Lucent Technologies Inc.

Bell Communications Research, Inc.

Agere Systems Inc.

Other

At&t Bell Laboratories

Agere Systems Guardian Corp.

Triquint Technology Holding Co.

Agere Systems Optoelectronics Guardian Corp.

University of Pittsburgh

Gustav Edward Derkits, Jr

David Gerald Coult

Ernest Eisenhardt Bergmann

Franklin Richard Nash

John William Osenbach

Franklin Roy Dietz

Darryl D Coon

Ralph Stephen Jameson

David Angst

James P Harbison

Bryan Phillip Segner

William R Heffner

Leslie Marchut

Duane Donald Wendling

Ranjani C Muthiah

Brian Stauffer Auker

Walter Jeffrey Shakespeare

Utpal Kumar Chakrabarti

John VanAtta Gates

Richard Bendicks Bylsma

Charles William Lentz

Daniel Paul Wilt

Raymond Frank Gruszka

John S Rizzo

Joze E Antol

Robert Frank Karlicek, Jr

Yiu-Man Wong

Jose A Lourenco

Frederick Arthur Yeagle

Padman Parayanthal

John E Boyd

John Lopata

Nur Selamoglu

Paul Michael Bridenbaugh

Jayanth R Banavar

Sonja Radelow

Ramesh R Varma

Wan-ning Wu

Bryan P Segner

Patrick J Carroll

Marlin Wilbert Focht

An improved method and solder composition for kinetically controlled part bonding. The method involves applying at least a first chemical element layer of an intermetallic compound to a first part and applying at least a second chemical element layer of the intermetallic compound to a second part. The first and second parts are placed together so that the chemical element layers contact each other. The parts are heated from a storage temperature to a bonding temperature which is slightly above a first melting temperature that melts the chemical element layer of one of the first and second parts into a liquid mixture. The composition of liquid mixture varies with time during heating due to the formation of the intermetallic compound therein by progressive incorporation of the other one of the first and second chemical element layers into the mixture. The melting temperature of the liquid mixture increases with time as the composition changes until the melting temperature of the liquid mixture is about equal to the bonding temperature thereby soldifying the liquid mixture into a bond. The parts are then held at a holding temperature which is higher than the storage temperature to maintain diffusion of the other one of the first and second chemical element layers into the bond. This forms a quantity of the intermetallic compound in the bond which is sufficient to raise the melting temperature of the bond to a desired usage temperature that is substantially above the first melting temperature. The intermetallic compound is typically composed of a ternary solder composition.

Kinetically controlled solder

A semiconductor device such as a photodetector has a substrate having an active region layer containing an active region of the device. A dielectric layer is disposed on the active region layer, and a metal active region contact is disposed in the dielectric layer above the active region and electrically contacting the active region. A metal electrostatic discharge (ESD)protection structure is disposed in the dielectric layer around the active region contact, wherein the ESD protection structure electrically contacts the active region layer of the substrate to provide an ESD discharge path for charge on the surface of the dielectric layer.

ESD resistant device

The present invention provides an optoelectronic device that includes an optical active layer formed over a substrate and an active region formed in the optical active layer. The optoelectronic device further includes a P-contact and an N-contact formed over a same side of the substrate and associated with the active region, the N-contact is located within a trench formed in the optical active layer and contacts the substrate within the trench.

Optoelectronic device having a P-contact and an N-contact located over a same side of a substrate and a method of manufacture therefor

A novel contact structure and method for a multilayer gettering contact metallization is provided utilizing a thin layer of a pure metal as the initial layer formed on a semiconductor cap layer. During formation of the contact structure, this thin metal layer reacts with the cap layer and the resulting reacted layer traps mobile impurities and self-interstitials diffusing within the cap layer and in nearby metal layers, preventing further migration into active areas of the semiconductor device. The contact metallization is formed of pure metal layers compatible with each other and with the underlying semiconductor cap layer such that depth of reaction is minimized and controllable by the thickness of the metal layers applied. Thin semiconductor cap layers, such as InGaAs cap layers less than 200 nm thick, may be used in the present invention with extremely thin pure metal layers of thickness 10 nm or less, thus enabling an increased level of integration for semiconductor optoelectronic devices. In addition, because pure metal layers are used in the ohmic contact, fewer impurities are introduced in the formation of the contact than with prior art alloy contacts.

