New receptacle optical modules using ferrule-integrated chip carrier with solder-bump-bonded photonic device: Singlemode-fiber-based high-speed PIN PD receivers

A new receptacle optical module is proposed that requires no optical-axis adjustment. In this scheme, coupling a photonic device to a fiber is done basically by simple butt-joining, which is accomplished automatically by solder-bump bonding the device onto a platform with an optical fiber glued to a ceramic ferrule. To achieve this coupling, alumina chip carriers were fabricated to include a zirconia ferrule (containing a singlemode fiber). The misalignment between the fiber and the solderable patterns on the chip carrier was below 5 μm (with a cumulative distribution of 50%). Prototype MU (IEC standard, IEEE P1355) receptacle receiver modules were demonstrated. By solder-bump-bonding the photodiode (PD) onto the chip carrier, optical coupling was achieved simultaneously with electrical connection to the chip carrier. No optical-axis adjustment was required throughout the entire fabrication of the module. The module achieved wide bandwidths up to 1 and 5 GHz, respectively, with the PD's with 180- and 50-μm-diameter active areas installed inside.