Senior Laser and SOA Characterisation Engineer at Lightmatter, Mountain View
Job Description
Lightmatter’s photonics characterisation team is hiring a senior engineer for laser and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) characterisation in Mountain View. The engineer leads bring-up, validation and root-cause analysis of DFB, DBR, external-cavity and tunable lasers, laser diodes and SOAs, measuring power, spectrum, SMSR, RIN, linewidth, gain, saturation, ASE and noise figure across temperature and operating conditions, and automates the test flows in Python.
At a glance
- Role: Senior Laser & SOA Characterization Engineer
- Location: Mountain View, California, USA
- Posted: 2 July 2026
- Pay: $210,000 to $267,000 base
- Apply: open until filled (re-checked 13 October 2026)
About the laser characterisation role
- Lead hands-on characterisation of semiconductor lasers, tunable sources and SOAs
- Measure output power, spectrum, SMSR, RIN, linewidth, gain, saturation, ASE and noise figure
- Develop LIV, tuning, stability and long-term drift methods
- Build automated optical and RF test setups in Python, PyVISA, LabVIEW or MATLAB
- Debug coupling, polarisation, back-reflection, RF noise and thermal issues
- Feed results to laser design, packaging, systems and reliability teams, and mentor juniors
Work authorisation
Lightmatter’s posting says candidates must be able to comply with US export control laws.
What Lightmatter is looking for
- A PhD or master’s in electrical engineering, physics, applied physics, photonics or optics
- 5+ years of hands-on laser, SOA or optical device characterisation
- Strong semiconductor laser physics: gain, carrier dynamics, rate equations, linewidth, RIN
- Optical and RF instruments: OSAs, RF spectrum analysers, TEC and current drivers
- Strong Python for automation and analysis
Nice to have
- Experience with DFB, DBR, tunable or external-cavity lasers for integrated photonics
- Advanced noise measurements: phase and frequency noise, feedback sensitivity
- Rate-equation and thermal modelling
- III-V materials and heterogeneous integration
Pay and location
Lightmatter lists a base salary range of $210,000 to $267,000, plus equity and benefits.
How to apply
Apply through the official Lightmatter job posting. Lightmatter’s posting does not give a closing date, so the role is open until filled; ResearchJobs.in will re-check this listing on 13 October 2026. Check the posting for location and work-authorisation details before you apply.
See all our research engineer jobs, or browse more research jobs on ResearchJobs.in.
Hiring institution: Lightmatter
Official advertisement: boards.greenhouse.io
How to prepare for this application
- Noise measurements: prepare to explain how you measured linewidth and RIN, and their pitfalls.
- Automation: show a test framework you built.
- Root cause: bring a story of tracing a laser failure to its cause.
- Physics: revise rate equations and relaxation oscillations.
About Lightmatter
Lightmatter builds photonic chips for AI data centres. Its Passage product is a 3D-stacked photonics engine that links thousands of processors with light instead of copper wires.
