Probe for pic die with related test assembly and method

A test assembly for a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) die, the probe assembly comprising:

• a probe including:
• a membrane having a first surface and an opposing second surface, the membrane including conductive traces,
• a set of probe tips positioned on the first surface of the membrane and electrically coupled to the electrical contact pad through the conductive traces of the membrane, the set of probe tips being configured to send and receive electrical test signals through a set of electrical contacts on the PIC die,
• a photonic emitter disposed on the membrane and electrically coupled to the electrical contact pad through the conductive traces of the membrane, the photonic emitter positioned for substantial alignment with a photonic I/O element of the PIC die, wherein the photonic emitter is configured to transmit a photonic input signal into the photonic I/O element of the PIC die, and
• a photonic receiver disposed on the membrane, and electrically coupled to the electrical contact pads through the conductive traces of the membrane, the photonic receiver being positioned for substantial alignment with the photonic I/O element of the PIC die, wherein the photonic receiver is configured to detect a photonic output signal from the photonic I/O element of the PIC die;
• and
• a probe interface board (PIB) electrically coupled to the membrane through a set of electrical contact pads, wherein the PIB selectively applies a test signal to the probe to deliver power to each of the set of probe tips, the photonic emitter, and the photonic receiver.

A method for testing a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) die, the method comprising:

• coupling a probe to the PIC die, wherein the probe includes:
• a membrane having a first surface and an opposing second surface, the membrane including conductive traces,
• a set of electrical contact pads on the membrane for electrically coupling the membrane to a probe interface board (PIB),
• a set of probe tips positioned on the first surface of the membrane and electrically coupled to the electrical contact pad through the conductive traces of the membrane, the set of probe tips being configured to send and receive electrical test signals through a set of electrical contacts on the PIC die,
• a photonic emitter disposed on the membrane and electrically coupled to the electrical contact pad through the conductive traces of the membrane, the photonic emitter positioned for substantial alignment with a photonic I/O element of the PIC die, wherein the photonic emitter is configured to transmit a photonic input signal into the photonic I/O element of the PIC die, and
• a photonic receiver disposed on the membrane, and electrically coupled to the electrical contact pads through the conductive traces of the membrane, the photonic receiver being positioned for substantial alignment with the photonic I/O element of the PIC die, wherein the photonic receiver is configured to detect a photonic output signal from the photonic I/O element of the PIC die;
• applying a voltage to the set of electrical contact pads of the probe to transmit a test signal to the set of probe tips, and cause the photonic emitter to transmit the photonic input signal to the photonic I/O element of the PIC die;
• and
• detecting the photonic output signal from the photonic I/O element of the PIC die with the photonic receiver.