Photonic Integrated Package with Interposer for Smaller Die Cost
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing photonic integrated packages face challenges in reducing the size of photonic dies while maintaining efficient optical and electrical signal processing, which increases manufacturing costs due to the use of expensive Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) substrates.
Innovation Solution
The formation of a photonic package involves encapsulating a photonic die in an encapsulant and using through-vias or redistribution lines to connect the photonic die, allowing for a reduced size of the photonic die and enabling the use of less expensive semiconductor substrates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If photonic dies are made smaller to reduce package size, then manufacturing cost increases due to the need for expensive Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) substrates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an interposer substrate as an intermediary component between the photonic die and the carrier substrate. This interposer allows the photonic die to be mounted on a standard semiconductor substrate instead of requiring expensive SOI substrates, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while enabling small photonic die sizes. The interposer acts as a mediator that decouples the size reduction requirement from the substrate cost constraint.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the photonic package into multiple independent components: the photonic die, the interposer substrate, and the carrier substrate. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the photonic die can be made small without requiring the entire package to use expensive SOI substrates, as the substrate cost is separated from the die size constraint through the interposer architecture.
2Volume of moving object
If photonic die size is reduced, then electrical and optical signal processing efficiency may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves electrical and optical signal processing functions to different dimensional levels - electrical signals are processed on the interposer substrate and carrier substrate plane, while optical signals are processed through waveguides and couplers in three-dimensional space. This dimensional separation allows the photonic die to be small while maintaining signal processing efficiency through optimized interconnect architectures and optical coupling mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The interposer substrate serves as an intermediary that provides optimized electrical interconnects between the small photonic die and the carrier substrate. This intermediary layer enables efficient signal processing by providing dedicated electrical pathways and signal conditioning circuits that compensate for the reduced size of the photonic die, maintaining overall system reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes placing an electronic die and a photonic die over a carrier, with a back surface of the electronic die and a front surface of the photonic die facing the carrier. The method further includes encapsulating the electronic die and the photonic die in an encapsulant, planarizing the encapsulant until an electrical connector of the electronic die and a conductive feature of the photonic die are revealed, and forming redistribution lines over the encapsulant. The redistribution lines electrically connect the electronic die to the photonic die. An optical coupler is attached to the photonic die. An optical fiber attached to the optical coupler is configured to optically couple to the photonic die.