Passive alignment optical subassemblies for military/aerospace fiber-optic transmitter/receiver modules

• Published in: IEEE transactions on advanced packaging Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 461 - 469
• Main Authors: Beranek, M.W., Chan, E.Y., Chiu-Chao Chen, Davido, K.W., Hager, H.E., Chi-Shain Hong, Koshinz, D.G., Rassaian, M., Soares, H.P., St. Pierre, R.L., Anthony, P.j., Cappuzzo, M.A., Gates, J.V., Gomez, L.T., Henein, G.E., Shmulovich, J., Occhionero, M.A., Fennessy, K.P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway, NY IEEE 01.08.2000; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aerospace electronics; Alignment; Applied sciences; Avionics; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Electronic equipment and fabrication. Passive components, printed wiring boards, connectics; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fiber optics; Integrated circuits; Microelectronics: LSI, VLSI, ULSI; integrated circuit fabrication technology; Microorganisms; Optical fiber devices; Optical fibers; Optical films; Optical receivers; Optical refraction; Optical transmitters; Optics; Optoelectronic devices; Receivers; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Silicon; Silicon substrates; Silicon wafers; Stimulated emission; Substrates; Transmitters; Solder; Aluminium Nitrides; Alignment; Optoelectronics; Test; Electronic packaging; Transmitter; Receiver; Joining; Light emitting diode; Optical fiber
• ISSN: 1521-3323; 1557-9980
• DOI: 10.1109/6040.861561

Under the DARPA sponsored Avionics Optoelectronic Module Technology program, new passive alignment carrier (PAC) optical subassemblies (LED-PAC and PIN-PAC) ruggedized for military/aerospace avionics fiber-optic transmitter and receiver applications have been developed, LED-PAC and PIN-PAC silicon micro-optical bench substrates were fabricated together on a 5 in diameter silicon wafer via multistage photolithography, thin-film, and substrate processing. Alignment v-grooves designed for passive optical alignment of 100/140 /spl mu/m multimode optical fiber to the optoelectronic devices were terminated by solder locking the fiber to the silicon PAC substrates. The LED-PAC comprising a surface emitting LED die-bonded onto a novel precision molded AM submount passively mounted onto the silicon microbench achieves the required high coupling efficiency to 100/140 /spl mu/m multimode optical fiber to meet stringent avionics transmitter output power requirements. The 100/130 /spl mu/m multimode optical fiber-pigtailed PIN-PAC with a refractive lens etched into the p-i-n photodiode backside surface exhibited responsivities greater than 0.8 A/W at 1.3 /spl mu/m wavelength. The LED-PAC and PIN-PAC optical subassemblies integrated with Boeing ARINC 636 (FDDI) transmitter and receiver thick film multichip (MCM-C) circuitry are capable of meeting both ARINC 636 and FDDI physical layer requirements.