Wafer arrangement and a method for manufacturing the wafer arrangement
View Patent ↗The wafer arrangement ( 100 ) provided comprises a first wafer ( 101 ), which comprises an integrated circuit and a recess ( 105 ). The wafer arrangement further comprises a portion of a second wafer ( 103 ), which comprises a carrier portion and a protrusion ( 107 ), the protrusion comprising an active component or actively controlled component ( 109 ) such as a MEMS component, wherein the portion of the second wafer ( 103 ) is coupled to the first wafer ( 101 ) such that the protrusion ( 107 ) is received in the recess ( 105 ). The invention provides a mechanism for accurately aligning an active component ( 109 ) on the second wafer ( 103 ) with components on the first wafer ( 101 ), such as photonic, electronic or optical components.
1. A wafer arrangement, comprising:
a first wafer, the first wafer comprising:
an integrated circuit;
a recess;
a portion of a second wafer, the portion of the second wafer comprising:
a carrier portion;
a silicon island structure protrusion, the protrusion comprising an active component or an actively controlled component;
wherein the portion of the second wafer is coupled to the first wafer such that the protrusion is received in the recess.
2. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the first wafer is a silicon wafer.
3. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the first wafer is a silicon-on-insulator wafer.
4. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit comprises a control circuit to control the active component or the actively controlled component.
5. The wafer arrangement of claim 4 , wherein the control circuit comprises an electronic control circuit or a photonic control circuit.
6. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the first wafer further comprises a photonic device.
7. The wafer arrangement of claim 6 , wherein the photonic device is a photonic device selected from a group of photonic devices consisting of:
a waveguide structure,
a laser component,
a mirror,
a modulator,
a photo-detector,
a wavelength converter, and
an amplifier.
8. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the first wafer further comprises a further recess.
9. The wafer arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the further recess is configured to receive an optical component.
10. The wafer arrangement of claim 9 , further comprising:
an optical component arranged in the further recess of the first wafer.
11. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the second wafer is a silicon wafer.
12. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the second wafer is a silicon-on-insulator wafer.
13. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the carrier portion is a thinned portion of the second wafer.
14. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the active component or the actively controlled component is a micro-electro-mechanical system component.
15. The wafer arrangement of claim 14 , wherein the micro-electro-mechanical system component is a micro-electro-mechanical system component selected from a group of micro-electro-mechanical system components consisting of:
a mirror,
a grating,
a switch, and
a cantilever structure.
16. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the recess has a depth in the range from about 1 μm to about 500 μm.
17. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the protrusion protrudes from the surface of the second wafer by about 1 μm to about 500 μm.
18. The wafer arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the second wafer is wafer bonded to the first wafer such that the protrusion is received in the recess.
19. A method for manufacturing a wafer arrangement, the method comprising:
forming a recess in a first wafer, wherein the first wafer includes an integrated circuit;
forming a silicon island structure protrusion on a second wafer;
coupling the second wafer to the first wafer such that the protrusion is received in the recess;
forming an active component or an actively controlled component in the protrusion.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the first wafer is a silicon wafer.