US5854867A — Optical module having lenses aligned on lens-posi…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 265 words

An optical module having lenses aligned on a V-groove, comprising: a substrate having a top and a bottom surface, said substrate having formed therein first and second optical transferring V-grooves and an optical receiving V-groove, said grooves defining a light transferring path and defining the position for at least one lens disposed in said light transferring path; an optical transferring module disposed on the top surface of the substrate and including a laser flip-chip-bonded to the substrate, an optical transferring lens attached at the first optical transferring V-groove for condensing light from the laser, and a laser monitoring optical detector flip-chip-bonded to the substrate and disposed proximate an edge of a side wall of the second optical transferring V-groove and opposite the laser such that an active region of the laser monitoring optical detector is disposed over the second optical transferring V-groove for detecting light from the laser reflecting off the side wall of the second optical transferring V-groove so as to monitor the laser; and an optical receiving module disposed on the top surface of the substrate and including an optical receiving lens attached at the optical receiving V-groove of the substrate for condensing light externally transferred thereto, and a light receiving optical detector flip-chip-bonded to the substrate and disposed proximate an edge of a side wall of the light receiving V-groove so that an active region of the light receiving optical detector is disposed over the side wall of the light receiving V-groove for detecting the condensed light reflecting off the side wall of the light receiving V-groove from the optical receiving lens.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 265 words

An optical module having lenses aligned on a V-groove, comprising: a substrate having a top and a bottom surface, said substrate having formed therein first and second optical transferring V-grooves and an optical receiving V-groove, said grooves defining a light transferring path and defining the position for at least one lens disposed in said light transferring path; an optical transferring module disposed on the top surface of the substrate and including a laser flip-chip-bonded to the substrate, an optical transferring lens attached at the first optical transferring V-groove for condensing light from the laser, and a laser monitoring optical detector flip-chip-bonded to the substrate and disposed proximate an edge of a side wall of the second optical transferring V-groove and opposite the laser such that an active region of the laser monitoring optical detector is disposed over the second optical transferring V-groove for detecting light from the laser reflecting off the side wall of the second optical transferring V-groove so as to monitor the laser; and an optical receiving module disposed on the top surface of the substrate and including an optical receiving lens attached at the optical receiving V-groove of the substrate for condensing light externally transferred thereto, and a light receiving optical detector flip-chip-bonded to the substrate and disposed proximate an edge of a side wall of the light receiving V-groove so that an active region of the light receiving optical detector is disposed over the side wall of the light receiving V-groove for detecting the condensed light reflecting off the side wall of the light receiving V-groove from the optical receiving lens.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 31 words

The optical module of claim 1, wherein at least one pair of optical transmitter module and optical receiver module is arranged on the same substrate in parallel in an array form.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 18 words

The optical module of claim 1, wherein said optical module is integrated with a wavelength division multiplexing device.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 16 words

The optical module of claim 1, wherein said optical module is integrated with an optical fiber.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 30 words

The optical module of claim 1, wherein the horizontal distance between two lenses is an integer number of times with respect to the distance between neighboring array type optical fibers.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 42 words

The optical module of claim 1, wherein said silicon substrate includes: a solder bump for bonding a laser monitoring optical detector, a light receiving optical detector, and lasers; a connection wire and a wire bonding pad for electrically connecting with external components.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 114 words

The optical module of claim 1, wherein said substrate includes: a first insulation film formed on the top and bottom surfaces of the substrate; multiple metallic pads and alignment mark pads formed on the first insulation film; a second insulation film formed on the to surface of the substrate; a V-groove etching window and a solder dam formed by etching the first insulation film and the second insulation film; a laser support formed on the metallic pad; a V-groove formed in the substrate through the V-groove etching window; a solder bump formed on the metallic pad and the second insulation film; and a metallic reflective film formed on the side wall of the V-groove.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 13 words

The optical module of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a silicon substrate.

