Techniques for tiling arrays of pixel elements
First Claim
1. Method of fabricating and assembling a plurality of tiles having pixel elements to form a large array, wherein the tiles have convex polygonal shapes, wherein each pixel element comprises an electrically active area and optically active area, and unit cell circuitry is associated with each pixel element, wherein the pixel elements are disposed on top of the unit cell circuitry, and wherein and some of the pixel elements are edge pixel elements disposed at the edges of tiles susceptible to damage, comprising:
- providing physical alignment features on side edges of the tiles, wherein the physical alignment features on a side edge of a given tile mate with the physical alignment features on a side edge of an adjacent tile in the array; and
further comprising at least one of;
making the unit cell circuitry smaller than the pixel element with which it is associated;
locating the unit cell circuitry for edge pixel elements away from the edges of the tile;
implementing an array of unit cell circuitry with a smaller pitch than the array of pixel elements;
providing routing for a given unit cell circuitry which is located away from its associated the pixel element;
making an electrically active area smaller than the pixel element; and
locating the electrically active areas of edge pixel elements away from the edges of the tile;
and further comprising;
a pixel element disposed at an edge of the tile susceptible to damage is designed to have an edge damage tolerant (EDT) area along at least one edge of the pixel, and the EDT area occupies a fraction of the pixel width by an amount is selected from the group consisting of at least 1%, at least 2%, at least 5%, at least 10%, at least 25%, and the electrically active portion does not extend into the EDT area; and
for pixel elements where the electrically active area is made smaller, maintaining the optically active area as large as possible, including up to the edges of the tile.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Sub-arrays such as tiles or chips having pixel elements arranged on a routing layer or carrier to form a larger array. Through-chip vias or the like to the backside of the chip are used for connecting with the pixel elements. Edge features of the tiles may provide for physical alignment, mechanical attachment and chip-to-chip communication. Edge damage tolerance with minimal loss of function may be achieved by moving unit cell circuitry and the electrically active portions of a pixel element away from the tile edge(s) while leaving the optically active portion closer to the edge(s) if minor damage will not cause a complete failure of the pixel. The pixel elements may be thermal emitter elements for IR image projectors, thermal detector elements for microbolometers, LED-based emitters, or quantum photon detectors such as those found in visible, infrared and ultraviolet FPAs (focal plane arrays), and the like. Various architectures are disclosed.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. Method of fabricating and assembling a plurality of tiles having pixel elements to form a large array, wherein the tiles have convex polygonal shapes, wherein each pixel element comprises an electrically active area and optically active area, and unit cell circuitry is associated with each pixel element, wherein the pixel elements are disposed on top of the unit cell circuitry, and wherein and some of the pixel elements are edge pixel elements disposed at the edges of tiles susceptible to damage, comprising:
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providing physical alignment features on side edges of the tiles, wherein the physical alignment features on a side edge of a given tile mate with the physical alignment features on a side edge of an adjacent tile in the array; and further comprising at least one of; making the unit cell circuitry smaller than the pixel element with which it is associated; locating the unit cell circuitry for edge pixel elements away from the edges of the tile; implementing an array of unit cell circuitry with a smaller pitch than the array of pixel elements; providing routing for a given unit cell circuitry which is located away from its associated the pixel element; making an electrically active area smaller than the pixel element; and locating the electrically active areas of edge pixel elements away from the edges of the tile; and further comprising; a pixel element disposed at an edge of the tile susceptible to damage is designed to have an edge damage tolerant (EDT) area along at least one edge of the pixel, and the EDT area occupies a fraction of the pixel width by an amount is selected from the group consisting of at least 1%, at least 2%, at least 5%, at least 10%, at least 25%, and the electrically active portion does not extend into the EDT area; and for pixel elements where the electrically active area is made smaller, maintaining the optically active area as large as possible, including up to the edges of the tile. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. Method of fabricating and assembling a plurality of tiles having pixel elements to form a large array, comprising:
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providing back surface connections on the tiles; mounting the tiles on a routing layer having front surface connections; and connecting the back surface connections to the front surface connections using through chip routing techniques wherein vias are disposed below the pixel elements; further comprising; providing physical alignment features on side edges of the tiles; wherein the physical alignment features on a side edge of a given tile mate with the physical alignment features on a side edge of an adjacent tile in the array; wherein the physical alignment features comprise bump features protruding from side edges of the tiles and corresponding recess features extending into side edges of the tiles; and wherein the tiles have convex polygonal shapes. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An array comprising a plurality of smaller sub-array, each sub-array tile comprising a plurality of pixel elements, characterized by:
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a routing layer having front surface connections; and back surface connections on the tiles for connecting with the front surface connections on the routing layer using through chip routing techniques wherein vias are disposed below the pixel elements; and physical alignment features on side edges of the tiles, separate from the pixel elements, for ensuring mechanical alignment and registration of the tiles with minimum sub-pixel sized gap therebetween; wherein the physical alignment features comprise bump features protruding from side edges of the tiles and corresponding recess features extending into side edges of the tiles; and wherein the tiles have convex polygonal shapes. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification