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AttoTude

Photonic interconnects powering AI data centers

Fabrication Technician

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
$90k - $150k/yr
Mid
Berkeley, CA, USA
In PersonBased at the Berkeley Nanolab.
Manufacturing & Process EngineeringManufacturing Engineering

About the job

Requirements
  • Prior experience working in a micro- or nanofabrication cleanroom; academic, industrial, or internship experience is acceptable.
  • Familiarity with semiconductor, microelectromechanical systems, or nanofabrication processes.
  • Strong attention to detail and the ability to follow and refine complex process flows.
  • Strong organizational and documentation skills.
  • Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with a small technical team.
Responsibilities
  • Execute micro- and nanofabrication process flows in the Berkeley Nanolab cleanroom.
  • Operate photolithography tools, including spin coaters, mask aligners, and developers.
  • Operate dry and wet etching tools, including reactive ion etching, deep reactive ion etching, and wet etch equipment.
  • Operate thin-film deposition systems, including evaporation, sputtering, and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.
  • Operate metrology and inspection tools, including optical microscopy, profilometry, ellipsometry, and scanning electron microscopy.
  • Support process development, optimization, and repeatability for the company's devices.
  • Maintain detailed fabrication logs, travelers, and process documentation.
  • Follow Berkeley Nanolab safety, chemical-handling, and cleanroom protocols.
  • Contribute to continuous improvement of fabrication workflows.
Desired Qualifications
  • Two to ten or more years of hands-on cleanroom fabrication experience.
  • Experience in a shared-user academic or national laboratory facility.
  • Interest in growing into a process or device engineering role.
  • Comfort working in a startup or fast-paced research and development environment.

About the company

AttoTude designs and sells advanced interconnect technology for data centers, focusing on AI workloads. Its main products are photonic interconnect solutions built on photonic integrated circuits and optical communications that move data at very high speeds with low bottlenecks. These interconnects connect servers, switches, and storage to enable high-speed parallel processing and supercomputing, reducing latency and increasing bandwidth in large-scale deployments. The company differentiates itself by concentrating on photonics-based networking to address AI-specific data center bottlenecks, serving large operators and enterprises through direct sales and licensing. Its goal is to help data centers scale AI capabilities efficiently by providing reliable, high-performance interconnects that support demanding workloads and future growth.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Series C

Total Funding

$131M

Headquarters

Menlo Park, California

Founded

2024

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • June 2026 Series C raised $52 million, bringing AttoTude to $143 million total.
  • AttoTude said first product demonstrations arrive in fall 2026, narrowing commercialization risk.
  • Keysight cut AttoTude's terahertz design cycles by more than 50% in August 2026.

What critics are saying

  • AttoTude still needs fall 2026 demos to prove dielectric interconnects beat copper and optics.
  • Broadcom, NVIDIA, and silicon-photonics vendors can lock hyperscaler standards before AttoTude ships volume.
  • If manufacturing yields lag, the $143 million stack burns before a repeatable product reaches customers.

What makes AttoTude unique

  • AttoTude's ASIC-over-Dielectric platform uses low-loss waveguides, not copper, for 200G–800G lanes.
  • Dave Welch and Joy Laskar bring Infinera and RF-semiconductor credibility to product execution.
  • Keysight's August 2026 workflow expansion validates AttoTude's THz tape-outs and design method.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Flexible Work Hours
  • Stock Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

8%

1 year growth

3%

2 year growth

21%
SuperbCrew
Jun 18th, 2026
AttoTude secures $52 milion in Series C funding round.

