Method and apparatus for optically modulating light through the back side of an integrated circuit die
US6075908A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 19, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jun 13, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 19, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F2201/307
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optical modulator that modulates light through the semiconductor substrate through the back side of a flip chip packaged integrated circuit. The optical modulator of the present invention enables integrated circuit signals to be extracted through the back side of the semiconductor substrate. In one embodiment, an optical modulator is disposed within a flip chip packaged integrated circuit die. The optical modulator includes a deflector and a diffraction grating. An infrared light beam is directed through the back side of a silicon substrate of the integrated circuit die, deflected off the deflector through the diffraction grating and back out the back side of the integrated circuit die. The diffraction grating modulates the phase of a portion of the deflected light beam in response to an integrated circuit signal. A resulting diffraction interference occurs between the phase modulated portions and non-phase modulated portions of the deflected light beam. The interference causes amplitude modulation of a zero order diffraction of the deflected light beam, from which the integrated circuit signal can be extracted.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.