Intern, Laser Control & Validation Engineering
$50 - $60 USD hourly
About the role
This graduate-level internship supports the development, characterization, and laboratory validation of laser and optical control systems. The role focuses on hands-on experimental work with laser and optical hardware, electronic instrumentation, temperature-control systems, and automated test equipment.
What you'll do
- Evaluate control algorithms and characterize electro-optical and thermal system behavior through laboratory measurements.
- Perform hands-on testing with laser and optical hardware, oscilloscopes, power supplies, DAQs, and automated test equipment.
- Design and execute characterization experiments to evaluate static and dynamic system response.
- Validate control algorithms against system requirements and analyze experimental measurement data.
- Develop Python-based tools for test automation, data acquisition, analysis, and visualization.
What you'll need
- Active enrollment in or completion of a Master's or PhD degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, or a closely related technical field.
- Strong fundamentals in control systems, including feedback control, PID controllers, system dynamics, stability, and transient response.
- Hands-on experience with laboratory testing and characterization using oscilloscopes, power supplies, DAQs, and temperature controllers.
- Experience with Python and/or MATLAB for data acquisition, analysis, visualization, modeling, and test automation.
- Ability to analyze experimental data, identify trends and anomalies, and compare measured performance against models.
Nice to have
- Understanding of lasers, optics/photonics, electro-optical systems, or semiconductor devices.
- Familiarity with thermal control/TEC systems, sensors, actuator characterization, noise measurements, and dynamic response measurements.
More semiconductor jobs: Test engineer jobs · San Jose jobs
This role has been open 3 days — well below the 39-day median for Silicon Test Engineering roles.
Silicon Test Engineering · DFT Test
|
Open roles in category
638
|
Median days open
39 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$176k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Ayar Labs | All employers we track in this specialty (638 roles · 86 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 9 | 638 |
| Open roles in the wider Silicon Validation & Test family | 13 | 2395 · 121 employers |
| Median days open | 25 d | 39 d (−14 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $176k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Teradyne · 83 open roles · median 37 d
- Infineon Technologies · 51 open roles · median 34 d
- Renesas Electronics · 45 open roles · median 33 d
- Texas Instruments · 33 open roles · median 44 d
- Qualcomm · 29 open roles · median 51 d
- Micron Technology · 25 open roles · median 55 d
How we counted: 638 open Silicon Test Engineering (DFT Test) roles from 86 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 8 Nov 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 Silicon Validation & Test family row. Figures refresh nightly.