Full-Time
Analog IC Design Engineer
High-Speed
Lightmatter
201-500 employees
Photonic computing hardware for AI acceleration
Compensation Overview
CA$135k - CA$180k/yr
Toronto, ON, Canada
Hybrid
 Electrical Engineering (1) |
|---|
- The candidate must have MS degree with 6+ years of industry experience, or PhD with 3+ years, focusing on optical or wireline transceiver design
- The candidate must have experience designing in GHz-speed RF or GHz-speed broadband analog design
- The candidate must have experience with Tx/Rx equalization techniques and circuits
- The candidate must be familiar with SERDES architectures and implementations
- The candidate must have a solid understanding of CMOS device characteristics, noise, mismatch, linearity, and design trade-offs
- The candidate must have experience with Cadence Design Environment
- The candidate must be able to work collaboratively with people across multiple functional areas
- Support micro-architecture development with chip architects by conducting feasibility studies
- Collaborate with design engineering teams including system, digital, analog, and photonics to define electrical requirements
- Design analog and mixed-signal blocks focusing on transceivers and broadband circuits interfacing with silicon photonics elements
- Document design simulations and verifications toward formal design reviews
- Drive block-level floorplanning, mask design views, and their reviews
- Run post-layout and mixed-signal top-level simulations to validate integration
- Define production and bench-level test plans
- Validate the performance of the circuits in the laboratory
- Experience designing Analog-Front-End blocks for transceiver circuits such as trans-impedance amplifiers and Tx Driver
- Knowledge of 3D Electromagnetic simulation tools is a plus
- Experience with testing and validating high-speed analog/mixed-signal circuits
- Experience interfacing with silicon photonic modulators such as Mach-Zehnder modulators and Ring modulators is a plus
- Successful track record in delivering analog/mixed-signal intellectual properties with first-time success while meeting tight schedules
Lightmatter develops photonic computing hardware to speed up AI workloads using light-based processing. Their photonic systems run AI tasks faster and use about 90% less energy than traditional processors. They target AI and autonomous vehicle workloads and collaborate with universities to advance electro-photonic systems. Revenue comes from hardware sales, software licenses, and partnerships, with a goal of bringing scalable photonic computing to market for faster, energy-efficient AI and AV applications.
Company Size
201-500
Company Stage
Series D
Total Funding
$822M
Headquarters
Boston, Massachusetts
Founded
2017
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Roy Kim from Google leads product scaling after Guide and Passage L20 launches.
- $400M raised at $4.4B valuation funds photonic interconnect expansion for hyperscalers.
- Partnerships with GUC, Synopsys, and Qualcomm accelerate Passage 3D adoption in AI clusters.
What critics are saying
- NVIDIA's NVLink-Ultra locks out third-party interconnects in H200 clusters by 2027.
- Intel bundles Ponte Vecchio interconnects at predatory prices, capturing 80% CPU market share.
- TSMC 3nm yield issues halt Lightmatter production, delaying deployments by 6-12 months.
What makes Lightmatter unique
- Passage L200 and M1000 enable edgeless I/O with photonic chiplets atop AI processors.
- Guide light engine delivers 51.2 Tbps per module using VLSP for AI data centers.
