Photonic Design Engineer

HyperLight is a venture-backed startup spun off from Harvard University in 2018 based on discoveries that enabled thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonics. Our photonic integrated circuits offer exceptional performance unmatched by other materials and are manufactured at high volume and low cost. We design and manufacture tailored chips to customers around the world for optical communications, sensing, and emerging photonic technologies like quantum computing and AR/VR. We partner with our customers from conceptualization to mass production to deliver new regimes of system performance.

Our growing team is looking for a Photonic Design Engineer. The person in this role will be responsible for the design and validation of photonic integrated circuit device components, with an emphasis on passive optical devices such as splitters, fiber couplers, and polarization rotators. This is a crucial role in developing cutting-edge solutions for advanced communication systems.

The success of the HyperLight team originates in individuals who strive for excellence and continuous learning, and practice humility and care for their teammates. If this sounds like you, we encourage you to apply!

We provide:

  • Market competitive compensation.
  • Comprehensive Health Coverage: family and individual plans, vision, dental.
  • 401(k) Retirement plans with employee matching.
  • Life and disability insurance.
  • Flexible hybrid or remote work and vacation policies.
  • Commuter Benefits and Subsidy.
  • Professional growth and mentorship opportunities.

Responsibilities include:

  • Own the delivery of high performance, robust device components to our team and customers.
  • Collaborate to define requirements for device components in our process design kit (PDK), with an emphasis on.
  • Critically review existing literature on component design and select component architectures.
  • Simulate component designs using FEA tools.
  • Develop rigorous measurement techniques to assess component performance.
  • Analyze measurement and simulation data to assess component performance and robustness.
  • Collaborate across the team to improve our fabrication processes for optimal device performance.
  • Serve as a technical expert within HyperLight to help guide our engineering decisions.

Ideal qualifications:

  • Either 3+ years of relevant work experience or an advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
  • Strong expertise with photonic device component design, including hands-on development of multiple successful designs.
  • Strong expertise with finite element analysis of PIC components using tools like Lumerical, Tidy3D, Comsol, Synopsis OptoDesigner, etc.
  • Extensive hands-on experience performing measurements to characterize photonic integrated circuits.
  • Demonstrated record of innovation and achievement, e.g. product designs, publications, or patents.
  • Familiarity with techniques like Monte Carlo analysis for assessing device robustness against fabrication variation strongly preferred.
  • Familiarity with the entire PIC engineering process, including simulation, layout (using tools like ipkiss, gdsfactory, KLayout, etc), fabrication, test, and operation.
  • Familiarity with IMDD and/or coherent optical communication systems is a plus.

Authorization to work in the US required.

HyperLight is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.