Micro-Optics Engineer

Volantis Semiconductor · San Francisco

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Role Overview

We are seeking a Senior Micro-Optics/Microlens Array Engineer to design, model, and validate microlens-array and wafer-level micro-optical components for high-density photonic packages. You will translate system-level optical requirements into manufacturable designs, build tolerance budgets, work with fabrication and packaging partners, and close the loop with measured data.

What You Will Do

• Own micro-optical design: design microlens arrays and compact micro-optical components, including lens pitch, aperture, focal length, numerical aperture, sag, surface form, fill factor, array uniformity, substrate, material, and coating choices.
• Build connected optical models: use tools such as Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, FRED, LightTools, VirtualLab, Ansys/Lumerical, COMSOL, or equivalent; combine ray, physical-optics, diffraction, and statistical methods where appropriate.
• Bridge EM-scale and package-scale design: where useful, connect FDTD, FEM, EME, RCWA, or similar electromagnetic simulations to Zemax/Code V/physical-optics models so local optical-interface behavior is represented in system-level trade studies.
• Drive tolerancing and yield: develop sensitivity studies and tolerance budgets across fabrication, placement, package stack-up, adhesive, thermal, refractive-index, coating, and surface-form variation; use Monte Carlo and DOE methods to connect design choices to expected yield.
• Bring semiconductor process awareness: partner with process and supplier teams across lithography, grayscale/direct-write patterning, imprint, etch transfer, deposition, thin-film coatings, wafer-level metrology, design rules, and process-window trade-offs.
• Translate design intent: create vendor-ready specifications, optical prescriptions, mechanical drawings and guidance, material and coating requirements, metrology plans, incoming inspection criteria, and acceptance criteria.
• Partner with suppliers: evaluate fabrication routes such as photoresist reflow, grayscale lithography, etch transfer, molding, and replication.
• Validate hardware: plan and run prototype characterization, including surface profile, focal length, array uniformity, optical throughput, reflection behavior, polarization sensitivity, thermal drift, environmental stability, and alignment sensitivity.
• Automate the workflow: build Python tools for simulation sweeps, tolerance studies, data reduction, visualization, dashboards, and clear technical reporting.
• Work cross-functionally: partner with packaging, mechanical, thermal, test, reliability, device, and system teams to move designs from concept to qualified hardware.

What Will Help You Succeed

This section is a guide, not a rigid checklist. We care most about evidence of technical ownership, sound physics, manufacturability judgment, and the ability to learn quickly.

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Physics, Photonics, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field; B.S. with exceptional relevant experience also considered.
• Industry experience in micro-optics, wafer-level optics, optical design, photonic packaging, optomechanics, precision optics, semiconductor process integration, or advanced optoelectronic hardware.
• Experience designing microlens arrays, aspheric micro-optics, diffractive or hybrid micro-optical surfaces, compact optical elements, or package-level optical features with manufacturing constraints.
• Proficiency with optical modeling and tolerancing in Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, FRED, LightTools, VirtualLab, Ansys/Lumerical, COMSOL, or equivalent.
• Nice to have: FDTD-Zemax co-design experience, or equivalent EM-to-system optical modeling, especially where simulation outputs inform tolerances, angular/spectral response, surface geometry, or package-level decisions.
• Nice to have: working knowledge of semiconductor processing or microfabrication, including lithography, etch, deposition, thin films, wafer-level metrology, process variation, design rules, or DFM.
• Ability to convert requirements into an optical design, tolerance budget, supplier data package, and practical characterization plan.
• Experience with prototype characterization, failure analysis, design iteration, and model-to-hardware correlation.
• Python skills for simulation automation, numerical analysis, data reduction, and reporting.
• Clear written and verbal communication; ability to operate independently in a fast-changing startup environment.

Helpful Experience

• Taking wafer-level optics or micro-optical components from concept through prototype builds, supplier qualification, or production ramp.
• High-density optoelectronic packages, semiconductor photonics packages, optical interconnect hardware, co-packaged optics, sensing systems, LiDAR, AR/VR optics, miniature imaging, or datacom hardware.
• Semiconductor process collaboration: mask or layout review, critical-dimension data, SEM/AFM/profilometry interpretation, film-stack review, process-control limits, or interaction with a foundry/process team.
• DFM, DVT, reliability screening, thermal cycling, humidity exposure, high-temperature storage, and environmental qualification.
• Optomechanical CAD or GD&T using SolidWorks, NX, Creo, Zemax CAD exchange, or equivalent.
• Lab automation with motion stages, cameras, optical power meters, OSAs, temperature controllers, SMUs, oscilloscopes, Python/PyVISA, SCPI, or LabVIEW.

How You Will Work

• Owner mindset: drive ambiguous technical problems from first principles to measured hardware. 
• Bias for action: build lightweight experiments, define clear metrics, and iterate based on data.
• Cross-functional fluency: communicate trade-offs across optics, semiconductor process, packaging, mechanical, thermal, test, reliability, and systems teams.
• Builder mentality: create reusable models, scripts, specifications, and test methods.

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