Sr. Photonics Process Simulation Engineer - Santa Clara, CA

Xanadu•,

5h•$150,000 - $200,000

About The Position

Xanadu is seeking a Sr. Photonics Process Simulation Engineer to build and direct its process simulation and modeling roadmap for ultra-low-loss quantum photonic hardware. Working within the Fabrication Process Engineering Team, this role will establish predictive foundry process simulation workflows for photonic devices. The engineer will connect semiconductor fabrication execution, multiphysics simulation, and optical test data to guide process optimizations aimed at industry-leading propagation loss in photonic integrated circuits. The role includes building and maintaining a closed-loop simulation pipeline that uses inline fabrication data, models process variations, and supplies predicted 3D geometries to optical loss solvers. It also includes proposing and validating wafer experiments, calibrating models against fabrication and optical measurements, developing a roadmap for virtual fabrication and predictive modeling, and collaborating across fabrication modules and optical design to align process development with quantum hardware requirements.

Requirements

M.S. or Ph.D. in Microelectronics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related technical discipline.
At least 6 years of hands-on experience in semiconductor process simulation, such as optical or EBL photolithography, plasma dry-etch modeling, or TCAD.
Deep proficiency with commercial semiconductor process simulation tools such as Silvaco Victory Process, Synopsys Sentaurus, KLA PROLITH, or Coventor SEMulator3D.
Experience in process development for integrated photonics and/or compound semiconductor platforms.
Experience with finite-element modeling of photonics and/or semiconductor devices.

Nice To Haves

Experience establishing new simulation pipelines from the ground up, including simulation-tool downselection, pipeline architecture, and roadmapping.
Experience co-integrating AI with process simulation platforms.
Technical leadership experience directing engineering sub-teams or complex cross-functional projects.
Familiarity with stochastic roughness extraction algorithms such as MetroLER and optical scattering loss physics.
Strong foundational knowledge of plasma-surface interaction kinetics, ion sputtering dynamics, and sidewall roughness mitigation techniques.
Proficiency in Python/SQL data pipelines to automate data exchange among inline fabrication databases, TCAD engines, and electromagnetic wave solvers such as Ansys Lumerical and COMSOL.

Responsibilities

Build, maintain, and use an integrated, closed-loop simulation pipeline that ingests inline fabrication data, simulates process variations, and feeds predicted 3D geometries into optical loss solvers.
Use physics-based simulations, finite-element modeling, stochastic lithography modeling, and/or 3D virtual fabrication tools to model feature-scale geometries and line-edge roughness of etched features.
Propose, simulate, and validate experimental wafer splits to optimize plasma etch chemistry, mask erosion, taper angles, and sidewall smoothing in photonics material systems.
Establish the roadmap for process optimization, virtual fabrication, and predictive modeling.
Ingest inline fabrication metrics, top-down and cross-sectional SEM, AFM, and optical loss testing into the simulation framework to calibrate surface-reaction and etch-physics models against measurements.
Bridge fabrication module engineers (lithography, etch, and thin films) and optical design teams so process development supports quantum hardware requirements.