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TFLN Team Intern – Design Automation

PHI Lab

Sunnyvale, CA, USA

Posted on 10 Feb, 2026

Skills
No skill added

Job Summary
Engineering role focused on infrastructure development for facilitating the tape-out and characterization of compact, low-power, and high-performance photonic microsystems. These devices are targeted towards broad application spaces, including sensing, communications, and computation.

Position Details

NTT Research Inc. is a leader in cutting-edge photonic technologies, driving innovation in telecommunications, optical computing, nonlinear optics, and quantum hardware. Our team is composed of world-class scientists and engineers developing next-generation optical systems; we aim to push the envelope at every level, from precision fabrication to system-scale design. We are now seeking a highly motivated and technically strong design automation intern to join our team and contribute to the advancement of technologies based on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN).

As a design automation intern, you will be responsible for reducing barriers to transitioning integrated photonic devices and systems from designs into manufacturing. You will work closely with a multidisciplinary team to develop and automate pipelines to improve manufacturability of cutting-edge TFLN devices.

Responsibilities

Implement automation routines for various stages of the design-fabricate-measure-repeat workflow for photonics manufacturing
Develop fabrication-ready wafer layouts for photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
Support design automation and enablement projects, depending on experience and length of internship. For example:
- Automate tape-out of photonic circuit designs
- Streamline inline metrology and optical characterization of PICs
- Facilitate file preparation and data interchange
- Automate manufacturing data analysis and reporting
Document and communicate research findings

Qualifications and Skills

Exceptional candidates will be considered regardless of background.
Experience using scripting or software tools for process automation (e.g. Python)
Familiarity with foundry workflows for design, fabrication, and metrology
Coursework in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Optics, or a related field.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience building dashboards or other graphical interfaces
Experience with photonic chip design (GDSII layout, PDKs).
Background in photonics fabrication.
Experience working with academic or industry foundries.
Pursuing an M.S. or Ph.D. degree in a related field
Availability for 6+ month internship