Subassemblies for optoelectronic hybrid integrated circuits

Claim 2

An optoelectronic integrated circuit subassembly comprising a single-crystal semiconductor base having a major surface and an insulative layer formed on said surface, optical waveguides integrally formed on said surface, characterized by at least two optoelectronic chips mounted on said base and optically coupled to said waveguides, said chips being physically separated from one another, a single-crystal semiconductor lid on said base, said lid including at least two physically separate cavities for receiving said chips, said cavities being separated by material in said lid which electrically and optically isolates said chips from one another.

Claim 3

The subassembly of claim 1 wherein said lid is hermetically sealed to said base and at least one of said waveguides extends from under said lid to the exterior thereof and further including means exterior to said lid for coupling said at least one waveguide to an optical fiber.

Claim 4

The subassembly of claim 1 wherein said lid has a dimension measured parallel to said surface which is less than the corresponding dimension of said base and further including electrical contacts on said base which extend from said chips under said lid to the exterior thereof.

Claim 5

The subassembly of claim 1 wherein parallel edges of said base or said lid include grooves adapted to receive guide rods.

Claim 6

The subassembly of claim 1 wherein said waveguides include a transmission waveguide and a secondary waveguide forming a pair of optical couplers thereto, said chips include a receiver photodetector optically connected to one of said couplers, a monitor photodetector optically coupled to another of said couplers, and further including a laser diode coupled to one end of said transmission waveguide, and further including fiber alignment means disposed at the other end of said transmission waveguide.

Claim 7

The subassembly of claim 1 wherein one of said chips comprises a laser diode optically coupled to one end of said transmission waveguide, and further including a coupler for extracting a fraction of the light coupled from said laser diode into said transmission waveguide, and means for redirecting the light in said coupler to a test point where light emanates upwardly from said base, thereby to enable the alignment of the laser to the transmission waveguide to be monitored.

Claim 8

An optoelectronic integrated circuit subassembly comprising a single-crystal semiconductor base having a major surface, an optical waveguide integrally formed on said surface, characterized by an optoelectronic chip mounted on said surface and optically coupled to said waveguide, a single-crystal semiconductor lid sealed to said base and forming an enclosure which covers said chip, said waveguide extending from under said lid to the exterior thereof, and means exterior to said enclosure for coupling said waveguide to an optical fiber.

Claim 9

An optoelectronic integrated circuit subassembly comprising a single-crystal semiconductor base having a major surface, an optical waveguide integrally formed on said surface, characterized by an optoelectronic chip mounted on said surface and optically coupled to said waveguide, a single-crystal semiconductor lid sealed to said base and forming an enclosure which covers said chip, said waveguide extending from under said lid to the exterior thereof, and means exterior to said enclosure for coupling said waveguide to an optical fiber.

Claim 10

The subassembly of claim 7 wherein said lid has a dimension measured parallel to said surface which is less than the corresponding dimension of said base and further including electrical contacts on said base which extend from said chips under said lid to the exterior thereof.

Claim 11

The subassembly of claim 7 wherein parallel edges of said base or said lid include grooves adapted to receive guide rods.

Claim 12

An optoelectronic subassembly comprising a single-crystal semiconductor base having a major surface in which a groove is formed, characterized by an optical waveguide integrally formed on said surface and axially aligned with said groove, and a semiconductor laser having a mesa formed thereon and an active region, said mesa having disposed in said groove so as to align said active region with said waveguide.

Claim 13

An optoelectronic subassembly comprising a single-crystal semiconductor base having a major surface in which a groove is formed, characterized by an optical waveguide integrally formed on said surface and axially aligned with said groove, and a semiconductor laser having a mesa formed thereon and an active region, said mesa having disposed in said groove so as to align said active region with said waveguide.

Claim 14

The subassembly of claim 10 wherein said laser has opposing major surfaces, said mesa is disposed on one of said major surfaces, and metalization having an aperture therein is disposed on said opposing major surface.

