Staff Silicon Photonics Design Engineer
About The Position
Neurophos is seeking a Silicon Photonics Engineer to lead development of high-speed modulators that move data into the optical domain on its OPU platform, including the T100 optical AI inference chip. The engineer will own modulator design from concept through tapeout and work with the test team to characterize and validate silicon. The role also involves research and development of advanced modulator architectures to keep bandwidth, energy per bit, footprint, and drive voltage aligned with product requirements. The position is based onsite in Austin, Texas, or Sunnyvale, California, and reports to the Director of Silicon Photonics. The engineer will collaborate with electronic IC, packaging, and test teams, and communicate technical trade-offs to cross-functional stakeholders. Neurophos develops silicon photonics and active programmable metasurface technology for AI inference compute.
Requirements
- PhD in a relevant field, such as Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or Physics.
- At least 3 years of relevant work experience in high-speed silicon photonics, specifically high-speed modulator design.
- Hands-on experience with photonic device simulation tools such as Lumerical/Ansys, COMSOL, or equivalent, and RF/electromagnetic simulation of traveling-wave electrodes.
- Experience creating photonic layouts and taping out in a silicon photonics foundry PDK, using tools such as KLayout, gdsfactory, Cadence Virtuoso, or equivalent.
- Working knowledge of high-speed characterization methods and instruments, such as VNAs, high-speed oscilloscopes, BERTs, and RF probe stations.
- Solid understanding of the plasma dispersion effect, PN/PIN junction design, and trade-offs among speed, loss, and drive voltage in silicon modulators.
Nice To Haves
- 5 or more years of experience in high-speed silicon photonics.
- Experience taking devices through the full design-to-tapeout-to-fabrication-to-testing cycle.
- Experience with advanced electro-optic modulator platforms, such as thin-film lithium niobate, BTO, or III-V/Si heterogeneous integration.
- Experience co-designing modulators with CMOS/SiGe drivers, or with high-speed RF packaging and photonic-electronic co-integration.
Responsibilities
- Lead high-speed silicon photonics development, focusing on high-speed modulators such as carrier-depletion Mach-Zehnder, micro-ring/micro-disk, and traveling-wave designs.
- Design and optimize modulators for electro-optic bandwidth, VπL, insertion loss, extinction ratio, and energy per bit using optical, electrical, and RF co-simulation.
- Lead layout and tapeout of photonic test vehicles and product blocks in foundry PDKs, including DRC/LVS sign-off and design-for-test structures.
- Define RF electrode, termination, and driver-interface requirements with electronic IC and packaging teams.
- Support wafer- and die-level testing, including small-signal EO S-parameters, eye diagrams, BER, and DC/thermal tuning; correlate measured results with models to improve subsequent designs.
- Research and develop advanced high-speed modulator concepts to meet product requirements.
- Write design specifications, tapeout reviews, and test reports, and present technical trade-offs to cross-functional stakeholders.
Benefits
- 100% coverage of base health plan premiums for the employee and dependents, plus HSA contributions.
- Unlimited PTO.
- 401(k) matching.
- Stock option opportunities.
- Voluntary dental, vision, life, hospital, critical illness, and accident insurance.
- Personalized benefit plan selection, with cash back for plans not selected.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
