After fabrication, chips from the corresponding foundry can be fully characterized at our own in-house facilities. Physical as well as functional characterization is performed on the bare dies and/or wafers to evaluate the design performance and the manufacturing process and tolerances. Our cleanroom labs include digital and analog testing equipment up to 50 GHz and several multi-probe stations with vertical and lateral coupling setups.
Eventually, if the PIC is packaged, VLC Photonics can also provide component level testing of the electrical and optical specifications. This also includes thermal testing, and if required, environmental testing (vibration, shock, radiation, etc.) and certification through external partners for specific applications: telecom standards, space qualification, harsh sensing, etc.
Optical component and circuit characterization may include measurements and root-cause-analysis (RCA) on the following parameters:
- -passive waveguide devices: coupling and propagation losses (insertion / excess losses), cross-talk, polarization dependence, spectral response, etc.
- -PD responsivity, dark current, noise, etc.
- -modulator speed, extinction ratio, etc.
- -laser biasing, power, tuning range, linewidth, noise, etc.
