Photonics Device Talent Community

The role

Depending on your profile, you will contribute to one or more of the following areas: Active photonic devices Research and development of ultrahigh speed modulators and detectors Exploration of novel device concepts, materials, and integration flows (e.g. Ge, GeSi, IIIV, BTO, LNO, organic materials) Targeting ultra‑low power (< 1 pJ/bit) and/or ultra‑high bitrate (≥ 400 Gbit/s/lane) applications Device physics modeling, simulation, layout, and experimental characterization Translating device concepts into library components for imec’s PDKs Passive photonics, packaging & co-packaged optics Design of low loss passive components (Si, SiN, …) for scalable photonic systems Development of chip-to‑chip and chip‑to‑fiber coupling structures Technology pathfinding for co-packaged optics and wafer scale interconnects Optical, mechanical, and reliability evaluation of packaged solutions Collaboration with material suppliers, EDAs, OSATs, and tool vendors Lasers and Optical Amplifiers (III-V on Si) Design, modeling, simulation, layout, characterization of III‑V lasers, optical amplifiers, and LEDs integrated on silicon photonics platforms Wafer‑scale integration of InP‑ and GaAs‑based active devices (including MQW and MQD gain media) targeting optical interconnects, datacom, and future compute architectures End‑to‑end active device development in close collaboration with process integration, assembly, test, and reliability teams, as well as external suppliers and partners Early‑stage reliability assessment, failure‑mode analysis, and lifetime improvement, with benchmarking against state‑of‑the‑art active photonic technologies Strategic contribution to imec’s laser and active device integration roadmap, innovation generation, and results dissemination to internal stakeholders, customers, and partners Integrated photonics design & platforms Designing, simulating, and laying out photonic components and PICs Translating customer requirements into system concepts and PIC architectures Setting up designs of experiments and following up on large scale characterization Analysing and visualizing performance data from die-to-die, wafer-to-wafer, and lot-to-lot Improving existing photonic platforms and contributing to the development of new ones Across all roles, you will: Conceive, simulate, and validate novel photonic device and circuit concepts Design layouts and process experiments on 200 mm and 300 mm pilot lines Collaborate closely with system designers, IC designers, integration, test, and reliability teams Drive technologies from early concepts to manufacturable solutions

What we expect

• A PhD in Photonics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or equivalent industry experience
• Strong understanding of photonic device physics and CMOS manufacturing constraints
• Experience in one or more of the following:
• High‑speed EO/OE device design and characterization (> 30 GHz)
• Passive optical design and modeling
• Integrated photonics design, optimization, layout, and testing
• Photonic packaging and fiber‑coupled device characterization
• Hands-on experience with simulation and design tools (e.g. Lumerical, RSoft, IPKISS, Cadence, LEdit, Zemax, TCAD, HFSS)
• Good programming and scripting skills (Python is a strong plus)
• Hands-on knowledge of experimental setups and largescale characterization of PICs
• Strong collaboration and communication skills in English
• Curiosity, creativity, and the ability to work in a multidisciplinary, international environment