week (2–3 days on-site). The start date of this internship is February 2026.

Your profile

To be suitable for the internship, you:

• Are pursuing a master’s degree in physics, optics, or a related engineering field.
• Have experience with MATLAB and/or Python.
• Understand basic optics and image processing principles.
• Are analytical, solution-oriented, and have a hands-on mentality.
• Communicate clearly in English, both verbally and in writing.

Other requirements you need to meet:

• You are enrolled at an educational institute for the entire duration of the internship.
• Attach your cover letter with a clear motivation why you are interested in this internship assignment in particular.
• You need to be located in the Netherlands to perform your internship. In case you are currently living/studying outside of the Netherlands, your CV/motivation letter should include your willingness to relocate.
• If you are a non-EU citizen studying in the Netherlands, your university must be willing to sign the documents relevant for doing an internship (i.e., Nuffic agreement).

About ASML

ASML is a leading supplier of lithography equipment, used by the world’s top chipmakers to print microchips that are increasingly powerful, fast and energy efficient. Working at ASML is inspiring, no matter what field you're in. That’s because we push the boundaries of technology: if it’s moving the world forward, chances are, we’re behind it. In fact, we’re probably a part of the electronic device you’re using right now. We’re a global team of more than 32,000 people from 122 different nationalities and counting. Headquartered in Europe’s top tech hub, the Brainport Eindhoven region in the Netherlands, our operations are spread across Europe, Asia and the US.