SBIR Phase I: Integrated Optical Monitor for Hybrid Opto-Electronic Transmitter

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目描述了一种混合集成电路，它由在III-V半导体晶片上制造的垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSEL)和用于监控激光器输出功率的硅探测器组成，该半导体晶片被倒装芯片连接到包含用于驱动VCSEL的CMOS电路的硅芯片上。半导体激光器通常配备离散的外部探测器，用于功率监控。我们提出了一种集成的探测器结构，它将提供一种更简单、更高效和更便宜的解决方案。在该方案中，监控探测器被设计到硅CMOS激光驱动器电路中，并被倒装芯片结合到VCSEL上，从而创建了紧凑的三维电路结构。该技术提供了一种可以在大阵列中实现低成本的光电子-VLSI集成电路解决方案。其结果是对超大规模集成电路上的光子进行晶片级集成、封装和测试，从而极大地提高了收发模块的制造效率。监控功能对于电信和存储区域网络应用至关重要，但目前不适用于最初为数据通信应用的系统内链路而生产的阵列式VCSEL收发器。将这种功能整合到并行光纤链路中具有很强的市场吸引力。本发明还将使对VCSEL退化和寿命测量的更多定量研究成为可能，因为每个VCSEL上都内置了实时监控器。到目前为止，这种类型的研究依赖于对小样本人群的间歇性测量。本发明将首次允许在VCSEL上从现场部署的系统收集连续、实时的可靠性数据。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project describes a hybrid integrated circuit that consists of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) fabricated on a III-V semiconductor wafer that is flip-chip bonded to a Silicon chip that contains a CMOS circuit used for driving the VCSEL and a Silicon detector that is used for monitoring the output power of the laser. Semiconductor lasers are typically supplied with discrete, external detectors that are used for power monitoring. We propose an integrated detector structure that would provide a simpler, more efficient, and cheaper solution. In this proposal, monitor detectors are designed into the Silicon CMOS laser driver circuits and are flip-chip bonded to the VCSELs creating a compact, three-dimensional circuit structure. This technology provides an optoelectronic-VLSI integrated circuit solution that can be accomplished in large arrays to achieve low cost. The result is wafer-level integration, packaging, and testing of photonic-on-VLSI leading to tremendous manufacturing efficiencies for transceiver modules.The commercial benefit of the proposed work is very straightforward. Monitoring functionality is critical for telecommunications and storage-area-network applications, but is currently not available with arrayed VCSEL transceivers that were originally produced for intra-system links for data-com applications. There is a strong market-pull for incorporating this functionality into parallel optical links. The invention would also enable more quantitative research into VCSEL degradation and lifetime measurements because of built-in real-time monitors on every VCSEL. Thus far this type of studies have relied on intermittent measurements on small sample populations. The invention would allow, for the first time, continuous, real-time reliability data to be gathered on VCSELs from deployed systems in the field.