Your role and responsibilities:We are seeking a Senior Photonic Engineer - Experimentalist to participate in designing, developing and experimentally validating cutting-edge photonic systems. Your primary focus will be working with integrated photonics, and precise characterization of the performance of complex photonic chips with several types of high-speed integrated electro-optic elements.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design, build and upgrade complex optical laboratory experiments to characterize the performance of photonic integrated chips with electro-optic elements, using continuous-wave and pulsed laser light.
- Perform precise optical measurements of PICs with networks of fast integrated electro-optic modulators; troubleshoot and benchmark opto-electronic systems for stability, noise reduction, and performance optimization, with attention to properties including switching speed, stability, crosstalk, polarization dependence, etc.
- Implement and maintain optical phase locks and related frequency/phase stabilization; contribute to the development and assessment of new phase-locking and calibration protocols.
- Closely collaborate with PIC development, electrical, mechanical, and software engineering teams to ensure successful module integration.
- Generate detailed technical documentation, including design specifications, test procedures, characterization reports, and operational manuals.
Basic qualifications and experience:- Laboratory proficiency: Demonstrated working knowledge of common laboratory RF and opto-electronic equipment (e.g. oscilloscope, signal generator, spectrum analyzer, photodiodes); the ability to build and troubleshoot complex optical experiments in a laboratory setting.
- Optics expertise: Demonstrated understanding of optical phase-locking techniques, strategies to characterize phase noise and polarization noise in optical fibres and on complex photonic chips, and a conceptual understanding of balanced homodyne detection.
- Electronics: A solid understanding of basic RF electronics, opto-electronic detector & electro-optic modulator concepts.
- Programming skills: Python or similar for data acquisition and analysis.
- Modeling & Analytical Skills: Proven ability to build mathematical models of physical systems utilizing both analytical and numerical tools.
- Education: M.Sc./Ph.D. degree in Quantum Optics, Photonics, AMO, Electrical Engineering or a closely related field. Laboratory research experience in academia or industry.
Preferred qualifications and experience:- Prior work experience: In quantum computing (particularly in optical quantum computing); with thin-film lithium niobate modulators; with co-packaged optical systems.
- Autonomy and technical adaptability: The ability to independently design, build, and troubleshoot complex optical experiments and clearly communicate measurement-derived insights; the ability to rapidly absorb complex, proprietary architectures and master new experimental frameworks.
- Advanced Automation: Experience writing Python scripts for instrument control, hardware interfacing, and automated data acquisition.
- Advanced concepts: Expertise in balanced homodyne detection (c.w. or pulsed), laser noise characterization techniques (phase/frequency, RIN), advanced laser interferometry (Pound-Drever-Hall locking, locking/control theory), optical pulse shaping with IQ modulators and AWGs.
- Education: Ph.D. in Quantum Optics, Photonics, AMO, Electrical Engineering or a closely related field.