- vClick Optics provides detachable fiber arrays with under 1.5 dB loss for CPO manufacturing.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Flexible Work Hours
Remote Work Options
Paid Vacation
Paid Sick Leave
Paid Holidays
Sabbatical Leave
Hybrid Work Options
Stock Options
Company Equity
401(k) Retirement Plan
Wellness Program
Mental Health Support
Gym Membership
Phone/Internet Stipend
Home Office Stipend
Commuter Benefits
Training & Development
Conference Attendance Budget
Professional Development Budget
Family Planning Benefits
Fertility Treatment Support
Adoption Assistance
Childcare Support
Elder Care Support
Relocation Assistance
Employee Referral Bonus
Tuition Reimbursement
Professional Certification Support
Mentorship Program
Meal Benefits
Employee Discounts
Company Social Events
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↑ 6%2 year growth
↑ 6%Lightmatter has achieved a record-breaking 1.6 Tbps throughput per fibre with its Passage Co-Packaged Optics chiplet, marking a significant milestone in AI interconnect performance. The technology, developed in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, uses a 16-wavelength DWDM architecture and delivers up to eight times more bandwidth per fibre than existing solutions. The silicon-proven platform combines Lightmatter's photonic engine with Qualcomm Technologies' 112G PAM4 optical SerDes chiplet, addressing interconnect bottlenecks limiting AI model scaling. The architecture reduces power consumption whilst enabling connectivity for next-generation processors and switches, with Passage L-Series photonic engines on track to deliver 100 Tbps and beyond. The record-breaking Passage L-Series photonic interconnects are now available through evaluation kits for lead customer testing.
Lightmatter has unveiled vClick Optics, the industry's first detachable fibre array unit for co-packaged optics advanced packaging. The technology enables high-volume manufacturing of 3D CPO-enabled chips by allowing manufacturers to verify optical engines before final integration, reducing yield loss risks. vClick Optics achieves insertion loss below 1.5 dB and supports high-bandwidth Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing for 32-100Tbps optical interconnects. The technology integrates SENKO's connector solutions with Lightmatter's photonic technology and is compatible with advanced packaging flows from major foundries. Developed in partnership with ASE and SENKO Advanced Components, vClick transforms permanent fibre attachment into a plug-and-play solution. Lightmatter will showcase the technology at the Optical Fiber Communication conference in Los Angeles from 15-19 March 2026.
Lightmatter has unveiled its Passage L20 optical engine, designed to halve fibre usage in datacentres through near-package optics (NPO) rather than co-packaged optics. The chip, aimed at a 2027 launch, connects via copper to switch ASICs and breaks signals into up to 32 bidirectional fibres operating at 200 Gbps each. The L20 offers 6.4 Tbps throughput whilst consuming 30 watts. Just 16 units could replace 512 traditional 200 Gbps pluggable modules in a 102.4 Tbps switch, significantly reducing power consumption. CEO Nick Harris views NPO as a temporary solution before co-packaged optics arrive around 2028. Lightmatter also introduced vClick, a surface-attach fibre array compatible with advanced packaging technologies. The company expects to begin sampling L20 chips in late 2026.
Synopsys has partnered with Lightmatter to integrate its 224G SerDes and UCIe IP into Lightmatter's Passage 3D Co-Packaged Optics platform, targeting low-latency, high-bandwidth AI infrastructure. The collaboration reinforces Synopsys' positioning in co-packaged optics and high-speed connectivity for AI chips. However, analysts suggest the deal alone is unlikely to materially shift near-term prospects compared to larger catalysts like first-quarter 2026 results due 25 February and progress integrating Ansys following recent debt issuance. Fair value estimates from the Simply Wall St Community range widely from $376,000 to $556,000 per share. With Synopsys trading at a premium valuation, investors face execution risks around AI initiatives and Ansys integration. The company's shares have declined but may be up to 36% below fair value.
Lightmatter, a leader in photonic interconnect solutions for AI, has partnered with Global Unichip Corp. (GUC) to commercialise Passage 3D Co-Packaged Optics solutions for hyperscale AI infrastructure. The collaboration combines Lightmatter's photonic interconnect technology with GUC's ASIC design and advanced packaging expertise. The Passage platform uses silicon photonics to deliver enhanced bandwidth density and power efficiency for chip-to-chip communications, addressing connectivity bottlenecks in next-generation AI and high-performance computing workloads. By extending AI cluster scale-up capabilities across multiple racks, the solution aims to improve training time and throughput for frontier AI models. GUC will integrate Passage into its ASIC designs using advanced node chiplet and packaging workflows. The partnership targets hyperscale data centre operators seeking to overcome bandwidth and power constraints.