VLC Photonics and ficonTEC showcase advanced automated die-Level testing and assembly

Date Announced: 20 Jun 2025

VLC Photonics, a renowned photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design and test house (part of the Hitachi High-Tech Group), and ficonTEC, a leading provider of automated assembly and test production solutions for photonics, will be demonstrating advanced capabilities in fully automated photonic die-level testing and assembly at Laser World of Photonics 2025 in Munich.

With a live demonstration located within the new dedicated Integrated Photonics Area, VLC Photonics and ficonTEC will showcase newly implemented functionalities that significantly improve the overall workflow for die-level test and assembly. These streamline the PIC development process and provide time-to-market benefits for PIC implementation in real-world industrial applications.

New capabilities include automated loading of PICs from diverse carrier tray formats, thus providing a significant step towards full hands-off operation; enhanced capabilities in automated optical assembly, enabling two-sided PIC assembly of optical fibers and fiber array units (FAUs); the ability to place the PIC in a carrier and perform both horizontal and vertical optical coupling as well as dispense and cure epoxy for robust fiber attachment. Together, these functionalities vastly enhance the overall piece-to-piece repeatability during the assembly process.

Since setting up the collaboration four years ago, VLC Photonics’ deep expertise in PIC test and assembly has been instrumental in fully adapting ficonTEC’s advanced testing platforms to the unique challenges of photonics production workflow. This synergy among the two partners enables three crucial advancements for the photonics industry:

1. Increased throughput for PIC testing: The system demonstrates automated loading of up to eight different gel packs, coupled with a rapid optical alignment time of less than 10 seconds per device under test, dramatically boosting testing throughput.
2. Enhanced reconfigurability: The platform offers versatile electrical (DC and RF) and optical probing capabilities for testing and assembly. This includes the ability to exchange electrical probes and seamlessly switch between horizontal and vertical light coupling configurations, catering to diverse PIC designs and testing requirements. Moreover, this enables the assembly of PICs using the same optical probes that were used during testing for known good dies.
3. Automation of optical testing with high stability and repeatability: The automated testing processes achieve exceptional power stability over time (less than 0.02 dB variation) and remarkable inter-operation repeatability (less than 0.1 dB), ensuring consistent quality and performance.

This collaboration showcases significant advancements in automation and efficiency, poised to accelerate the adoption of PIC-enabled device technology for industrial applications by addressing critical cost and scalability challenges.

VLC Photonics is ideally placed to ensure advanced testing services for electro-optical measurements for PIC production use cases and help proliferate the adoption of advanced automation techniques in volume manufacturing. For ficonTEC, this collaboration with VLC Photonics has been influential in establishing new fab-ready volume wafer test technology compatible with existing semiconductor ATE.

Contact

E-mail: gregory.flinn@ficontec.com

Web Site: www.ficontec.com