Principal Laser Engineer - Milpitas, CA, United States
$139,000 - $231,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 22 June 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As a Principal Laser Engineer in the Spectra-Physics Lasers Business Unit, you will build prototypes and contribute to the optical design of free-space and fiber-based laser systems. The role focuses on developing nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond lasers for Industrial, Scientific, and Life and Health markets.
What you'll do
- Serve as a technical expert for the optical design of fiber-based and free space lasers, executing experiments to test conceptual designs and document performance. - Use software computational tools to aid in the design and analysis of optical system performance, working alongside mechanical and electrical engineers on opto-mechanical and electro-optical specifications. - Define test strategies, build, test, and document system prototypes, measuring optical and opto-electronic parameters and generating optical diagrams, drawings, and component specifications. - Work with optical component vendors for procurement and complete performance and reliability evaluations. - Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, software, and manufacturing engineers to transfer new product designs to production, while guiding and training technicians on optical measurement techniques.
What you'll need
- MS degree in Engineering, Physics, Material Science, Chemistry, or a related field with 5+ years of industry experience, or a PhD with 2+ years of industry experience. - Hands-on experience with passive and active fibers and fiber-optics components, including fiber preparation, splicing, and component characterization. - In-depth knowledge of fiber types, their applications, and hands-on experience in free-space beam and optical cavity alignment. - Experience with Gaussian beam propagation software tools and familiarity with optical non-linear processes (SHG, SPM, SBS, Raman). - Familiarity with sub-picosecond pulse generation, measurement, and characterization, alongside hands-on experience operating acousto-optic and electro-optic modulators and pulse selectors. - Proven experience with optical measurement instruments, including beam parameters analyzers, power meters, auto-correlators, fast opto-electronics, oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, spectrometers, and scanning interferometers.
Nice to have
- Experience in troubleshooting and failure analysis of optical modules and systems, or experience with high power pulsed fiber laser design and testing. - Experience with harmonic generation, nonlinear crystals (SHG, THG, SFG), and external-cavity tunable diode lasers. - Hands-on experience with ultra-fast laser development and technologies such as mode-locking, CPA, and auto-correlator/FROG characterization. - Ability to model harmonic generation processes using SNLO, Matlab, or other suitable software tools. - Familiarity with ray-tracing analysis software such as ZEMAX or FRED. - Experience with automated measurement and control methods using Python.
Skills: optical design, fiber-based lasers, free space lasers, opto-electronic, ultrafast laser
This role has been open 122 days — well above the 77-day median for Optical/Photonics IC Design roles.
Optical/Photonics IC Design · Photonics
|
Open roles in category
138
|
Median days open
77 d
|
Median salary
$197k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | MKS Instruments | All employers we track in this specialty (138 roles · 30 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 3 | 138 |
| Median days open | 122 d | 77 d (+45 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $197k |
Skills observed across this category: optical design, fiber-based lasers, free space lasers, opto-electronic, ultrafast laser
Who's hiring in this category
- Coherent Corp · 17 open roles · median 93 d
- GlobalFoundries · 16 open roles · median 79 d
- Lightmatter · 14 open roles · median 98 d
- Lumentum · 10 open roles · median 80 d
- Marvell Technology · 10 open roles · median 35 d
- Intel Corporation · 8 open roles · median 66 d
How we counted: 138 open Optical/Photonics IC Design (Photonics) roles from 30 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 23 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. Figures refresh nightly.