Laser-Patterned Waveguide Adapters for Passive PIC Alignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optoelectronic devices require active alignment and testing of optical and electronic components due to manufacturing tolerances, leading to inefficiencies in assembly and increased overlap/stacking tolerances.
Innovation Solution
Laser patterning is used to precisely define waveguides and alter material reactivity for chemical etching, allowing for co-aligned optical and physical components without the need for active alignment, improving assembly precision and reducing verification tests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional fabrication methods are used to manufacture optoelectronic devices, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to tolerances requiring active alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines optical waveguide fabrication and electrical trace fabrication into a single laser patterning process. The laser simultaneously defines both optical and electrical features on the same substrate, eliminating the need for separate fabrication steps and subsequent active alignment. This merging of processes achieves high precision while reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary patterning of both optical and electrical features during substrate fabrication, before device assembly. By pre-defining the exact positions of waveguides and electrical traces using laser patterning, the design ensures that no active alignment is needed during subsequent assembly steps, thus improving precision without adding assembly complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If active alignment and verification testing are performed, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to labor-intensive processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the device so that the laser-pattered features self-align during assembly without requiring active alignment procedures. The integrated patterning ensures that optical waveguides and electrical traces are automatically positioned correctly relative to each other, eliminating the need for manual verification testing and significantly improving productivity while maintaining precision.
3Ease of manufacture
If overlapping tolerances are increased to simplify assembly, then ease of manufacture is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the fabrication of optical and electrical features into a single laser patterning step, which inherently maintains precise relative positioning. This approach allows the device to be easily manufactured without increasing overlapping tolerances, because the integrated process naturally ensures feature alignment while simplifying the manufacturing procedure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Laser patterning enhances assembly yield and speed by providing precise tolerancing, reducing overlapping/stacking tolerances, and enabling co-fabrication with fewer labor-intensive verification tests.
Implementation Method 1
Laser patterning is used to precisely define waveguides and alter material reactivity for chemical etching
Implementation Method 2
a laser is used to impart an etching pattern in a substrate
Implementation Method 3
The etchant is then applied to the substrate to remove material from the substrate based on the etching pattern
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B~2D
AI summary
By determining an alignment point for a photonic element (110) in a substrate of a given material; applying, via a laser aligned with the photonic element according to the alignment point, an etching pattern to the photonic element (110) to produce a patterned region (113) and an un-patterned region (114) in the photonic element, wherein applying the etching pattern alters a chemical bond in the given material for the patterned region (113) of the photonic element that increases a reactivity of the given material to an etchant relative to a reactivity of the un-patterned region (114), and wherein the patterned region (113) defines an engagement feature (111) in the un-patterned region that is configured to engage with a mating feature (121) on a Photonic Integrated Circuit (120); and removing the patterned region from the photonic element via the etchant, various systems and methods may employ laser patterning in optical components to enable alignment of optics to chips.