Silicon, Hardware, & Photonics Engineering Intern – Summer 2027

Location: Boston, MA; Mountain View, CA Department: Internships

Lightmatter is leading the revolution in AI data center infrastructure, enabling the next giant leaps in human progress. The company invented the world’s first 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™, capable of connecting thousands to millions of processors at the speed of light in extreme-scale data centers for the most advanced AI and HPC workloads.

Lightmatter raised $400 million in its Series D round, reaching a valuation of $4.4 billion. We will continue to accelerate the development of data center photonics and grow every department at Lightmatter!

If you're passionate about tackling complex challenges, making an impact, and being an expert in your craft, join our team of brilliant scientists, engineers, and accomplished industry leaders.

Lightmatter is (re)inventing the future of computing with light!

The Engineering team at Lightmatter

The Engineering team at Lightmatter takes photonic computing from research to reality,  overseeing silicon photonics manufacturing, system integration, and 3D Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) development across the full stack, from chip to rack-scale data center deployment.

Responsibilities

Depending on your background, you'll contribute to one or more of these areas:

Photonics & Silicon Engineering — Support design and simulation of optical components and photonic interconnects that move data at the speed of light.

Product Engineering — Help develop and run tests that validate silicon photonics products from the lab bench to manufacturable hardware.

Analog — Assist in the design and verification of analog and mixed-signal circuits that drive and control photonic components.

Laser Development — Contribute to the characterization and integration of laser sources powering Lightmatter's photonic interconnect fabric.

Systems Engineering — Support board bring-up, lab validation, and system integration of Lightmatter's photonic computing platforms.

Digital Design — Work on RTL development, modeling of photonics circuitry, and developing algorithms and control logic for cutting-edge photonic interconnect SoCs.

Design Verification — Help build testbenches and run simulations to verify complex chip designs meet functional and performance targets.

Physical Design — Synthesis and timing analysis with floor planning, place-and-route, or physical verification of ASIC blocks using industry-standard EDA tools.

Firmware Engineering — Help develop low-level drivers, active laser control algorithms, and system-level telemetry to power photonic interconnect platforms.

Qualifications

Pursuing or recently completed a BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

Hands-on experience through coursework, capstone projects, research labs, or past internships.

Familiarity with at least one relevant tool — SolidWorks, ANSYS, ADS, Cadence.

Curious, collaborative, and comfortable asking questions.

We offer competitive compensation. The base salary range for this role determined based on location, experience, educational background, and market data.

Hourly Range

$40—$67 USD

Benefits

Comprehensive Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)

Retirement Savings Matching Program

Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)

Generous Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)

Paid Family Leave

Short Term & Long Term Disability

Training & Development

Commuter Benefits

Flexible, hybrid workplace model

Equity grants (applicable to full-time employees)

Benefits eligibility may vary depending on your employment status and location. Lightmatter recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.

Export Control

Candidates should have capacity to comply with the federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control laws.