Optoelectronic Submount Aligning Operational Singlets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional optoelectronic transducers suffer from defects during manufacturing, leading to low yield and high scrap rates due to imperfections in semiconductor wafers, resulting in inefficient production of aligned optical device arrays.
Innovation Solution
The method involves separating operational singlets from a semiconductor wafer by forming precise diced surfaces and aligning them in a submount with a receiving region to maintain consistent separation, using epoxy to secure them, and integrating with an electrical circuit to form an optoelectronic module.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional wafer dicing process is used to produce arrays of optical devices, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but yield is low due to defects and non-contiguous operable devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the wafer processing into two distinct stages: first dicing individual singlets from the wafer, then selectively assembling only operable singlets into arrays on the submount. This segmentation allows defect inspection and selection before final array formation, preventing defective devices from being included in the final product and thereby increasing yield while reducing scrap rate.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary dicing and inspection of singlets from the wafer before assembling them into arrays. By conducting the dicing and operational verification in advance, the system identifies and selects only functional devices for array assembly, ensuring high yield and minimizing waste of operable devices.
2Manufacturing precision
If devices are precisely arranged using photolithographic processes, then alignment precision is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a submount with a receiving region as an intermediary component that pre-defines the precise geometric arrangement and spacing of optical devices. This submount serves as a template or mediator that guides the placement of diced singlets, achieving precise alignment without requiring complex photolithographic processes on the wafer itself, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The submount's receiving region is designed with precise geometric features that automatically guide and position the diced singlets during assembly. The structure of the receiving region itself provides the alignment references and spacing constraints, allowing the assembly process to achieve precise positioning through the self-aligning geometry of the components rather than requiring external alignment machinery or complex processing steps.
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
This approach increases the yield of usable optical devices by ensuring precise alignment and reducing waste, thereby lowering manufacturing costs and improving the efficiency of producing optoelectronic modules.
Implementation Method 1
applying an epoxy at an intersection of respective exposed surfaces of the operational singlets and the submount and curing the epoxy
Data Source
AI summary
An array of optical devices includes singlets diced or separated from a first diced surface and a second diced surface of a semiconductor wafer. Each singlet includes a single optical emitter or a single photosensitive semiconductor device. The singlets are identified as operationally fit before being arranged in corresponding features in a receiving region of a submount. The corresponding features of the submount are arranged to align and precisely control the pitch or separation distance between optical portions of a desired number of singlets. The use of operationally fit singlets dramatically increases production efficiency as it is no longer necessary to identify N contiguous operational optical devices in a semiconductor wafer to produce a precisely aligned array of N operational optical devices.