Through-etched silicon carriers for passive alignment of optical fibers to surface-active optoelectronic components

摘要

Silicon carriers for passive alignment of optical fibers to surface-active optoelectronic components with micrometer precision are presented. The carriers are through-etched by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) to make vertical fiber alignment holes that go through the chip. On the top surface of the carrier, high-precision electrodes and eutectic AuSn-solder bumps are deposited by evaporation and electroplating. Surface active opto-components, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) or photodetectors are flip-chip mounted on the solder bumps, and are self-aligned to the carrier during the soldering process. Finally optical fibers are inserted and glued in the fiber holes, thereby aligning them to the opto-components. Alignment experiments with multi-mode VCSELs show a coupling efficiency of > 90%. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. [References: 12]