The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices, and particularly to optoelectronic devices and methods for their manufacture.
In conventional, top-emitting optoelectronic devices, such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), the semiconductor substrate serves not only as the base for fabrication of the emitters, but also as the mechanical supporting carrier of the emitter devices after fabrication. Existing processes for bonding the emitters to heat sinks and control circuits, however, are complex and costly.
New processes have been proposed for integrating emitters with control circuits in a single chip, which is formed by bonding together a III-V semiconductor substrate on which the emitters are fabricated with a silicon substrate on which control circuits for the emitters are fabricated. For example, an array of vertical emitters can be fabricated by deposition of multiple epitaxial layers on a III-V semiconductor substrate, while control circuits for the vertical emitters are fabricated on a silicon substrate. Respective front sides of the vertical emitters are bonded to the silicon substrate in alignment with the control circuits. After bonding the respective front sides, the III-V semiconductor substrate is thinned away from respective back sides of the vertical emitters. After thinning the III-V semiconductor substrate, metal traces are deposited over the vertical emitters to connect the vertical emitters to the control circuits.
Embodiments of the present invention that are described hereinbelow provide improved optoelectronic devices and methods for their fabrication.
There is therefore provided, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, an optoelectronic device, including a driver die, which includes drive circuits and first bond pads on a front surface of the driver die connected to the drive circuits. An emitter die is mounted on the front surface of the driver die and includes one or more vertical emitters fabricated thereon and second bond pads connected to the vertical emitters. An encapsulation layer contains the emitter die and has an inner surface adjacent to the front surface of the driver die and an outer surface opposite the inner surface. Conductive vias extending through the encapsulation layer have inner ends connected to the first bond pads and outer ends at the outer surface of the encapsulation layer. A redistribution layer is disposed over the outer surface of the encapsulation layer and includes conductive traces, each of which is connected to at least one terminal selected from a group of terminals consisting of the second bond pads and the outer ends of the conductive vias.
In some embodiments, the vertical emitters include multiple vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) arranged in one or more banks.
In a disclosed embodiment, the driver die includes a cathode pad on the front surface, and the emitter die includes, on a first side of the emitter die, a cathode contact, which is bonded to the cathode pad, and the one or more vertical emitters are configured to emit radiation through a second side of the emitter die, opposite the first side.
In some embodiments, the device includes one or more surface-mounted electronic components, which are connected between the first and second bond pads by the conductive traces. Additionally or alternatively, the device includes a circuit substrate on which the driver die is mounted, wherein the redistribution layer includes external bond pads, which are connected by the conductive traces to respective ones of the first bond pads, and wherein the external bond pads are connected to circuit contacts on the circuit substrate.
In a disclosed embodiment, the conductive vias include a metal, and the encapsulation layer includes a polymer.
In one embodiment, the inner ends of the conductive vias are integrally bonded with the first bond pads in a continuous metal structure extending from the front surface of the driver die to the outer surface of the encapsulation layer. Alternatively, the inner ends of the conductive vias are fastened by an intermediate layer to the first bond pads.
In some embodiments, the encapsulation layer is molded over the front surface of the driver die around the emitter die and the conductive vias. Alternatively or additionally, the encapsulation layer containing the emitter die and the conductive vias is formed as an integral unit, which is then attached to the driver die.
There is also provided, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, an optoelectronic device, which includes a driver die including drive circuits and first bond pads on a front surface of the driver die connected to the drive circuits. A redistribution layer is disposed over the front surface of the driver die and includes conductive traces. An emitter die, which has first and second sides, is disposed over the redistribution layer with the first side adjacent to the redistribution layer. The emitter die includes one or more vertical emitters fabricated on the emitter die and configured to emit radiation through the second side of the emitter die, and through-substrate vias (TSVs), which extend through the emitter die and have inner ends terminating at second bond pads at the first side of the emitter die and outer ends connecting to electrodes of the vertical emitters at the second side of the emitter die. Each of the conductive traces in the redistribution layer is connected to at least one bond pad, selected from among the first and second bond pads.
There is additionally provided, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a method for fabricating an optoelectronic device, which includes providing a driver die including drive circuits and first bond pads on a front surface of the driver die connected to the drive circuits. On the front surface of the driver die an emitter die is mounted including one or more vertical emitters fabricated thereon and second bond pads connected to the vertical emitters. Inner ends of conductive vias are bonded to the first bond pads. An encapsulation layer is formed so as to contain the emitter die and the conductive vias, such that an inner surface of the encapsulation layer is adjacent to the front surface of the driver die, and the conductive vias extend through the encapsulation layer to outer ends at an outer surface of the encapsulation layer. Over the outer surface of the encapsulation layer, a redistribution layer is formed including conductive traces, each of which is connected to at least one terminal selected from a group of terminals consisting of the second bond pads and the outer ends of the conductive vias.
