Managing photonic integrated circuit optical coupling

A method for fabricating a testing module for testing a wafer or chip comprising a photonic integrated circuit, the method comprising:

• forming an electrical signal interface module comprising an array of movable conducting structures;
• forming a photonic signal interface module attached to the electrical signal interface module, the photonic signal interface module comprising one or more optical fiber interfaces, and
• a first set of grating couplers arranged over at least a first plane of the photonic signal interface module;
• and
• forming one or more electrical signal connections between the electrical signal interface module and the photonic signal interface module.

A method for testing a wafer or chip comprising a photonic integrated circuit, the method comprising:

• aligning a first set of grating couplers on a testing module to a second set of grating couplers on a surface of the wafer or chip, where the testing module comprises
• an electrical signal interface module comprising an array of movable conducting structures, and
• a photonic signal interface module attached to the electrical signal interface module comprising one or more optical fiber interfaces, and the first set of grating couplers arranged over at least a first plane of the photonic signal interface module;
• detecting at least one photonic signal propagating between the photonic signal interface module and the wafer or chip through at least one pair of the aligned grating couplers;
• and
• positioning the testing module relative to the wafer or chip to form electrical contacts between the array of movable conducting structures and respective contact pads on the surface of the wafer or chip, and maintaining detection of the photonic signal during the positioning.