AttoTude secures $52 milion in Series C funding round. AttoTude secured $52 million in Series C funding, led by The Westly Group with new investors including Keysight and participation from existing backers. The round, bringing total funding to ~$143 million, accelerates development and commercialization of its THz dielectric waveguide interconnects for high performance AI data centers. AttoTude recently closed a $52 million Series C funding round. This round was led by The Westly Group, with new strategic investors including Keysight, Allegis Capital, and DNX, alongside participation from existing investors such as Sutter Hill Ventures, Mayfield, Canaan Partners, and Wing Venture Capital. The round brings the company's total funding to approximately $143 million. What is AttoTude? AttoTude, headquartered in Menlo Park, California, develops THz (terahertz) interconnect technology for AI and hyperscale data centers. Founded by Dave Welch (co-founder of Infinera, former CTO/VP at SDL) and Joy Laskar (serial entrepreneur and former Georgia Tech professor), the company focuses on "ASIC over Dielectric" or "THz radio over wire" solutions. Its core innovation transmits electrical signals directly over low-loss dielectric waveguides/fiber, bypassing traditional copper limitations and avoiding the high costs, power demands, and complexity of photonics/optical interconnects. Key advantages include: * High bandwidth: Supports per lane rates of 200G, 400G, and 800G. * Reach: Up to ~40m, suitable for scale-up and scale-out in large AI clusters. * Efficiency and reliability: Lower power consumption, higher density, better reliability than copper at distance or optics in many scenarios. * Cost structure: Leverages standard ASIC manufacturing processes. This addresses critical bottlenecks in AI infrastructure as GPU clusters scale massively, projected needs for tens of millions of high end GPUs by the end of the decade require revolutionary interconnects for parallel processing, low latency, and energy efficiency. The platform positions AttoTude in the "mid range" connectivity space for AI fabrics, offering a hybrid alternative that combines electrical simplicity with performance closer to optics. Funding History * Seed (2024): ~$11 million. * Series A (2024/early 2025): ~$29-30 million, backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, Canaan Partners, Wing Venture Capital. * Series B (April 2025): $50 million led by Mayfield, with The Westly Group and existing investors; post money valuation around $446 million. Total to ~$91 million. * Series C (June 2026): $52 million, total ~$143 million. The progression shows strong momentum, with increasing participation from strategic and deep tech investors. The Series C valuation details are not publicly disclosed, but the pace reflects confidence in execution within the hot AI infrastructure market. Funds will support: * Transition from innovation to product development. * Building prototypes and first product demonstrations (expected fall 2026). * Scaling manufacturing and supply chain. * Expanding customer engagements with hyperscalers and AI infrastructure providers. * Commercialization and broad deployment readiness. The company reports strong early customer traction and is preparing for volume production. AI training and inference clusters demand ever-higher interconnect performance, density, and efficiency. Traditional copper struggles with reach and signal integrity at scale; optics add cost, power, and integration challenges. AttoTude's dielectric waveguide approach aims to fill this gap, enabling "everything to everything" connectivity with superior reliability, speed, power, and scale. Investor perspectives highlight the technology's potential: * The Westly Group (lead): Emphasizes positioning to address AI bottlenecks and energy reduction. * Keysight: Collaboration on emerging THz ecosystem for design enablement and testing. * Others note the decade level step function innovation in semiconductors/interconnects. The timing aligns with explosive AI growth, where interconnects are a key constraint. Success could capture significant share in the multi billion dollar data center networking market, particularly for next gen AI fabrics. Founders bring deep domain expertise in optics, networking, and semiconductors. Rapid progress from seed to Series C in ~2 years, with multiple rounds and product milestones, demonstrates strong execution. Board and investor quality (e.g., Mayfield, Sutter Hill) add strategic support for scaling. As a pre revenue or early product company in a competitive space, challenges include manufacturing scale-up, integration into customer systems, competition from established players in copper/optics, and broader semiconductor supply dynamics. However, the differentiated tech, experienced team, blue chip investors, and AI tailwinds position AttoTude favorably for leadership in next generation interconnects. The upcoming product demos will be a key validation point. This Series C underscores market validation of AttoTude's THz-over-wire platform as a compelling solution for AI's scaling demands, fueling its path toward commercialization and potential market disruption. Please email Superbcrew your feedback and news tips at hello(at)superbcrew.com

Business Wire
Jun 16th, 2026
AttoTude raises $52M Series C to scale ASIC over Dielectric interconnect tech for AI infrastructure

AttoTude, a pioneer in interconnect technology for AI infrastructure, has raised $52 million in Series C funding led by The Westly Group. Keysight, Allegis Capital and DNX joined as new strategic investors, with participation from existing backers including Sutter Hill Ventures, Mayfield, Canaan and Wing Venture Capital. The round brings total funding to $143 million. The company is developing ASIC over Dielectric technology that enables electrical signal transmission over dielectric fibre, supporting per-lane data rates of 200G, 400G and 800G. The solution addresses connectivity bottlenecks in AI infrastructure whilst reducing energy consumption compared to conventional copper and optical approaches. Founded by Dave Welch and Joy Laskar, Menlo Park-based AttoTude will use the funding to advance product development, with first demonstrations planned for autumn.

Sperling Media Group LLC
Jul 14th, 2025
AttoTude secures $50M for THz tech

In Q2 2025, 75 startups raised $1.9 billion, with AttoTude securing $50 million in Series B funding led by Mayfield. AttoTude, based in Menlo Park, California, develops terahertz interconnect technology for AI and hyperscale data centers. The funds will be used to scale manufacturing, expand customer engagements, and accelerate product development.

Business Wire
Apr 2nd, 2025
AttoTude Secures $50M Series B Funding Led by Mayfield to Accelerate Deployment of Revolutionary THz Interconnect Technology

AttoTude, the pioneer of groundbreaking THz interconnect technology for AI and hyperscale data center applications, today announced it has raised $50 million...

Silicon Valley Daily
Apr 2nd, 2025
Attotude Celebrates $50 Million Funding Round

MENLO PARK - AttoTude, a pioneer of groundbreaking THz interconnect technology for AI and hyperscale data center applications, has raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Mayfield and joined by The Westly Group, with participation from existing investors Sutter Hill Ventures, Canaan Partners, and Wing Venture Capital.