Method of forming a laser circuit having low penetration ohmic contact providing impurity gettering and the resultant laser circuit

A semiconductor device such as a photodetector has a substrate having an active region layer containing an active region of the device. A dielectric layer is disposed on the active region layer, and a metal active region contact is disposed in the dielectric layer above the active region and electrically contacting the active region. A metal electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection structure is disposed in the dielectric layer around the active region contact, wherein the ESD protection structure electrically contacts the active region layer of the substrate to provide an ESD discharge path for charge on the surface of the dielectric layer.

A method of calibrating an interferometer system and a multilayer thin film used for calibrating the interferometer system. The method including measuring the step height of a gold step with the interferometer system, the multilayer thin film comprising a gold layer that defines the gold step. The multilayer thin film having an optical flat, a first layer on the surface of the optical flat, a second layer on the first layer, a test layer on a part of the second layer, and a gold layer on the test layer and on a part of the second layer uncovered by the test layer. The test layer having a test layer step, and the gold layer having a gold step over the test layer step. Also, a reference standard and a method of making the reference standard for a thin film sample with one or more component thin film layers, the reference standard having a gold layer over the surface of the thin film sample.

Method of thin film process control and calibration standard for optical profilometry step height measurement

A system for measuring the thickness of a wafer while it is being thinned this disclosed. The system and method provide integrating an optical reflectometer into a common wafer thinning apparatus. Using reflected optical signals from the top and bottom of the wafer, the thickness of the wafer is determined with time based calculations in real-time while thinning is occurring. Once the desired thickness has been reached, the thinning operation is halted. By performing the measurement in-situ, this system and a method prevent scrapping of wafers which are overthinned and the reloading of wafers which are too thick. Since an optical reflectometer is used, the measurement is contactless, and thus prevents possible damage to wafers during measurement.

In-situ automated contactless thickness measurement for wafer thinning

Kinetically controlled solder bonding

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer, prelayer, refractory layer, and conductive layer. The conductive layer includes an ohmic contact layer, and may also include a barrier layer, of a highly stable, low-resistance element or compound, such as Au or Ti, which is formed on the refractory layer. The refractory layer is a material that does not react with, or dissociate from, either the prelayer or the conductive layer when the semiconductor device is exposed to relatively high temperatures. The refractory layer material may be metal suicides, phosphides, or nitrides. The material of the prelayer is selected to minimize strain between the prelayer, the refractory layer and the semiconductor layer to provide a relatively strong bond between the refractory layer and semiconductor. The prelayer may be selected to provide relatively high current injection to the semiconductor, and may further form a low Schottky barrier height with the semiconductor. Effects from dissociation and/or diffusion of the materials forming the conductive layer to the semiconductor when the semiconductor device is exposed to temperatures above 350&deg; C. may be reduced by employing the refractory layer and prelayer.

Semiconductor device with high-temperature ohmic contact and method of forming the same

The invention relates to semiconductor lasers and more particularly to structures which enable the semiconductor lasers to be tested for reliability. The invention further relates to methods for testing the reliability of semiconductor lasers in wafer or chip form. The invention also relates to methods for the fabrication of semiconductor lasers which includes the use of reliability tests in the fabrication process where the reliability tests includes measuring the voltage drop or drops across one or more levels of a laser structure during the passage of current through the structure.