The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the embodiments thereof, taken together with the drawings in which:
The embodiments of the present invention that are described hereinbelow provide improved methods for large-scale production of emitters and emitter arrays, as well as optoelectronic devices produced by such methods. The emitters are integrated with control circuits in a single chip, which is formed by mounting an emitter die, on which vertical emitters are fabricated, directly onto a driver die, on which drive circuits for the emitters are fabricated.
In the embodiments that are described hereinbelow, for the sake of concreteness and clarity, the emitter die is assumed to be made from a III-V semiconductor substrate, such as a GaAs wafer, and the vertical emitters are assumed to be VCSELs, comprising multiple epitaxial layers deposited on the GaAs substrate. It is also assumed that the driver die is made from a silicon wafer, and the drive circuits are fabricated using a CMOS process, as is known in the art. The principles of the present invention may alternatively be applied, however, in producing other types of vertical emitters, for example light-emitting diodes, and/or using other sorts of substrates, such as other types and combinations of III-V wafers, as well as other circuit fabrication processes, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the present description. All such alternative embodiments are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.
In some applications of such devices, the VCSELs are required to emit short pulses, for example pulses of 1 ns duration or less, at high frequencies, typically in the multi-megahertz range. This mode of operation requires high-frequency drive signals with precisely-controlled pulse shape and timing. To satisfy this requirement, the signal lines to the emitter die from the driver die, where the signals are generated, should be short, with low impedance.
Embodiments of the present invention that are described herein address these constraints by means of an additional redistribution layer, which comprises conductive traces connected to the bond pads on the driver die and on the emitter die. These traces fan in or fan out from the locations of the bond pads on the dies in order to make short, well-controlled connections, with low impedance, between the driver and emitter dies. The redistribution layer can also be designed to accommodate surface-mounted passive components, such as coupling capacitors, and external bond pads for connection of the driver die to a circuit substrate on which the device is mounted.
The use of this sort of redistribution layer is also advantageous in that it can adapt easily to different placements of the bond pads on the emitter and driver dies, and thus permits the emitter and driver dies to be designed and optimized separately. The emitter die may comprise multiple emitters or multiple banks of emitters, and the drive circuits can be designed and connected to actuate the emitters individually, or by bank, or all together. Different types of emitter dies may be integrated on the same driver chip, and vice versa, simply by making the necessary changes in the traces of the redistribution layer.
Reference is now made to
VCSEL die 20 comprises an array of VCSELs 24, which may be arranged in multiple banks. The VCSELs emit radiation in the forward direction, out of the side of die 20 that is shown in
Driver die 22 comprises a cathode pad 28 on the front surface of the die, to which the cathode contact on VCSEL die 20 can be bonded. Drive circuits 30 (not shown explicitly) are fabricated on driver die 22 and connect to conductive vias 32 extending outward from bond pads on the front surface of the die.
In the view shown in
The thickness of the photoresist is chosen so that the heights of vias 32 match the thickness of VCSEL die 20, which is then attached to cathode pad 28 as shown in
An encapsulation layer 46 is molded over the front surface of driver die 22, around VCSEL die 20 and vias 32, as shown in
In this embodiment, RDL 35 is formed over encapsulation layer 46, as shown in
To complete the fabrication of device 42, surface-mounted components 40 are mounted on and connected to traces 38 in RDL 35, as shown in
Temporary carrier 52 comprises a suitable substrate, such as a silicon wafer, on which metal seed pads 53 are deposited, as shown in
In preparation for connection to driver die 22, the outer surface of the encapsulant is polished, to bring encapsulation layer 56 into its final shape and expose the lower surfaces of VCSEL die 20 and vias 32, as shown in
At this point, temporary carrier 52 is removed, for example by etching or polishing. Redistribution layer (RDL) 35 is then formed over the outer surface of encapsulation layer 56. The redistribution layer is similar in structure and functionality to that shown in
Carrier 52 is now removed, exposing the outer surfaces of VCSEL die 20 and vias 32. Encapsulation layer 46 is molded over the front surface of driver die 22 (
Emitter die 106 is disposed over redistribution layer 103 on driver die 102, as shown in
To complete the fabrication of device 100, surface-mounted components 40 may be mounted between bond pads 44 in the redistribution layer on driver die 102, as shown in
It will be appreciated that the embodiments described above are cited by way of example, and that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather, the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove, as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/859,212, filed Jun. 10, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference.
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