Integrated Photonics Device Engineer

Aylight; Zürich; On-site; CHF 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary with equity participation

Direct contribution to a world-class platform

World-class lab infrastructure

Office in central Zurich

Job summary

Aylight in Zurich is seeking a highly skilled photonic integrated circuits designer to lead the design and simulation of InP photonic devices. You will work on high-speed modulator designs, connecting physics with practical hardware development.

The ideal candidate holds a PhD in a relevant field and has proven experience in photonic circuit design. Aylight offers a competitive salary along with equity participation and access to world-class lab infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Experience designing electro-optic modulators (EAM or MZM) in III-V platforms.
• Familiarity with foundry PDKs, DRC/LVS verification, and tapeout submission workflows.
• Knowledge of DWDM system requirements and datacenter optical interconnects.

Responsibilities

• Design and simulate passive and active InP photonic integrated circuits.
• Push the boundaries of high-speed modulator design.
• Bridge the gap between physics simulation and manufacturable hardware.

Skills

Hands-on photonic integrated circuit design (silicon photonics, InP)

Strong simulation skills: FDTD, EME

Experimental characterisation of photonic devices

Opto-electronic co-design pushing modulator bandwidth

Education

PhD or equivalent in photonics, electrical engineering, or applied physics

Tools

Lumerical

COMSOL

Tidy3D

Job description

Design and simulate passive and active InP photonic integrated circuits at the frontier of electro‑optic performance. You will push the boundaries of high‑speed modulator design, bridge the gap between physics simulation and manufacturable hardware, and own the full loop from concept to tapeout to characterisation.

Responsibilities & Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in photonics, electrical engineering, or applied physics with a focus on integrated photonics or optoelectronics
• Hands‑on photonic integrated circuit design (silicon photonics, InP)
• Experience designing electro‑optic modulators (EAM or MZM) in III‑V platforms
• Strong simulation skills: FDTD, EME, or equivalent photonic simulation tools (Lumerical, COMSOL, Tidy3D, or custom)
• Familiarity with foundry PDKs, DRC/LVS verification, and tapeout submission workflows
• AI‑assisted design and development workflows — LLM‑aided layout scripting, automated parameter sweeps, and agentic simulation pipelines that close the geometry‑to‑performance loop with minimal manual iteration
• Experimental characterisation of photonic devices — optical, electro‑optic, and RF
• Opto‑electronic co‑design pushing the limits of modulator bandwidth
• Knowledge of DWDM system requirements and datacenter optical interconnects
• InP foundry tapeout experience with major III‑V MPW platforms
• Background in optical frequency combs and optical communication systems

What we offer

• Competitive salary with meaningful early‑stage equity participation (ESOP)
• Direct contribution to a world‑class InP photonic platform at an ETH Zürich deep‑tech spinoff
• Small team, zero bureaucracy — full ownership of your device domain from day one
• World‑class lab infrastructure and compute resources in Zurich
• Office in central Zurich — Europe's deep‑tech capital