Hybrid integration of VCSELs to foundry fabricated smart pixels

An opto-electronic integrated circuit (OEIC) smart pixel is a structure composed of optical inputs and/or outputs interconnected to electronic processing circuitry. The optical I/O allows the data to be read in 2-D page oriented formats. This circumvents the bottlenecks in the electrical interconnections and improves speed by reducing the capacitance and inductance of the wirebonds. Recently, we have reported the successful hybrid integration of VCSELs to a foundry fabricated OEIC by flip-chip bump-bonding a back-emitting VCSEL array. In this paper we present the results of improved integration processing and VCSEL design that will increase yields and mechanical and electrical robustness. In addition, a new approach to bonding VCSELs directly to the smart pixels is presented.