IC Layout Engineer – Optical Engine Silicon
Lumilens · Singapore
The role
Lumilens builds optical interconnect for AI data centers: silicon photonics, mixed-signal ICs, electrical-optical interposers, and the systems around them. Our silicon ships in production AI clusters today, and volume is climbing fast.
You will own layout for our electronic ICs (EICs) and photonic ICs (PICs). These are high-speed analog blocks where the layout is the design: a parasitic you did not anticipate, a return path you did not control, or a current density you did not check will cost the part its margin.
You will also support photonic IC (PIC) layout as our schedule demands, and own the integration of electronic and photonic dies as they come together.
Singapore puts you close to the assembly and test supply chain we depend on, working alongside a senior layout engineer and partnering with design teams across the US, India, and Singapore.
Responsibilities
Own layout for assigned analog and mixed-signal blocks: device placement, matching and symmetry, shielding, guard rings, and routing, from floorplan through to clean sign-off.
Execute parasitic-aware layout — build to the constraints given by designers, run extraction, and take the results back to them when the layout says something the schematic did not expect.
Route high-speed signal paths with attention to impedance, coupling, and return paths, and lay out passive and electromagnetic structures under senior direction.
Run and close DRC, LVS, antenna, and density checks on your blocks, and support electromigration and IR drop analysis.
Support top-level assembly and chip finishing activities through tape out.
Support PIC layout as the need arises, including waveguide and curvilinear structures.
Lay out photonic components and waveguide routing — bends, tapers, couplers, grating and edge couplers, and modulator and photodetector electrodes — from designer-provided geometry, honoring minimum bend radius, waveguide spacing, and phase- and length-matching constraints.
Run photonics-specific verification: curvilinear DRC against the photonics PDK, waveguide connectivity and port checks, LVS on custom photonic cells, and clean GDS stream-out for tape out.
Build the scripts and reusable structures that make the layout team faster.
Qualifications
Diploma, BS, or MS in Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or equivalent hands-on layout experience.
1–3 years in custom analog, RF, or mixed-signal IC layout, including at least one tapeout you contributed to through to silicon.
Solid working experience with Cadence Virtuoso, including Layout XL and constraint-driven flows.
Parasitic awareness in practice — you understand why a matched pair is drawn the way it is, and which nets on your block deserve the extra care.
Fundamentals in electromigration and IR drop: current density limits, power routing, and the checks that catch problems.
Fundamentals in electromagnetics for on-chip structures — coupling, shielding, and why high-speed routing is constrained the way it is.
Physical verification experience: Calibre or PVS DRC/LVS, and parasitic extraction with QRC, StarRC, or equivalent.
Some scripting for layout automation — SKILL, Python, or both.
Willingness to overlap with US and India hours during tape out crunch.
Preferred Qualifications
SiGe BiCMOS layout experience, and the passive and isolation practices those processes demand.
Advanced FinFET CMOS layout at 7nm and below — multi-patterning and coloring, fin and poly grid constraints, and the DRC complexity that comes with them.
Photonic IC layout exposure: waveguide routing, curvilinear geometry, and photonics PDK design rules.
Experience with parametric photonic cells (PCells) in Virtuoso SKILL or Python-based photonic layout tools (gdsfactory, KLayout, IPKISS), and with curvilinear-to-grid snapping and fracture rules.
Familiarity with silicon photonics building blocks and their layout sensitivities: Mach-Zehnder and ring modulators, Ge photodetectors, thermal phase shifters, and fiber coupling structures.
Exposure to 2.5D and 3D integration, interposers, or micro-bump and copper pillar arrays.
Layout on optical front ends specifically — TIA, modulator driver, or high-speed serial link blocks.
Why this role
Optical I/O for AI is being defined right now, and in this silicon the layout is where the performance is actually won. The team is small, so the blocks are yours: you will take them from floorplan to tapeout, see them come back as working parts, and grow into top-level and methodology ownership as we scale. You will also get a working foot in photonics, which very few layout engineers have.
More jobs at Lumilens · Hardware & Silicon jobs in Singapore