TriLumina Launches Flip-Chip Back-Emitting VCSEL Array
Device allows for lower costs and higher performance than existing designs using near-infrared light-emitting laser diodes or LEDs for 3D sensing
TriLumina, a US-based developer of flip-chip VCSEL technology for 3D sensing, has launched what it claims is the world’s first surface-mount flip-chip back-emitting VCSEL array without the need for a submount or bond wires. The device allows for lower costs and higher performance than existing designs using near-infrared light-emitting laser diodes or LEDs for 3D sensing.
“We are pleased to launch this revolutionary device,” said Luke Smithwick, chief marketing officer for TriLumina. “For the first time, engineers can create extremely small, low-cost, high-performance products utilising a NIR surface mount back-emitting VCSEL array, without the need for a large and costly submount.”
Conventional VCSEL arrays are mounted on a submount and use bond wires for electrical connections. TriLumina’s patented flip-chip, back-emitting VCSEL technology has been flip-chip packaged and used in automotive long-range LiDAR prototypes, for low power mobile and in-cabin 3D sensing applications.
The new 4W Chip on Board (CoB) SMT VCSEL device is a compact, surface-mountable design, consisting of a single VCSEL array die, that is mountable on a printed circuit board (PCB) without the need for a submount carrier for the VCSEL die. It is suitable for 3D sensing applications, as well as providing NIR illumination options for replacing existing LEDs in solutions such as NIR camera systems, mobile cameras, in-cabin occupant monitoring and AR/VR systems.
TriLumina’s integrated back-side etched micro-lenses enable integrated optics, which further reduces part height as compared to conventional VCSELs with separate optical lenses and can result in lower battery drain with multi-zone operation. It has the smallest footprint with the lowest cost implementation in its class, making it ideal for use in mobile devices.
“TriLumina has led VCSEL illumination for 3D sensing with our innovative flip-chip back-emitting multi-chip illumination modules for long range LiDAR applications,” said Brian Wong, president and chief executive officer of TriLumina. “Now, we’ve innovated once again, by eliminating the need for a package for low-power mobile and automotive in-cabin applications.”
This new architecture from TriLumina has excellent thermal properties with a compact form factor. The VCSEL device has integrated solder balls and mounts directly to a PCB using standard surface mount technology (SMT), with built-in hermeticity.
The CoB SMT VCSEL array eliminates the need for wire bonds or other expensive packaging technology found on standard top-emitting VCSELs. Although the device is designed for efficient operation in indirect Time of Flight (ToF) applications, the lack of wire bonds also has inherently low parasitic inductance, making this emitter compatible with ultra-high-resolution, fast rise-time, short pulse-width direct ToF applications.
