High-Speed Photonics Device Specialist 

Imec is a global pioneer in developing integrated silicon photonics technology through its renowned iSiPP platform and PDK and Optical I/O R&D program. This technology is successfully offered via wafer-level prototype fabrication services to customers in telecom, datacom, computing, bio-medical, and sensing applications. By leveraging the mature Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) processes used in electronics, high-volume and high-yield Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) can be fabricated at relatively low cost. Among the major building blocks within a PIC, the high-speed photonic devices such as modulator (EO conversion) and detector (OE conversion) devices are critical in defining the maximum data rate, footprint and the overall link power budget.  
Within the COnnectivity Pathfinding (COP) department of imec, we have multiple position openings with emphasis on high-speed photonic devices. We are looking for skilled and passionate photonic engineers with different levels of expertise to work on different classes of devices according to your background, capability and interest. You will collaboratively contribute to our COP device mission:  

• We drive photonics innovation through exploration of novel device build-up flows, new materials (such as Ge, GeSi, III-V, BTO, LNO, organic chromophores/polymers), and wafer-level processes.  
• We deliver early-stage process specifications and device models. We validate device concepts towards novel library components that become part of imec’s PDK, available to internal and external partners. 
• We identify trade-offs in emerging integration flows and establish device-process correlations. 

Your goal is to research manufacturable solutions for novel high-speed opto-electronic devices to either achieve ultra-low power (<1pJ/bit) consumptions for compute and ultra-short reach applications or ultra-high bitrate devices for 400Gbit/s/lane applications in our high-tech 200mm and 300mm platforms and clean rooms.  

What you will do

In your team, together with other high-speed device specialists you contribute with your world-class expertise, your strive for innovation and eye for engineering details. You take the ownership over a component class and take the lead in a particular cross-component skill you further excel in. You act as the central point between collaborating teams of system design, electrical IC design, layout and optical testing support, integration team, process development (e.g. epitaxial growth and etch) and use their feedback to improve your class of devices.  
Your main duties include:  

• Simulate, model, and validate your high-speed devices and benchmark against state-of-the-art solutions. 
• Your devices have superior efficiency, low dark current (<10nA) and EO/OE bandwidth (50-110GHz). 
• You patent impactful ideas and publish progress in journal and conference papers and visit e.g. ECOC or OFC.  
• You create smart design of experiments, both layout-wise on internal masks and process-wise as wafer splits, in both 200mm and 300mm wafer processing lines, depending on the application.  
• Your design follows as much as possible but at the same time pushes design rules to the true limit of processing. 
• Collaborate with your colleagues to enhance the overall imec offerings in the integrated silicon photonics field.  
• Please note that the position is based in Leuven (Belgium). An on-site presence of at least three days is required. 

What we do for you

We offer you the opportunity to join one of the world’s premier research centers in nanotechnology at its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. With your talent, passion and expertise, you’ll become part of a team that makes the impossible possible. Together, we shape the technology that will define the society of tomorrow.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and proud of our open, multicultural, and informal working environment with ample possibilities to take initiative and show responsibility. We commit to supporting and guiding you in this process; not only with words but also with tangible actions. Through imec.academy, 'our corporate university', we actively invest in your development to further your technical and personal growth. 

We are aware that your valuable contribution makes imec a top player in its field. Your energy and commitment are therefore appreciated by means of a market appropriate salary with many fringe benefits. 

Who you are

• You have a strong understanding of the device physics of integrated photonics and knowledge of semiconductor manufacturing processes and constraints. Working experience with Ge and III-V epitaxial growth or wafer bonding and the printing, bonding or depositing Pockels materials is a strong asset. 
• You have a PhD degree in Physics or Photonics and 3 years of experience in the relevant field will be desirable. 
• Greater levels of experience are also welcome. The position level will be adjusted based on experience.   
• You master photonic devices simulation tools (Lumerical and/or RSoft) and understand the pros and cons of each simulation method. 
• You have demonstrated experience with designing and characterizing high-speed (>30GHz) electro-optical devices. Simulation (e.g., Ansys, TCAD, HFSS, Agilent ADS) and characterization (S-parameters, TDR, eye diagram, BER measurements) is a plus. 
• You layout your design-of-experiment using a scripting language (like ipkiss from Luceda Photonics or GDSFactory). Experience in programming using Python and collaborating with colleagues using Git is a strong asset. 
• You have good communication skills in English to communicate with your colleagues in our multinational team and with customers. 
• You are curious and creative. You enjoy facing challenges and working within a team to overcome them.  
• You live in Belgium or are willing to relocate 

IMEC and its affiliates will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. IMEC will consider unsolicited referrals and/or resumes submitted by vendors such as search firms, staffing agencies, professional recruiters, fee-based referral services and recruiting agencies (hereafter “Agency”) to have been referred by the Agency free of charge. IMEC will not pay a fee to any Agency that does not have a prior written agreement with IMEC, validated by its HR department, in place regarding a specific job opening and allowing to submit resumes.