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US 2017/0250209 A1Published application
Article Comprising a Photodiode-side Integrated Fuse for Avalanche Photodetector Focal Plane Array Pixels and Method Therefor
AssigneePrinceton Lightwave, Inc.
InventorsBrian Piccione, Xudong Jiang, Krys Slomkowski, Mark Allen Itzler
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Abstract
A scalable fuse design for individual pixels of a focal plane array of photodiodes comprises a fuse disposed on the upper surface of each photodiode in the array, wherein the fuse is situated proximal to a side of each photodiode. The fuse of each photodiode is electrically coupled to the active region thereof via a first bus and is electrically coupled to an ROIC via a second bus.
Claims21
An article comprising :
- a pixel of a photodiode array, the pixel comprising a photodiode and having a planar upper surface;
- and
- a fuse disposed on the planar upper surface, wherein the fuse is disposed proximal to an edge of the pixel, and wherein the fuse is electrically coupled to an active region of the pixel.
An article comprising:
- an array of avalanche photodiodes, each avalanche photodiode in the array having a substantially planar upper surface;
- and
- a plurality of fuses, wherein one fuse is disposed on the substantially planar upper surface of each of the avalanche photodiodes in the array, wherein, on each avalanche photodiode, the one fuse is electrically coupled to an active region thereof and is also electrically coupled to a read-out integrated circuit.
A method comprising:
- forming an array of photodiodes, wherein at least some of the photodiodes in the array are formed to have an upper surface that is atomically flat;
- depositing a first passivating/insulating layer on said some photodiodes;
- depositing a metal stack on a portion of the passivating/insulating layer of each of said some photodiodes, wherein the metal stack comprising plural layers of different metals, and wherein:
- (a) a first portion of the metal stack defines a fuse having a first end and a second end,
- (b) a second portion of the metal stack extends beyond the first end of the fuse, and
- (c) a third portion of the metal stack extends beyond a second end of the fuse;
- depositing a first bus on the second portion of the metal stack, wherein the first bus electrically couples the fuse to an active region of the photodiode;
- depositing a second bus on the third portion of the metal stack, wherein the second bus terminates in a pad that receives a metal bump for electrical connection with read-out circuitry for the array of photodiodes;
- and
- depositing, on each of said some photodiodes, a second passivating/insulating layer except for on the pad.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.