2027 PhD Optical & Photonics Engineering Intern/Co-Op - CA, San Jose, United States
Digital Design & SoC Architecture
Originally posted 11 September 2026 by the employer.
About the role
What you'll do
- Support the design, simulation, validation, and characterization of photonic integrated circuits, optical transceivers, optical subsystems, and high-speed interconnect technologies.
- Contribute to laboratory testing and performance analysis of optical and electrical systems using industry-standard measurement techniques and instrumentation.
- Involve in data collection, automation, modeling, and analysis activities that help improve design performance, product qualification, and engineering efficiency.
- Work on photonic device characterization, optical communications, signal integrity analysis, mixed-signal technologies, or networking solutions.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary engineering teams including photonics, electrical, systems, packaging, and validation engineers.
- Document findings, present results, and contribute to technical reports that support technology development and product innovation.
What you'll need
- Currently pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Photonics, Applied Physics, Optoelectronics, Physics, Optical Communications, or a related technical field.
- Experience with engineering simulation, modeling, laboratory testing, or data analysis techniques.
- Familiarity with Python, MATLAB, or similar programming languages for technical computing, automation, or data analysis.
Nice to have
- Experience, coursework, or research in one or more of the following areas: Silicon photonics and photonic integrated circuits (PICs), Optical communications and optical transceivers, High-speed digital communications and SerDes technologies, Signal integrity and high-speed electrical interconnects, Analog and mixed-signal circuit design, Optical device characterization and testing, Fiber-optic networking technologies.
- Exposure to photonic design, simulation, characterization, or semiconductor technologies.
- Familiarity with optical and electrical test equipment such as oscilloscopes, network analyzers, optical spectrum analyzers, tunable lasers, BER testers, or similar laboratory instrumentation.
- Interest in advancing optical, photonic, and high-speed interconnect technologies for computing and AI infrastructure.
Market context
This role has been open 33 days — well below the 50-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
964
|
Median days open
50 d
|
Median salary
$155k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | AMD | All employers we track in this specialty (964 roles · 103 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 47 | 964 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 404 | 6145 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 47 d | 50 d (−3 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $155k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 71 open roles · median 33 d
- KLA Corporation · 65 open roles · median 42 d
- Teradyne · 55 open roles · median 27 d
- NVIDIA · 52 open roles · median 67 d
- Applied Materials · 49 open roles · median 63 d
- AMD (this employer) · 45 open roles · median 44 d
How we counted: 964 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 103 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 15 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.