You don't just want to design photonic chips — you want to measure them and make them talk? As a Working Student in Characterization, you'll join our PIC characterization team in Stuttgart and help us electrically and optically characterize our photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) — both on-chip and in fully packaged modules.
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Perform electrical and optical characterization of our TFLN PICs — both on-chip and on fully packaged chips.
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Support our characterization team with DC and RF measurements on chips and packages, delivering reliable, repeatable, and high-quality measurement results.
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Coordinate closely with the characterization engineers on the team, and bring your own ideas for improving test setups and workflows.
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Depending on your interests and background, learn optical, electro-optical, and radio-frequency (RF) characterization methods in depth.
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Nice to have: write and test measurement and evaluation scripts in Python.
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You're a student of electrical engineering, telecommunications, physics, or a related field.
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No prior experience required — we onboard you step by step, and you'll work under the guidance of experienced colleagues at first.
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Beneficial: Python skills, plus some familiarity with measurement instrumentation such as VNAs, high-speed oscilloscopes, optical spectrum analyzers, RF probes, or tunable lasers.
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You work reliably and carefully, communicate clearly with the team, and bring self-motivation along with an eye for precise, structured work.
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Direct, hands-on exposure to a future technology: photonic computing made in Stuttgart.
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Access to state-of-the-art labs and measurement equipment instead of pure theory.
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Mentoring from experienced characterization engineers, with the chance to build up your skills in optical, electro-optical, and RF measurement step by step.
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Flexible working hours built around your studies (20 hrs/week, more possible during semester breaks by arrangement).
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An international, collaborative team, modern workspaces, and extras such as a meal allowance, a subsidized Deutschlandticket, and regular team events.
Q.ANT is a deep-tech scale-up developing photonic processing solutions that compute natively with light and deliver a scalable alternative to transistor-based systems. The analog co-processors are optimised for complex computations and enable energy-efficient performance for next-generation AI and HPC applications. In collaboration with the Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart IMS CHIPS, Q.ANT operates its own pilot line for photonic chips, based on the material system Thin-Film Lithium Niobate TFLN. Q.ANT was founded by Michael Förtsch in 2018 and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
