1. A method of making a circuitized substrate including at least one optical pathway therein, said method comprising:
providing a dielectric layer;
forming an electrically conductive layer on said dielectric layer;
laminating a cladding layer to said electrically conductive layer, having a predetermined refractive index, atop said electrically conductive layer, said cladding layer having an upper surface and a lower surface;
aligning a stencil comprising a tapered opening therein over said cladding layer;
depositing material within said tapered opening and pressing said material therethrough, squeezing said material to substantially fill said opening;
removing said stencil;
depositing a reflective layer having an angular configuration onto said material, covering the sides and top of said material; and
depositing an optical core layer comprising highly optically conductive material onto said reflective layer such that optical signals passing through said optical core will be reflected off said angular reflector and pass through said opening.
2. The method of claim 1 further including circuitizing said electrically conductive layer.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said circuitizing of said electrically conductive layer results in the formation of a plurality of electrical signal conductors.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein said circuitizing of said electrically conductive layer is accomplished using photolithographic processing.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said forming of said reflective surface on said angular reflector is accomplished by forming a metal coating on said angular reflector.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein said forming of said metal coating on said angular reflector is accomplished using at least one of the techniques: electro-less plating, electrolytic plating, thermal spray coating, vapor deposition, and chemical vapor deposition.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said depositing said optical core on said cladding layer relative to said angular reflector is accomplished by spin coating the material which comprises said optical core.
8. The method of claim 1 further including positioning a quantity of optically-transmitting material within said opening.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein said providing a cladding layer step comprises using lamination therefor.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein said cladding layer comprises optically transparent optical waveguide polymer material.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein said stencil comprises metal.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein said material comprises at least one of: optically transparent optical waveguide polymer material, UV-curable silver epoxy, and other epoxy based materials.
13. A method of forming a circuitized substrate, the steps comprising:
a) providing a dielectric layer;
b) bonding an electrically conductive layer to said dielectric layer;
c) laminating a cladding layer to said electrically conductive layer, having a predetermined refractive index, atop said electrically conductive layer, said cladding layer having an upper surface and a lower surface;
d) aligning a stencil on the upper surface of said cladding layer, said stencil having a predetermined thickness, an upper surface and a lower surface, and a tapered aperture formed therein, said tapered aperture having angled internal walls oriented at approximately 450\xb0 relative to said upper and lower surfaces of said stencil, the lowermost, outwardly tapered surface of said tapered aperture abutting the upper surface of said cladding layer;
e) squeezing a paste-like material into and filling said tapered aperture;
f) removing said stencil;
g) hardening said paste-like material by flash curing, forming a base for an angular reflector;
h) depositing a reflective layer onto said hardened paste-like material; and
i) depositing an optical core layer having a refractive index greater than the predetermined refractive index of said cladding layer, said optical core layer providing an optical pathway for optical signals passing through said optical core.
14. The method of forming a circuitized substrate in accordance with claim 13, wherein said electrically conductive layer comprises a plurality of signal lines and pads oriented in a pre-established pattern.
15. The method of forming a circuitized substrate in accordance with claim 13, wherein said cladding layer comprises at least one optically transparent optical waveguide polymer material.
16. The method of forming a circuitized substrate in accordance with claim 15, wherein the refractive index of said cladding layer is approximately 1.40 and said refractive index of said optical core layer is approximately 1.42.
17. The method of forming a circuitized substrate in accordance with claim 16, wherein said stencil comprises metal.
18. The method of forming a circuitized substrate in accordance with claim 13, wherein said paste-like material filling said tapered aperture comprises at least one of cladding layer material and UV-curable silver epoxy, and epoxy-based material.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A room-temperature bonding apparatus comprising:
a vacuum chamber,
an evacuation apparatus evacuating said vacuum chamber,
a pair of substrate holders arranged to face each other in said vacuum chamber,
a pressure bonding mechanism connected to at least one of said substrate holders to bond substrates to each other, each of the substrates is mounted on a corresponding one of the substrate holders, and
only a single physical sputtering source,
wherein a target irradiated with ion beams or atom beams emitted from said physical sputtering source is arranged in said vacuum chamber independently of said substrate holders, said pressure bonding mechanism and said physical sputtering source,
wherein said target is mounted on a singular target substrate or a plurality of target substrates, and
wherein said substrates arranged at a position away from an axis line of said physical sputtering source and said singular target substrate or at least one of said plurality of target substrates is arranged at another position away from said axis line,
wherein said pair of substrate holders is arranged at a different position away from said axis line,
said axis line starting at a center of said physical sputtering source and being parallel to a direction which said physical sputtering source faces, said axis line extending beyond said physical sputtering source past said substrates and said singular target substrate or at least one of said plurality of target substrates.
2. The room-temperature bonding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said target is composed of a plurality of types of materials, and
wherein said plurality of types of materials is arranged independently of one another or arranged as an alloy.
3. The room-temperature bonding apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein surfaces to be irradiated of said target are arranged so that the number of said surfaces is plural so as to surround said substrates and are oriented in a perpendicular direction to surfaces of said substrates to be bonded.
4. The room-temperature bonding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a shape of a surface to be irradiated of said target is curved so that when said ion beams or atom beams emitted from said physical sputtering source to said surface to be irradiated generate sputtered atoms on respective portions of said target in the direction of regular reflection, being not diffuse and causing said sputtered atoms are to be parallel to one another toward surfaces of said substrates to be bonded.
5. The room-temperature bonding apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a shape of a surface to be irradiated of said target is curved so that when said ion beams or atom beams emitted from said physical sputtering source to said surface to be irradiated generate sputtered atoms on respective portions of said target in the direction of regular reflection, being not diffuse and causing said sputtered atoms to be parallel to one another toward said surface of said substrate to be bonded and converge at a central position of said substrate.
6. The room-temperature bonding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a mechanism for adjusting a distance between said surfaces to be irradiated of said target and said surfaces to be bonded of said substrate.
7. The room-temperature bonding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a mechanism for adjusting an angle formed by said surfaces to be irradiated of said target and said surfaces to be bonded of said substrate.
8. The room-temperature bonding apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising:
a mechanism for adjusting a distance between said surfaces to be irradiated of said target and said surfaces to be bonded of said substrate, based on an energy area density distribution of said ion beams or atom beams in a perpendicular direction to an emitting direction of said ion beams or atom beams emitted to said surface to be irradiated of said target.
9. The room-temperature bonding apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising:
a mechanism for adjusting an angle of said surface to be irradiated of said target with respect to an emitting direction of said ion beams or atom beams emitted to said surfaces to be irradiated of said target, based on an energy area density distribution of said ion beams or atom beams in a perpendicular direction to said emitting direction of said ion beams or atom beams.