Photonics challenge to electronic packaging

Photonics packaging is a challenge to electronic packaging for two important reasons. The first and most obvious is that light must have access to the device. There must be a window, port or optical fiber interface. The other and more serious problem is that most devices require a highly controlled atmosphere. And if having to accommodate both electrons and photons were not enough, innovators have added mechanical motion to optical devices. Micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems (MOEMS) bring photonics, electronics, optics, physics and mechanical engineering together on one semiconductor device. This appears to be the ultimate convergence of technology domains and can also include biology and chemistry.