Semiconductor laser reliability test structure and method

An optical package includes a dual fiber termination having a first optical fiber end portion and a second optical fiber end portion. A collimating lens, spaced from the dual fiber termination, is configured for collimating and transmitting an optical signal emitted from the first optical fiber end portion and for converging a reflected optical signal onto the second optical fiber end portion. A mirror spaced from the collimating lens and having a reflective layer is configured and oriented for reflecting at least a portion of the emitted optical signal from the collimating lens back toward the collimating along a propagation path. A compensation lens is disposed between the collimating lens and the reflective layer of the mirror for correcting optical misalignment between the dual fiber termination and the collimating lens. The position of the compensation lens is movably adjusted in a direction transverse to the optical axis of the collimating lens and is configured for deflecting the emitted optical signal from the collimating lens to thereby modify the propagation path of the reflected optical signal such that the second optical fiber end portion receives the reflected optical signal without significant alignment-related optical loss.

Apparatus and method for compensating for misalignment in reflective packages

An optical isolator which is suitable for array assembly and may be produced by lithographically-defined means comprises a sandwich of layers. These layers include a substrate having two waveguides for transmission of a signal having two parts, each part being comprised of two rays; a walk-off plate for spatially displacing or recombining the rays of both parts; a half-wave plate of birefringent material for reciprocal rotation of the polarization of the rays of only one part of the signal; a non-reciprocal rotator for rotating the polarization of the rays of both parts of the signal at a predetermined angle; a lens for collimating the rays transmitted through the walk-off plate, the half-wave plate, and the rotator, and for focusing the rays opposite the rotator at a common region along an end surface; and an end surface for interconnection of the rays of the two parts of the signal.

Optical isolator

A stable, reliable ohmic contact, and improved semiconductor articles and opto-electronic circuits incorporating same, are disclosed. According to an illustrative embodiment of the invention, an ohmic contact having a plurality of thermodynamically-stable layers and layer interfaces is formed by providing a structure comprising multiple, appropriately-thick and specifically-organized layers of suitably-selected material, and exposing the structure to heat to cause reaction to take place between the various layers. Due to the thermodynamic stability of the resulting reacted layers and the interfaces between such layers, there is substantially no tendency for further reaction to occur within the ohmic contact.

Article comprising a stable, low-resistance ohmic contact

Optical components, such as optical semi-isolators, are placed in a fixture that exposes at least a portion of the mounting surface of each optical component when a plasma or ion beam is directed at one side of the fixture, while shielding sensitive surfaces of the optical components (e.g., an optical element mounted within the frame of the optical component) from direct exposure to the plasma or ion beam. Exposure to the plasma or ion beam removes contaminants (e.g., metal oxide) that form on the mounting surface during the fabrication of the optical components when the optical element is mounted within its frame using glass solder in a heated oxygenated environment (e.g., air). By removing enough of the contaminants, the plasma or ion beam cleaning step produces optical components that can be reliably mounted onto substrates, such as the ceramic substrates used in encapsulated laser packages, using flux-less auto-bonding techniques.

Fixture with at least one trough and method of using the fixture in a plasma or ion beam

Compliant standoffs are disposed on a support surface of a semiconductor or hybrid semiconductor device. The standoffs extend further from the support surface than other active or passive structures associated with the (hybrid) semiconductor device, and are spaced at least a minimum distance from such associated structures. Each compliant standoff provides a surface at which auxiliary devices, such as optical subassemblies, lightwave circuits and the like, can be attached. Since the compliant standoffs extend further from the support surface than other associated structures, such other associated structures are protected from potentially damaging contact with the auxiliary device(s) being attached to the compliant standoffs. Moreover, since the compliant standoffs are spaced from such other asociated structures, potentially damaging thermal and mechanical stresses (imparted to the standoffs as a result of the contact with an auxiliary device such as during bonding) are substantially dissipated by the compliant standoff and directed into the support rather than the other associated structures. The compliant standoffs advantageously comprise conductive materials such that they may be placed in ohmic electrical contact with at least one active region of the (hybrid) semiconductor device.

Article comprising a standoff complaint metallization and a method for making same

Growing community of inventors

New Providence, NJ, United States of America

Gustav Edward Derkits, Jr