Photonics Test Engineer at Lumicity

Job description

Job Details • Sector: Photonics • Type: Permanent Working Arrangement: On-site Location: California, United States Salary: Competitive Share this job Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) Test & Characterization Engineer About the role Our client is hiring a PIC Test & Characterization Engineer to test and characterize photonic integrated circuits and individual photonic devices. You’ll work hands-on in the lab, turning fabricated chips into clear performance data that guides design iterations and helps the technology move toward higher-volume experimentation and production. You’ll develop and run test and characterization plans covering both optical and electrical measurements. The devices span waveguides, grating couplers, modulators, photodetectors, resonators, switches, and other active and passive components. You’ll measure parameters such as optical loss, coupling efficiency, bandwidth, extinction ratio, responsivity, and insertion loss. Characterization of this kind commonly involves techniques like cutback measurements for propagation loss, resonator Q-factor extraction, and high-speed electro-optic measurements with VNAs, alongside fiber-to-chip coupling, optical alignment, and probing. Automation is a big part of the role. You’ll build and improve automated test setups for wafer-level and packaged-device characterization, and develop Python-based workflows for measurement, data acquisition, analysis, and visualization. That typically means instrument control through libraries such as PyVISA, with analysis in NumPy, pandas, and Matplotlib. You’ll work closely with PIC designers to compare measured results against simulations and design targets, and support debugging, root cause analysis, and design iterations. You’ll also collaborate with fabrication, packaging, electrical, and systems teams, and help establish repeatable characterization methods and test infrastructure as the technology scales. Main responsibilities • Develop and execute test and characterization plans for photonic integrated circuits and individual photonic devices • Perform optical and electrical measurements of fabricated PICs and components • Characterize waveguides, grating couplers, modulators, photodetectors, resonators, switches, and other active and passive photonic components • Build and improve automated test setups for wafer-level and packaged-device characterization • Develop Python-based measurement, data acquisition, analysis, and visualization workflows • Perform fiber-to-chip coupling, optical alignment, probing, and other hands-on photonic measurements • Analyze device performance, including optical loss, coupling efficiency, bandwidth, extinction ratio, responsivity, and insertion loss • Compare measured performance against simulations and design targets with PIC designers • Support debugging, root cause analysis, and design iterations based on experimental results • Collaborate with fabrication, packaging, electrical, and systems teams to improve device and test performance • Help establish repeatable characterization methods and test infrastructure for higher-volume experimentation and production Requirements • Experience testing and characterizing photonic integrated circuits or integrated optical devices • Strong understanding of silicon photonics, silicon nitride photonics, or related integrated photonics platforms • Hands-on experience with optical test equipment such as tunable lasers, optical power meters, OSAs, VNAs, photodetectors, and optical/electrical probes • Experience with fiber-to-chip coupling, optical alignment, wafer probing, or packaged photonic devices • Strong Python skills for test automation, data acquisition, analysis, and visualization • Experience interpreting experimental data and connecting measured device behavior to underlying photonic designs and physics • Ability to work hands-on in a lab and troubleshoot complex optical/electrical test setups Nice to have: • Familiarity with PIC fabrication, layouts, tapeouts, PDKs, or device simulation • Experience with thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) or lithium niobate photonics • Experience with silicon nitride (SiN) PICs • Experience with wafer-level automated testing or high-throughput photonic characterization • Experience characterizing high-speed electro-optic devices • Experience with Lumerical, COMSOL, or other photonic simulation tools • Experience designing PIC test structures or contributing to PIC layouts • Experience taking devices from design and fabrication through characterization and iteration This role suits a photonics engineer who’s at home in the lab, enjoys automating measurements, and wants their results to shape the next design. If that sounds like you, apply below. Scroll to Top

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Working Arrangement: On-site
Location: California, United States
Salary: Competitive
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Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) Test & Characterization Engineer
Develop and execute test and characterization plans for photonic integrated circuits and individual photonic devices
Perform optical and electrical measurements of fabricated PICs and components
Characterize waveguides, grating couplers, modulators, photodetectors, resonators, switches, and other active and passive photonic components
Build and improve automated test setups for wafer-level and packaged-device characterization
Develop Python-based measurement, data acquisition, analysis, and visualization workflows
Perform fiber-to-chip coupling, optical alignment, probing, and other hands-on photonic measurements
Analyze device performance, including optical loss, coupling efficiency, bandwidth, extinction ratio, responsivity, and insertion loss
Compare measured performance against simulations and design targets with PIC designers
Support debugging, root cause analysis, and design iterations based on experimental results

Nice-to-haves

Familiarity with PIC fabrication, layouts, tapeouts, PDKs, or device simulation
Experience with thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) or lithium niobate photonics
Experience with silicon nitride (SiN) PICs
Experience with wafer-level automated testing or high-throughput photonic characterization
Experience characterizing high-speed electro-optic devices
Experience with Lumerical, COMSOL, or other photonic simulation tools
Experience designing PIC test structures or contributing to PIC layouts
Experience taking devices from design and fabrication through characterization and iteration
This role suits a photonics engineer who’s at home in the lab, enjoys automating measurements, and wants their results to shape the next design. If that sounds like you, apply below.
Scroll to Top

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python

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