Optical Bench Subassembly with Integrated Photonic Device Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current optical fiber feedthrough subassemblies face challenges in achieving precise alignment, high throughput, and cost-effectiveness due to complex and costly active alignment processes, leading to high waste rates and reliability issues in single-mode applications.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a photonic device with an optical bench in a subassembly allows for alignment outside the optoelectronic package, using a base with precise geometries and features to support optical fibers and components, enabling passive or active alignment without relying on internal components, and allowing for preassembly testing to reduce waste and improve manufacturability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If active alignment process is used for optical fiber feedthrough subassemblies, then alignment precision is improved, but manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The optical bench is pre-assembled with optical fibers and components in a separate manufacturing process, allowing alignment to be performed before integration into the final optoelectronic package. This preliminary alignment action enables the use of simpler alignment methods in the final assembly while maintaining high precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into separate modules: the optical bench subassembly with pre-aligned fibers and the optoelectronic package. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each module, with the optical bench being manufactured and aligned separately using appropriate techniques without affecting the final package complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If active alignment process is used, then alignment precision is improved, but productivity decreases due to high waste rates
Solution Approach 1:
Alignment-critical components are pre-assembled and aligned on the optical bench before final package integration. This preliminary action allows defective assemblies to be identified and discarded at the optical bench stage rather than at the final package stage, reducing waste of higher-value completed packages and improving overall productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical bench serves as a disposable intermediate carrier that enables precise alignment but can be discarded if alignment fails. This approach is more economical than risking damage to expensive optoelectronic packages during alignment processes, as the optical bench is relatively inexpensive compared to completed packages.
3Device complexity
If alignment is performed inside the optoelectronic package, then device integration is simplified, but alignment precision and reliability decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The optical bench with optical fibers and components is pre-assembled and aligned in a dedicated optical manufacturing environment with appropriate fixtures and equipment. This preliminary alignment action ensures high precision that would be difficult to achieve inside the constrained optoelectronic package, while the pre-assembled unit integrates smoothly into the final device.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical bench acts as an intermediary carrier that facilitates precise alignment of optical components. It provides a stable, purpose-built platform for alignment that is then transferred to the final optoelectronic package, mediating between the requirements for precision alignment and the constraints of the final device integration.
4Device complexity
If functional testing is performed inside the package, then device integration is simplified, but manufacturing cost and waste increase
Solution Approach 1:
Functional testing and burn-in procedures are performed on the optical bench subassembly before integration into the optoelectronic package. This preliminary testing action identifies defective units early in the manufacturing process, allowing them to be discarded before investing additional resources in final package assembly, thereby reducing overall manufacturing cost and waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical bench serves as a disposable test vehicle that enables functional verification of optical components. Since the optical bench is relatively inexpensive compared to completed optoelectronic packages, it is economical to use it for extensive testing and burn-in procedures, discarding only the cheap optical bench rather than expensive finished products.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical bench subassembly including an integrated photonic device. Optical alignment of the photonic device with the optical bench can be performed outside of an optoelectronic package assembly before attaching thereto. The photonic device is attached to a base of the optical bench, with its optical input/output in optical alignment with the optical output/input of the optical bench. The optical bench supports an array of optical fibers in precise relationship to a structured reflective surface. The photonic device is mounted on a submount to be attached to the optical bench. The photonic device may be actively or passively aligned with the optical bench. After achieving optical alignment, the submount of the photonic device is fixedly attached to the base of the optical bench. The optical bench subassembly may be structured to be hermetically sealed as a hermetic feedthrough, to be hermetically attached to a hermetic optoelectronic package.