Packaging and assembly for integrated photonics - a review of the ePIXpack photonics packaging platform

[EN] We review recent work done by the photonics packaging platform ePIXpack that serves the academic community with packaging and assembly developments in the area of integrated photonics. The paper includes recent examples of our packaging and assembly work, covering a broad range of technologies from silicon photonics to InP-based devicesThis work was supported in part by the European Union (EU)-funded FP6-project ePIXnet, and in part by the FP7-project BOOM.Zimmermann, L.; Preve, GB.; Tekin, T.; Rosin, T.; Landles, K. (2011). Packaging and assembly for integrated photonics - a review of the ePIXpack photonics packaging platform. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics. 17(3):645-651. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2010.2084992S64565117

Smart packaging for photonics

Unlike silicon microelectronics, photonics packaging has proven to be low yield and expensive. One approach to make photonics packaging practical for low cost applications is the use of {open_quotes}smart{close_quotes} packages. {open_quotes}Smart{close_quotes} in this context means the ability of the package to actuate a mechanical change based on either a measurement taken by the package itself or by an input signal based on an external measurement. One avenue of smart photonics packaging, the use of polysilicon micromechanical devices integrated with photonic waveguides, was investigated in this research (LDRD 3505.340). The integration of optical components with polysilicon surface micromechanical actuation mechanisms shows significant promise for signal switching, fiber alignment, and optical sensing applications. The optical and stress properties of the oxides and nitrides considered for optical waveguides and how they are integrated with micromechanical devices were investigated

Nd:YAG laser welding of stainless steel 304 for photonics device packaging

Although pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding has been widely used in microelectronics and photonics packaging industry, a full understanding of various phenomena involved is still a matter of trials and speculations. In this research, an ultra compact pulsed Nd:YAG laser with wavelength of 1.064 µm has been used to produce a spot weld on stainless steel 304. The principal objective of this research is to examine the effects of laser welding parameters such as laser beam peak powers, pulse durations, incident angles, focus point positions and number of shots on the weld dimensions: penetration depth and bead width. The ratio of the penetration depth to the bead width is considered as one of the most critical parameters to determine the weld quality. It is found that the penetration depth and bead width increase when the laser beam peak power, pulse duration and number of shot increase. In contrast, the penetration depth decreases when the laser beam defocus position and incident angle increase. This is due to the reduction of the laser beam intensity causing by the widening of the laser spot size. These experimental results provide a reference on an optimal laser welding operations for a reliable photonics device packaging. The results obtained shows that stainless steel 304 is suitable to be used as a base material for photonics device packaging employing Nd:YAG laser welding technique

PIXAPP Photonics Packaging Pilot Line development of a silicon photonic optical transceiver with pluggable fiber connectivity

This paper demonstrates how the PIXAPP Photonics Packaging Pilot Line uses its extensive packaging capabilities across its European partner network to design and assemble a highly integrated silicon photonic-based optical transceiver. The processes used are based on PIXAPP's open access packaging design rules or Assembly Design Kit (ADK). The transceiver was designed to have the Tx and Rx elements integrated on to a single silicon photonic chip, together with flipchip control electronics, hybrid laser and micro-optics. The transceiver used the on-chip micro-optics to enable a pluggable fiber connection, avoiding the need to bond optical fibers directly to the photonic chip. Finally, the packaged transceiver module was tested, showing 56 Gb/s loop-back modulation and de-modulation, validating both the transmitter and receiver performance

Simple ultraviolet-based soft-lithography process for fabrication of low-loss polymer polysiloxanes-based waveguides

A simple ultraviolet (UV)-based soft-lithography process is used for fabrication of polymer polysiloxanes (PSQ-L) waveguides. The imprint process is first done on the cladding PSQ-LL layer and is followed by a spin-coating step to fill the imprinted features with core PSQ-LH layer material. The optical loss of the straight PSQ-L waveguides is characterised by the Fabry-Perot method for the first time. Even with non-polished facet of the waveguide, the Fabry-Perot resonance spectrum is obtained. An upper limit scattering loss of the waveguide is extracted to be less than 0.8 +/- 0.2 dB/cm for TE mode and 1.3 +/- 0.2 dB/cm for TM mode at 1550 nm. The fully transferred pattern and low scattering loss proves it to be an effective way to replicate low-loss polymer PSQ-L-based waveguides

A high efficiency input/output coupler for small silicon photonic devices

Coupling light from an optical fibre to small optical waveguides is particularly problematic in semiconductors, since the refractive index of the silica fibre is very different from that of a semiconductor waveguide. There have been several published methods of achieving such coupling, but none are sufficiently efficient whilst being robust enough for commercial applications. In this paper experimental results of our approach called a Dual-Grating Assisted Directional Coupler, are presented. The principle of coupling by this novel method has been successfully demonstrated, and a coupling efficiency of 55% measured

Monolithic integration of microlenses on the backside of a silicon photonics chip for expanded beam coupling

To increase the manufacturing throughput and lower the cost of silicon photonics packaging, an alignment tolerant approach is required to simplify the process of fiber-to-chip coupling. Here, we demonstrate an alignment-tolerant expanded beam backside coupling interface (in the O-band) for silicon photonics by monolithically integrating microlenses on the backside of the chip. After expanding the diffracted optical beam from a TE-mode grating through the bulk silicon substrate, the beam is collimated with the aid of microlenses resulting in an increased coupling tolerance to lateral and longitudinal misalignment. With an expanded beam diameter of 32 mu m, a +/- 7 mu m lateral and a +/- 0.6 degrees angular fiber-to-microlens 1-dB alignment tolerance is demonstrated at the wavelength of 1310 nm. Also, a large 300 mu m longitudinal alignment tolerance with a 0.2 dB drop in coupling efficiency is obtained when the collimated beam from the microlens is coupled into a thermally expanded core single-mode fiber. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreemen

Expanded-beam backside coupling interface for alignment-tolerant packaging of silicon photonics

We demonstrate an alignment-tolerant backside coupling interface in the O-band for silicon photonics by generating an optimized through-substrate (downward) directionality beam from a TE-mode grating coupler and hybrid integrating the chip with backside silicon microlenses to achieve expanded beam collimation. The key advantage of using such an expanded beam interface is an increased coupling tolerance to lateral and longitudinal misalignment. A 34 mu m beam diameter was achieved over a combined substrate thickness of 630 mu m which was then coupled to a thermally expanded core single-mode fiber to investigate the tolerances. A 1-dB fiber-to-microlens lateral alignment tolerance of 14 mu m and an angular alignment tolerance of 1 degrees was measured at a wavelength of 1310 nm. In addition, a large +/- 2.5 mu m 1-dB backside alignment accuracy was measured for the placement of microlens with respect to the grating. The radius of curvature of Si microlens to achieve a collimated beam was 480 mu m, and a 1-dB longitudinal alignment tolerance of 700 mu m was measured for coupling to a single-mode expanded core fiber. The relaxation in alignment tolerances make the demonstrated coupling interface suitable for chip-to-package or chip-to-board couplin