A Novel Optical Module Packaging Teaching Course

Optical transceiver module which includes the transmitter and receiver plays a key role in the optical communication network. The data transfer speed will be dominated by the transceiver module. This paper proposed a novel transceiver packaging training course for the college and graduate students. Through the integration of the theory introduction and the experiment operation, the key technology of the module packaging can be taught to the students. Generally, an optical transceiver includes a top-cover, box, component submount, invar plate, invar substrate, U-channel, fiber, ferrule, laser diode, and thermal electric cooler (TEC). The purpose of this course is to show and teach how to assemble all the above components inside the box quickly, precisely, and stable with the various packaging technology. A novel structure is introduced here to separate the packaging technology into two parts so the course training can be clearer and easier. One is the mounting of components because every component used in the module has to be precisely positioned and fixed at the right place to ensure the module performance. Positioning control and image inspection technology is key technology in this part. And another part would be the light alignment between the laser diode and the fiber. The light coupling efficiency decides the final performance of the module. Various alignment structure and method will be introduced here. All experiments will accompany with a brief theory and application instruction in the classes, so the students can have a basic understanding to the purpose, theory basics, and application field of the experiments.