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Silicon Photonics Engineer

Psionic, Inc is a startup focused on lidar sensors and navigation systems for autonomous vehicles. We value our customer relationships, our diverse and dynamic work environment, and our employees' career satisfaction. We offer a competitive salary and attractive benefits package.

We are adding a motivated Silicon Photonics Engineer to join our small, fast-moving team and help take photonic integrated circuits from concept to silicon. The successful candidate will be responsible for the design, layout, and verification of photonic integrated circuits (PIC) for FMCW lidar systems. You will work directly with commercial foundries, and see your layouts turn into fabricated chips. The role requires experience with PIC layout tools and foundry tape outs to complement our on-site team in Hampton, VA.

Job Description

The primary purpose of this position is to design and develop silicon photonic components and subsystems. You will work with a high-performing, multidisciplinary engineering team. A breadth of engineering expertise building real world high-speed, electro-optical systems is needed. Excellent communications skills are critical for success.

The successful candidate requires knowledge necessary to create and maintain PDK-based layouts for fabrication using script-driven tools. The job requires working directly with commercial CMOS/photonic foundries to prepare tape-outs, resolve DRC issues, and support fabrication runs. The applicant will interact with a broad interdisciplinary team composed of experts in integrated photonics device and circuit design, free space optical design, device test, quality, electrical ICs design, chip assembly, component packaging, etc.

Our designs must perform under stringent environmental conditions. Integrated optical sensors and supporting electronics are necessary to achieve high-performance requirements. The successful candidate will be familiar with the integrated photonics lab testing techniques and procedures to analyze and predict system performance across highly variable environmental conditions. The work involves hardware development as well as testing and conducting performance validation and verification of photonic devices.

Responsibilities

• Design silicon photonic components and subsystems from the ground up.
• Create and maintain Process Design Kit (PDK)-based layouts for fabrication using script-driven tools.
• Work directly with commercial Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS)/photonic foundries to prepare tape-outs, resolve Design Rule Checking (DRC) issues, and support fabrication runs.
• Collaborate closely with electrical, mechanical, packaging, and system engineers.
• Test and characterize photonic devices.
• Document designs and contribute to internal design reviews.

Education and Qualifications

• Must be a US Citizen
• Must be able to pass a pre-employment background check
• MS in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Applied Physics or related field, PhD preferred
• Hands-on experience with silicon photonics design and layout.
• Experience working with commercial foundry Process Design Kits (PDKs).
• Experience with script-based layout workflows.
• Familiarity with photonic simulation tools (Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD), Eigne Mode Expansion (EME), circuit-level modeling).
• Experience with optical lab setups and photonic device testing.
• Understanding of photonic design rules and tape-out processes.
• Familiarity with silicon photonic packaging concepts and techniques (e.g., fiber attach, edge/grating couplers, alignment, thermal management, and co-packaging considerations) is a plus.
• Exposure to RF or electronic-photonic co-design and packaging is a plus.

Why You'll Like Working Here

• High-impact role: your designs go to silicon and get tested.
• Small team with high trust and minimal bureaucracy.
• Direct interaction with foundries and decision-makers.
• Mix of design, coding, and hands-on lab work.

Psionic, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This position requires access to export-controlled technology or software source code and the position is subject to U.S. export control laws.