Electro-optic integrated circuits with connectors and methods for the production thereof

The present application is a Continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/365,328, filed on Feb. 28, 2006, by Avner Badehi entitled “Electro-Optic Integrated Circuits With Connectors And Methods For The Production Thereof,” which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/314,088, filed on Dec. 6, 2002, entitled “Electro-Optic Integrated Circuits With Connectors And Methods For The Production Thereof,” now abandoned, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/373,415, filed on Apr. 16, 2002, entitled “Electro-optic Integrated Circuits and Methods for the Production Thereof.” The contents of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.

The present invention relates to electro-optic integrated circuits and methods for the production thereof generally and more particularly to wafer level manufacture of chip level electro-optic integrated circuits.

The following U.S. patents of the present inventor represent the current state of the art

6,117,707; 6,040,235, 6,022,758; 5,980,663; 5,716,759; 5,547,906 and 5,455,455

The following U.S. patents represent the current state of the art relevant to stud bump mounting of electrical circuits:

6,214,642; 6,103,551; 5,844,320; 5,641,996; 5,550,408 and 5,436,503.

Additionally, the following patents are believed to represent the current state of the art:

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,168,883; 4,351,051; 4,386,821; 4,399,541; 4,615,031; 4,810,053; 4,988,159; 4,989,930; 4,989,943; 5,044,720; 5,231,686; 5,841,591; 6,052,498; 6,058,228; 6,234,688; 5,886,971; 5,912,872; 5,933,551; 6,061,169; 6,071,652; 6,096,155; 6,104,690; 6,235,141; 6,295,156; 5,771,218 and 5,872,762.

A transceiver incorporating a connector is known in the art as shown in product descriptions for OptoCube 40 3.35 Gb/s Channel Speed 850 nm Receiver Array 12 Channel Parallel Optical Receivers and OptoCube 40 3.35 Gb/s Channel Speed 850 nm VCSEL Array 12 Channel Parallel Optical Transmitters from Corona Optical Systems, Inc. 450 Eisenhower Lane North, Lombardi, Ill., 60418, USA.

The present invention seeks to provide improved electro-optic integrated circuits and methods for production thereof.

There is thus provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an electro-optic integrated circuit including an integrated circuit substrate, at least one optical signal providing element and at least one discrete reflecting optical element, mounted onto the integrated circuit substrate, cooperating with the at least one optical signal providing element and being operative to direct light from the at least one optical signal providing element.

There is also provided, in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an electro-optic integrated circuit including an integrated circuit substrate, at least one optical signal receiving element and at least one discrete reflecting optical element mounted onto the integrated circuit substrate and cooperating with the at least one optical signal receiving element and being operative to direct light to the at least one optical signal receiving element.

There is further provided, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an electro-optic integrated circuit including an integrated circuit substrate defining a planar surface, at least one optical signal providing element and at least one reflecting optical element having an optical axis which is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the planar surface, the element cooperating with the at least one optical signal providing element and being operative to direct light from the at least one optical signal providing element.

There is also provided, in accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an electro-optic integrated circuit including an integrated circuit substrate defining a planar surface, at least one optical signal receiving element and at least one reflecting optical element having an optical axis which is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the planar surface, the element cooperating with the at least one optical signal receiving element and being operative to direct light to the at least one optical signal receiving element.

There is further provided, in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for producing an electro-optic integrated circuit including providing an integrated circuit substrate, mounting at least one optical signal providing element onto the integrated circuit substrate, mounting at least one optical signal receiving element onto the integrated circuit substrate and providing optical alignment, between the at least one optical signal providing element and the at least one optical signal receiving element, subsequent to mounting thereof, by suitable positioning along an optical path extending therebetween, an intermediate optical element and fixing the intermediate optical element to the integrated circuit substrate.

In accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the intermediate optical element, when fixed to the substrate, has an optical axis which is neither parallel nor perpendicular to a planar surface of the integrated circuit substrate.

There is also provided, in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for producing an electro-optic integrated circuit including providing an integrated circuit substrate, mounting at least one optical signal providing element on the integrated circuit substrate and mounting at least one discrete reflecting optical element onto the integrated circuit substrate to cooperate with the at least one optical signal providing element and to direct light from the at least one optical signal providing element.