Claim 15

An optoelectronic subassembly comprising a single-crystal semiconductor base, an optoelectronic device mounted on said base, characterized by means for optically coupling said device to an optical fiber, and means for receiving at least two spaced-apart parallel rods for guiding said subassembly.

Claim 16

An optoelectronic subassembly comprising a single-crystal semiconductor base, an optoelectronic device mounted on said base, characterized by means for optically coupling said device to an optical fiber, and means for receiving at least two spaced-apart parallel rods for guiding said subassembly.

Claim 17

The subassembly of claim 12 wherein said base has a pair of parallel edges, and said receiving means includes a V-groove formed in each of said edges, one of said rods being positionable in each of said grooves.

Claim 18

The subassembly of claim 12 wherein said base has a pair of parallel edges, and said coupling means includes a single-crystal semiconductor fixture mounted at one end of said base, said fixture having a pair of edges parallel to those of said base, said edges having oblique surfaces therein forming parallel V-grooves, and one of said rods being positionable in each of said grooves.

Claim 19

The subassembly of claim 14 wherein said fixture and said base have major surfaces in which V-grooves are disposed in axial alignment with one another so as to form a channel to receive said fiber.

Claim 20

The subassembly of claims 13 or 14 including means for affixing said rods in said V-grooves.

Claim 21

An optoelectronic integrated circuit subassembly comprising a single-crystal silicon base having a major surface and an insulative layer formed on said surface, optical waveguides integrally formed on said surface, characterized by at least two optoelectronic chips mounted on said base and optically coupled to said waveguides, said chips being physically separated from one another, a single-crystal silicon lid on said base, said lid including at least two physically separate cavities for receiving said chips, said cavities being separated by material in said lid which electrically and optically isolates said chips from one another, at least one of said waveguides extending from under said lid to the exterior thereof, means exterior to said lid for coupling said at least one waveguide to an optical fiber, said lid having a dimension measured parallel to said surface which is less than the corresponding dimension of said base and further including electrical contacts on said base which extend from said chips under said lid to the exterior thereof.

Claim 22

An optoelectronic integrated circuit subassembly comprising a single-crystal silicon base having a major surface and an insulative layer formed on said surface, optical waveguides integrally formed on said surface, characterized by at least two optoelectronic chips mounted on said base and optically coupled to said waveguides, said chips being physically separated from one another, a single-crystal silicon lid on said base, said lid including at least two physically separate cavities for receiving said chips, said cavities being separated by material in said lid which electrically and optically isolates said chips from one another, at least one of said waveguides extending from under said lid to the exterior thereof, means exterior to said lid for coupling said at least one waveguide to an optical fiber, said lid having a dimension measured parallel to said surface which is less than the corresponding dimension of said base and further including electrical contacts on said base which extend from said chips under said lid to the exterior thereof.

Claim 23

The subassembly of claim 17 wherein said waveguides include a transmission waveguide and a secondary waveguide forming a pair of optical couplers thereto, and said chips include a receiver photodector optically connected to one of said couplers, a monitor photodetector optically coupled to another of said couplers, and further including a laser diode coupled to one end of said transmission waveguide.

Claim 24

The subassembly of claim 18 wherein said base has a major surface in which a groove is formed, one of said waveguides is axially aligned with said groove, and said laser has a mesa formed thereon and an active region, said mesa being disposed in said groove so as to align said active region with said one waveguide.

Claim 25

The subassembly of claim 17 wherein said base has a pair of parallel edges and a V-groove formed in each of said edges, so that guide rods of said subassembly are positionable in said grooves.

Claim 26

The subassembly of claim 17 wherein said base has a pair of parallel edges, and said coupling means includes a single-crystal silicon fixture mounted at one end of said base, said fixture having a pair of edges parallel to those of said base, said edges having oblique surfaces therein forming parallel V-grooves, so that guide rods for said subassembly are positionable in said grooves.