Automation Technologies to Scale PIC Testing from Lab to Fab

This webinar will cover the basics of precision motion systems for PIC testing and discuss the ways motion solutions can be specifically designed to address the production-scale test requirements for PIC manufacturing.

Regularly testing photonic integrated circuits (PICs) at the wafer- and die-level requires high-precision alignments of test devices in multiple degrees of freedom (DOF). These tests are more complex than the traditional integrated circuits (ICs) testing because PIC testing often requires aligning optical components in addition to the alignment of a conventional probe card for electrical connections.  These optical components, such as light sources and detectors, have much higher alignment sensitivities than electrical contacts and therefore require high-precision multi-DOF positioning systems during testing. Because of this added complexity, the precision motion systems required need to be more capable than those used in traditional IC testing. This is true for PIC testing at the lab-scale and for production-scale operations.

While the fundamental processes of PIC testing in labs or production environments are often similar, production-scale PIC testing presents a host of new challenges that need to be considered. The throughput and quality assurance goals of high-volume PIC manufacturing place additional demands on the test systems that include speed, reliability and scalability, in addition to the complex precision positioning requirements of lab testing. Optimizing a motion system to address all of these needs requires careful consideration of the system’s architecture for both controls and mechanics.