Photonics Engineer - Epitaxial Structures and Devices

We are looking for a Photonics Engineer to join our team developing the semiconductor structures and devices at the heart of Aegiq's next-generation quantum computing systems.

You will design, model and optimise advanced III-V semiconductor heterostructures, with a focus on InP and GaAs-based materials systems. Your work will span bandgap engineering, strain management, device physics and thermal modelling, helping develop high-performance quantum light sources and other photonic devices.

Working closely with our quantum science, photonic design and device engineering teams, as well as external epitaxy and semiconductor fabrication partners, you will translate device requirements into practical epitaxial designs that can be manufactured reliably and at scale.

This is an opportunity to take ownership of challenging semiconductor design problems, contribute to the development of advanced quantum photonic devices and see your designs progress from simulation through wafer manufacturing to experimental validation.

Depending on experience, the position may be offered at Senior or Principal Engineer level.

• Epitaxial Structure Design: Design and optimise complex III-V semiconductor heterostructures, including quantum dots, quantum wells, superlattices and metamorphic buffer layers, with a focus on optical and electronic performance, material quality and manufacturability.
• Device Modelling & Simulation: Model electronic band structures, carrier confinement and transport, optical emission and electro-optical behaviour. Investigate device characteristics such as emission wavelength, optical confinement, carrier dynamics, current-voltage behaviour and quantum-confined Stark shifts.
• Bandgap Engineering: Apply semiconductor physics and quantum mechanical modelling to engineer electronic band structures, quantum confinement, heterojunction offsets and optical properties for advanced photonic and quantum devices.
• Strain Engineering: Analyse lattice mismatch, strain distribution and critical layer thicknesses in pseudomorphic and metamorphic structures. Develop strain-management approaches that achieve the required electronic and optical properties while minimising defects and dislocations.
• Thermal Modelling: Investigate heat transport, thermal resistance and temperature-dependent device behaviour, including the effects of material interfaces and operating conditions on device performance and reliability.
• Simulation & Design Tools: Develop and maintain semiconductor modelling workflows using TCAD and numerical simulation tools such as nextnano, Crosslight, Silvaco, Sentaurus or equivalent software, alongside Python-based modelling and data analysis.
• Epitaxy & Manufacturing: Work with external MOCVD/MOVPE and MBE growth partners to translate epitaxial designs into material specifications and growth requirements. Collaborate with fabrication engineers to understand process constraints, investigate manufacturing challenges and improve device reproducibility.
• Material & Device Characterisation: Interpret structural, optical and electrical characterisation data, including techniques such as high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), photoluminescence (PL), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Use experimental results to validate models, investigate performance limitations and refine designs.
• Technical
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Work across quantum physics, photonic design, semiconductor fabrication and experimental testing teams to understand device requirements, make design trade-offs and support the development of reliable quantum photonic hardware.

Aegiq is a Sheffield-based quantum technology company developing scalable, fault-tolerant…