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Lightmatter

Photonic computing hardware for AI acceleration

Photonics Characterization Intern

Hardware Validation & TestingPosted on Nov 5
Internship · Winter 2026Boston, MA, USA$53 - $65 /hr

About the Job

Requirements

  • Be a recent PhD graduate or PhD candidate in Photonics, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
  • Have a strong understanding of silicon photonics and demonstrated experience in electro-optic component testing.
  • Have experience developing and implementing automated testing systems using Python scripting and translating data into actionable strategies.
  • Be highly analytical and process-oriented, and be capable of working independently to solve complex technical problems in a laboratory environment.
  • Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

  • Participate in electro-optic testing of photonics chips and devices using hands-on laboratory experience and various optical instruments.
  • Conduct tests and characterization of silicon photonics components, including micro-rings, optical phase shifters, and Mach-Zehnder interferometers.
  • Operate optical equipment including lasers, electro-optic modulators, semiconductor optical amplifiers, PIN receivers, optical spectrum analyzers, optical vector analyzers, and optical filters.
  • Use semiconductor test equipment, including vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, source-meter units, arbitrary waveform generators, and high-speed oscilloscopes.
  • Design and execute testing protocols for silicon photonics chips and subsystems.
  • Develop and implement automated testing and system interfacing through Python scripting.

Desired Qualifications

  • Have experience with microcontroller programming.
  • Have experience with high-speed instruments.
  • Have experience with high-speed communications and an understanding of vector network analyzers and optical links.
  • Understand high-speed printed circuit boards and/or microelectronics.
  • Have experience working in a graduate-level photonics or electrical engineering laboratory.

About the Company

Lightmatter

Photonic computing hardware for AI acceleration

Lightmatter develops photonic computing hardware that accelerates AI workloads using light-based processors. Its photonic supercomputers run AI tasks faster and use far less energy (about 10x faster and 90% less energy) than traditional electronic systems. The company differentiates itself by focusing on electro-photonic systems and practical AI acceleration for AI and autonomous vehicle workloads, working with universities and selling hardware, software licenses, and partnerships. Its goal is to bring scalable photonic computing to market so AI and self-driving applications can run faster, more efficiently, and at larger scale.

Company size
201-500
Company stage
Series D
Total funding
$822M
Headquarters
Mountain View, CA
Founded
2017

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