Photonic Design & Fab Engineer

Acceler8 Talent; Boulder, Northern (CO, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Acceler8 Talent partner is seeking a Photonics Fabrication and Design Engineer in the Boulder area to drive end-to-end fabrication of integrated photonic devices in a research cleanroom. You will own the full design-build-test-learn cycle, combining photonics design with superconducting components.

Responsibilities include developing fabrication processes, fabricating devices across SiN and superconducting platforms, and contributing to design rules and PDKs.

Qualifications

• Degree in EE/Physics/Optics/Photonics/Materials Science or related field.
• Hands-on microfabrication/nanofabrication experience.
• Experience with silicon photonics or silicon nitride devices.
• Strong understanding of passive photonic component design.
• Experience with EM simulation tools (e.g., Ansys Lumerical, Tidy3D).
• Knowledge of photonic layout, tapeout concepts, and DRC.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end prototype fabrication in a research cleanroom.
• Develop and optimize fabrication processes for integrated photonics and superconducting devices.
• Fabricate devices across silicon nitride photonics and SNSPDs.
• Design, simulate, and optimize passive photonic components (gratings, couplers, waveguides).
• Translate processes into SOPs and Processes of Record.
• Contribute to PDKs, component libraries, and design rules.
• Collaborate with test, packaging, and systems teams to correlate performance with fabrication data.
• Analyze results and drive design/process improvements.
• Accelerate design-build-test-learn cycles across the photonics platform.

Skills

Microfabrication

Nanofabrication

Semiconductor processing

Photonic device design

Electromagnetic simulation

Education

BS/MS/PhD in EE/Physics/Optics/Photonics/Materials Science

Tools

Ansys Lumerical

Tidy3D

KLayout

Luceda

Cadence

Job description

Acceler8Talent is proud to partner with awell-funded AI hardware startup in the Boulder area that has raised $30.7M in seed fundingto develop a fundamentally new computing architecture combining superconducting electronics with integrated photonics. Emerging from research conducted within the NIST ecosystem, the company is rethinking how AI compute is built from first principles, using neuroscience-inspired approaches to overcome the scaling, efficiency, and communication limitations of conventional silicon-based systems.

The team is developing cryogenic photonic networks that integrate photonic integrated circuits, lasers, and superconducting photon detectors with novel computing hardware. Backed by significant venture funding and government-supported research programs, the company is entering an important phase of hardware development and team growth.

They are looking for aPhotonics Fabrication and Design Engineerto develop the integrated photonic devices at the core of their technology platform. This is a highly hands-on, high-ownership role combining cleanroom fabrication with passive photonic design, giving you responsibility across the full design-build-test-learn cycle rather than limiting you to one narrow part of the development process.

What You’ll Do:

• Own end-to-end prototype fabrication runs in a research cleanroom environment
• Develop, execute, and optimize fabrication processes for integrated photonic and superconducting devices
• Fabricate devices across silicon nitride photonics and superconducting platforms, including superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs)
• Design, simulate, and optimize passive SiN photonic components including grating couplers, splitters, mode converters, edge couplers, and optical I/O structures
• Translate experimental processes into repeatable standard operating procedures and stable Processes of Record
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of internal Process Design Kits (PDKs), component libraries, and design rules
• Work closely with photonics test, packaging, and systems integration teams to correlate device performance with fabrication data
• Analyze fabrication results and use experimental feedback to drive process and device design improvements
• Help accelerate rapid design-build-test-learn cycles across the photonics hardware platform

What You Bring:

• B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optics, Photonics, Materials Science, or a related technical field
• Hands-on experience with microfabrication, nanofabrication, or semiconductor processing
• Experience fabricating devices using silicon photonics, silicon nitride, superconducting electronics, or a related device platform
• Strong understanding of passive photonic component design
• Experience with electromagnetic simulation tools such as Ansys Lumerical, Tidy3D, or similar platforms
• Understanding of photonic layout, Design Rule Checking, and tapeout concepts
• Experience with layout tools such as KLayout, Luceda, Cadence, or similar platforms
• Ability to independently own experimental fabrication work in a fast-moving R&D environment
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate closely across design, test, packaging, and systems teams

Desired Experience:

• Experience fabricating superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) or other superconducting devices
• Experience with silicon nitride (SiN) photonics
• Experience designing passive integrated photonic components such as couplers, splitters, waveguides, or mode converters
• Experience with heterogeneous or hybrid integration techniques such as bump bonding or fusion bonding
• Experience transferring fabrication processes to external fabs or working directly with commercial foundries
• Experience developing repeatable fabrication processes, SOPs, or Processes of Record
• Experience building or maintaining PDKs, component libraries, or fabrication design rules
• Previous experience working in shared multi-user fabrication facilities such as university cleanrooms, national laboratories, or advanced commercial R&D centers

This is an opportunity to join a small, rapidly growing hardware team where you can have direct influence acrossdevice design, fabrication, process development, and integration, rather than owning only one isolated step in a mature production flow.