Principal Silicon Photonics Design Engineer

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Design and tapeout silicon photonic integrated circuits (PICs) including integrated coherent receivers and integrated coherent transmitter PICs.
• Design and prepare PIC layouts using industry-standard PIC design flows including:
  • Synopsys OptoCompiler
  • Cadence Virtuoso-based photonic design flows
• Implement parametric layout cells (PCells) and scripted layout generation to support scalable photonic circuit design.
• Develop and simulate passive photonic components.
• Model and simulate active photonic devices.
• Perform electromagnetic, optical, and electrical simulations using tools such as:
  • Lumerical (FDTD, MODE, DEVICE, INTERCONNECT)
  • CST Microwave Studio
  • HFSS
  • Tidy3D
  • ADS
  • Other PIC design and verification tools as required.
• Support the local development of photonic components for multiple silicon photonics foundries and technology platforms.
• Work closely with external silicon photonics foundries to successfully design, verify, and tapeout advanced PICs.
• Conduct design corner analysis to ensure device robustness across process, voltage, temperature, and fabrication variations.
• Perform post-layout simulations and verification, including optical, RF, and electro-optic performance validation.
• Develop compact models and simulation workflows for system-level verification of photonic circuits.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams including:
  • Electronics / IC design
  • Packaging engineering
  • Optical system engineering
  • Test engineering
  • Reliability engineering
  • Manufacturing and operations
• Support product development through New Product Introduction (NPI) phases including prototype validation, characterization, and design improvements.
• Work with reliability engineering teams to define qualification plans, including lifetime testing, environmental stress testing, and failure analysis.
• Support transition from prototype to high-volume manufacturing, including:
  • Design for manufacturability (DFM)
  • Process variation mitigation
  • Yield optimization
  • Test strategy development
  • Production monitoring and yield analysis.
• Participate in design reviews, documentation, and technical presentations.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to best practices for silicon photonic design within the organization.

Education & Experience

• PhD or MS in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Photonics, or related field.
• Typically 5+ years of experience in silicon photonics design, integrated photonics, or optical communication systems.
• Proven experience with silicon photonics PIC tapeouts and foundry interactions.

Skills

• Strong expertise in silicon photonics device physics and PIC design methodologies.
• Experience with electromagnetic simulation and photonic design tools.
• Familiarity with photonic foundry design kits (PDKs) and layout environments.
• Strong understanding of optical communication systems and coherent optical architectures.
• Experience with RF design and electro-optic device modeling.
• Knowledge of packaging and fiber coupling techniques for photonic devices.
• Programming experience for simulation automation and data analysis.
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and debugging skills.
• Excellent collaboration skills for working with cross-functional engineering teams.