1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of optoelectronics. The invention more particularly concerns an optoelectronic device which incorporates parallel optics and a three dimensional circuit board.
2. Discussion of the Background
Optoelectronic devices such as transceivers, transmitters, and receivers are known in the art. Furthermore, optoelectronic devices are known to incorporate parallel optics. Parallel optics are integrated into optoelectronic devices so as to increase the data density for a given unit of area or footprint and space. As an example, an eight channel optoelectronic device has eight photoactive devices. All eight of the photoactive devices can be transmitting devices such as a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) or a light emitting diode (LED) or some other light emitting device, or all eight of the photoactive devices can be receiving devices such as a photodetector or a PIN diode, or the eight photoactive devices can be a combination of light emitting devices and photodetectors.
Parallel optics optoelectronic devices contain electronics for modulating the photoactive elements. Typically the electronics are placed within or on the chassis of the optoelectronic device. However, as the modulation frequency is increased it is desirable to place the modulation electronics as close as possible to the photoactive devices. Given traditional board layout, a limit is reached as to how small the optoelectronic device can become due to the placement of the large number of electronics required while maintaining adequate heat dissipation.
Thus, there is a need for a device which is more compact (higher data density), more reliable, less costly, and easier to assemble than prior art devices.