VCSEL Cluster Emitter Assembly for Fine-Pitch Bonding Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for bonding vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) with integrated circuit driver chips face challenges due to pitch mismatch between the VCSELs and the IC driver chips, leading to difficulties in achieving precise alignment during solder mass reflow, especially for fine pitches, which results in low throughput and increased complexity with thermal compression bonding.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves grouping VCSELs into clusters that share a common electrical contact, with conductive pillars connected to these clusters, allowing for larger pillar sizes and pitches suitable for solder mass reflow, thereby enabling cost-effective and high-throughput manufacturing while maintaining precise alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If solder mass reflow is used for bonding VCSELs with fine pitch to IC driver chips, then manufacturing cost is reduced and throughput is improved, but alignment precision deteriorates due to pitch mismatch between VCSELs and IC contacts
Solution Approach 1:
The VCSEL array is segmented into multiple clusters, where each cluster shares a common electrical contact. This segmentation allows the pitch between common contacts to be larger than the pitch between individual VCSELs, enabling solder mass reflow to achieve adequate alignment precision while maintaining high throughput and low manufacturing cost.
2Manufacturing precision
If thermal compression bonding is used to achieve precise alignment for fine pitch VCSELs, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity and process complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the VCSEL array into clusters with shared common contacts, the invention reduces the required alignment precision for each bonding interface. This allows the use of simpler solder mass reflow processes instead of complex thermal compression bonding, thereby reducing device complexity and process complexity while maintaining adequate manufacturing precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If thermal compression bonding is used for fine pitch VCSEL bonding, then manufacturing precision is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The VCSEL array is divided into clusters that share common electrical contacts, increasing the effective pitch for bonding interfaces. This enables the use of cost-effective solder mass reflow processes instead of expensive thermal compression bonding, while still achieving adequate alignment precision through the clustered architecture.
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 allows for efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of VCSEL emitter assemblies with improved alignment and throughput, overcoming the limitations of conventional solder mass reflow and thermal compression bonding methods.
Implementation Method 1
performing a solder reflow procedure on the emitter assembly
Data Source
AI summary
In some implementations, an emitter assembly includes a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) chip including a plurality of VCSELs in a bottom-emitting configuration, and multiple VCSELs, of the plurality of VCSELs, may be grouped in a cluster. The emitter assembly may include a carrier, and the VCSEL chip may be in a flip chip configuration with the carrier. The emitter assembly may include a conductive pillar electrically connected to the multiple VCSELs grouped in the cluster.