We are seeking highly motivated individuals in developing the next generation single-photon detectors based on semiconductor metasurfaces. At the heart of our detectors is a carefully engineered metasurface — an array of nanostructures whose shape and geometry are tuned to absorb light with near-unity efficiency while controlling where that absorption happens.

QuantumCore Inc. is hiring a full time Photonics Scientist to characterize these novel semiconductor metasurface single-photon detectors. The role focuses on building optical and electrical setups to characterize semiconductor metasurface single-photon detectors. The successful candidate will design and build optical and electrical experimental setups for testing and benchmarking the performance of novel nanostructured single-photon detectors, working closely with researchers and engineers in photonics, nanofabrication, and quantum technologies.

Responsibilities

- Design, build, and maintain optical/electrical test setups for detector characterization (timing jitter, efficiency, DCR, afterpulsing, spectral response)
- Develop and execute measurement protocols to quantify detector performance across operating conditions (temperature, bias, gating, wavelength, polarization)




- Automate measurement sequences and instrument control using Python; implement data logging and analysis pipelines
- Analyze large datasets, extract key metrics (efficiency curves, jitter histograms, count-rate behavior), prepare reports and technical documentation
- Optimize operating points and recommend design or process changes to improve detector performance

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor’s/Master’s in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field; PhD preferred for senior roles
- 3+ years experience in optical alignment and building optical test setups
- Hands-on experience with single-photon detector technologies (SPADs, SNSPDs)
- Proficiency in time-resolved measurements and high-speed electronics
- Experience with test automation and scripting (e.g., Python)
- Strong data-analysis skills, statistical treatment of measurements, and report writing

Preferred Qualifications

- Knowledge of photon-counting electronics, FPGA-based acquisition, and high-count-rate operation
- Prior work in R&D; or production testing environments
- Experience scaling tests for volume production

📌 Photonics Scientist (Waterloo)
🏢 QuantumCore
📍 Waterloo