Semiconductor device for bidirectional non-conducted optical data transmission

Abstract

A semiconductor device for bidirectional non-conducted optical data transmission by means of electromagnetic waves from within the infrared waveband will be described. The semiconductor device will comprise a transmission chip emitting radiation within the IR waveband, a receiver chip responding to radiation within the IR waveband by emitting a photo-electric current, as well as an integrated circuit for amplifying the photo-electric current of the receiver chip. These three semiconductor chips will be mounted onto a lead frame configuration comprising at least three leads. On the flat side face of the lead frame configuration, the integrated circuit will be located on a first level or plane which is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the lead frame configuration. On the end faces of the leads, the transmission chip and the receiver chip will be located on a second level or plane which runs in a perpendicular direction to the first level or plane. By mounting the components on two levels or planes perpendicular to each other, an assembly results which allows its casing dimensions to be designed to be very compact indeed. The optically relevant components will be located at the end face of the leads whereas the integrated circuit will be located in an optically protected side face position. Due to its compact build, the semiconductor device will be particularly suitable for use on a PCMCIA board to provide for IR communications applications in personal computers.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.