High Speed Photodiode Design Engineer

About the role

This role drives the design, simulation, layout, and characterization of high-speed photodetectors from initial concept to high-volume production. The scope focuses on device physics, high-frequency RF behavior, and optical performance of Germanium-on-Silicon (Ge-on-Si) and heterogeneous III-V/Silicon integrated photodetectors.

What you'll do

• Design, simulate, and optimize active photonic components, including high-bandwidth PIN, Avalanche Photodiode (APD), and wave-guided photodetector structures.
• Utilize optical simulation tools to model carrier transport dynamics, transit time limits, quantum efficiency, and dark current.
• Model and design high-speed RF electrode configurations and matching transitions for data rates reaching 200 Gbps per lane and beyond.
• Own custom mask layouts (GDS/OASIS) within automated design environments, ensuring adherence to foundry DRC and LVS rules.
• Collaborate with the fab process integration team to optimize process corners, epitaxy parameters, and implant profiles for wafer yields.
• Partner with validation and test engineering teams to perform hands-on electro-optic characterization, extracting high-speed s-parameters (S₂₁/S₁₁), responsivity, and reliability metrics.

What you'll need

• Ph.D. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Photonics, Optics, or a related field with emphasis on optoelectronic devices or high-speed semiconductor physics.
• 3+ years of industry experience in high-speed, integrated photodetector design, processing, and testing.
• Proficiency with high-speed device simulations and circuit design tools (e.g., Ansys HFSS, CST, ADS, Sentaurus TCAD, Crosslight).
• Knowledge of RF/microwave concepts, including transmission line theory, impedance matching, and parasitic RC parameter extraction.
• Direct experience with devices fabricated from Germanium (Ge) epitaxial growth or hybrid wafer-bonding techniques for III-V materials on silicon substrates.
• Proficiency in Python or equivalent programming environments for automated layout generation (e.g., Luceda IPKISS).
• Experience using statistical tools (e.g., JMP) or Python/SQL to parse automated wafer-level test data, plus familiarity with post-silicon testing protocols for optical transceivers (BER and optical eye diagram analysis).

Nice to have

• Experience with RF characterization of photonic devices (transceiver modules).

Skills: photodiode, APD, TCAD, HFSS, GDS, integrated photonics

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