Claim 10

Independent Claim 201 words

A method for fabricating an optical module comprising the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a first insulation film on a top and a bottom surface of the substrate; forming a metallic pad and an alignment mark pad on the first insulation film by a photolithography and a lift-off process; depositing a second insulation film and a photoresist on the metallic pad and the alignment mark pad by a photolithography process; dry-etching the first and second insulation films so as to form a solder dam having a smaller surface area than that of the metallic pad on a portion of the metallic pad, an alignment mark having a width narrower than that of the alignment mark pad on a portion of the alignment mark pad, and a V-groove etching window so as to minimize photolithographic errors in making the alignment mark and the V-groove etching window; forming a laser support on a portion of the V-groove etching window, and forming a lens-positioning V-groove on the substrate by etching through the V-groove etching window using an anisotropic etching solution; and depositing a solder material on the solder dam by the photolithography and forming a solder bump by a deposition and lift-off method.

Claim 11

Independent Claim 201 words

A method for fabricating an optical module comprising the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a first insulation film on a top and a bottom surface of the substrate; forming a metallic pad and an alignment mark pad on the first insulation film by a photolithography and a lift-off process; depositing a second insulation film and a photoresist on the metallic pad and the alignment mark pad by a photolithography process; dry-etching the first and second insulation films so as to form a solder dam having a smaller surface area than that of the metallic pad on a portion of the metallic pad, an alignment mark having a width narrower than that of the alignment mark pad on a portion of the alignment mark pad, and a V-groove etching window so as to minimize photolithographic errors in making the alignment mark and the V-groove etching window; forming a laser support on a portion of the V-groove etching window, and forming a lens-positioning V-groove on the substrate by etching through the V-groove etching window using an anisotropic etching solution; and depositing a solder material on the solder dam by the photolithography and forming a solder bump by a deposition and lift-off method.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 15 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein said silicon substrate has a (100) crystalline direction.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 29 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein said first insulation film is formed of one selected from the group comprising a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 27 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein said first insulation film is formed in a multiple layer of a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 25 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein said second insulation film is formed of one of a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 43 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein each of said metallic pad and said alignment mark pad includes a layer comprising one of Cr and Ti, a layer comprising one of Ni and Cu, a layer of Pt, and a layer of Au.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 48 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein an etching pattern of said solder dam is self-aligned on the mask such as a lens-positioning V-groove etching window so that a photolithography error between the solder dam and the etching pattern of the V-groove etching window can be automatically removed.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 25 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein a metallic reflection film is deposited on a side wall of the V-groove so as to reflect light.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 25 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein the height from the substrate of the laser is determined by controlling the thickness of the laser support.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 47 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein a V-groove is formed in a reverse side of the laser, and the light radiated from the reverse side of the laser is made incident on the light receiving optical detector by reflecting off the side wall of the V-groove.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 48 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein when flip-chip-bonding the laser and the light receiving optical detector to the substrate, an alignment mark is formed on a portion of the top surface of the substrate, the laser and light receiving optical detector so that a pre-alignment is performed.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 53 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein said V-groove of the second insulation film deposited on the alignment mark pad at the time when forming a V-groove etching window is etched to form an alignment mark, so as to remove a photolithography error between the alignment mark and the lens-positioning V-groove etching window.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 42 words

The fabrication method of claim 9, wherein the center of the lens is positioned top surface of the substrate so that the beam from the lens is scanned to the lateral wall of the V-groove and is reflected to the optical detector.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 71 words

The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of: aligning and flip-chip-bonding a laser on the substrate using a solder reflow process; aligning and flip-chip-bonding a laser monitoring optical detector and a light receiving optical detector on the substrate using a solder reflow process; applying an adhesive to a portion of one of the V-grooves for bonding a lens; and curing the adhesive using one of ultra-violet ray and heating.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 9, wherein the substrate is a silicon substrate and the anisotropic etching solution is a silicon anisotropic etching solution.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2001-12-28	2002-06-29	2002-12-29	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2005-12-28	2006-06-29	2006-12-29	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2009-12-28	2010-06-29	2010-12-29	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Optical module having lenses aligned on lens-positioning V-groove and fabrication method thereof

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