All The Claims

1. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components comprising a step of producing an active layer on a substrate base, particularly by epitaxy, and a step of individualizing said components by forming trenches, particularly by etching, in the active layer, said individualization step leading to reveal at least the substrate base, further comprising the steps of:
depositing a layer of finctional material on the active layer;
depositing a resin photosensitive to a preset radiation on the layer of functional material in such a way as to fill said trenches and to form a thin film on the upper face of the electronic components;
at least partially exposing the resin to said radiation while underexposing the portion of resin filling the trenches;
developing the resin in such a way as to remove the properly exposed portion thereof;
removing the functional material layer portion that shows through following the development step; and
removing the portion of residual resin.
2. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 1, wherein the functional material is resilient andor conductive andor opaque.
3. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 1, wherein the exposure step comprises a step of applying a photolithography mask to the surface of the resin.
4. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 3, wherein the photolithography mask comprises portions covering the trenches.
5. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 1, wherein the exposure step comprises a step of selecting a depth of field of the preset radiation, smaller than the depth of the trenches and larger than the thickness of the resin film covering the upper face of the electronic components.
6. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of producing the active layer is followed by a step of depositing andor implanting on the free surface of said active layer finctional elements characteristic of said components.
7. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 6, wherein the step of depositing andor implanting functional elements comprises a step of depositing andor implanting an electrode andor a metallization layer allowing each component to be hybridized.
8. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 6, wherein the active layer is a semi-conductor layer of a first type, and in that the step of depositing andor implanting functional elements comprises a step of forming a semi-conductor area of a second type for each component in the free surface of the active layer.
9. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of individualizing said components by forming trenches comprises, or is followed by, a step of forming a semi-conductor area of the second type in at least one lateral face of each component.
10. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of forming semi-conductor areas of the second type in said lateral edges is implemented by doping, particularly of the \u201cloophole\u201d type.
11. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 8 where the exposure step comprises a step of applying a photolithography mask to the surface of the resin, wherein the functional material is metal, and the photolithography mask is selected in such a way as to form a metal layer on the surface of the semi-conductor areas of the second type formed on the free surface of the active layer.
12. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 11, wherein it comprises a step of producing a conductive bump contact on the surface of each of said metal layers.
13. Method for producing a matrix of individual electronic components as claimed in claim 1, wherein it comprises, consequent upon the development step, a step of hybridizing the matrix on a substrate.
14. Matrix of at least two electronic components individualized in an active layer by means of through trenches formed therein, wherein it comprises, for each pair of adjacent electronic components, at least one element connected to said components, at least partially covering the trench separating said components, and comprising at least one point of contact with each of the lateral walls defining said trench.
15. Matrix as claimed in claim 14, wherein each component has the overall shape of a regular polygon, particularly a rectangle-based parallelepiped shape.
16. Matrix as claimed in claim 14, wherein said element is opaque.
17. Matrix as claimed in claim 14, wherein said element has sufficient resilience to maintain the integrity of the electrical connection with an adjacent component despite a relative displacement between components.
18. Matrix as claimed in claim 14, wherein said element is conductive.
19. Matrix as claimed in claim 18, wherein said element is filiform.
20. Matrix as claimed in claim 18, wherein said element is surface-based.
21. Matrix as claimed in claim 18, wherein said element is in contact with an electrical contact pickup.
22. Matrix as claimed in claim 21, wherein said contact pickup is formed on one of the lateral faces of the component under consideration.
23. Matrix as claimed in claim 21, wherein said contact pickup is formed on one of the transverse faces of the component under consideration.
24. Matrix as claimed in claim 17, wherein said element is constituted of several layers, including an electrical conduction layer and a cohesion layer intended to allow assembly on the contact pickup.
25. Matrix as claimed in claim 24, wherein the external layer is constituted of a material selected from the group comprising titanium (Ti), chrome (Cr) and an alloy (TiW) of titanium and tungsten, and in that the conduction layer is constituted of a material selected from the group comprising platinum, gold, aluminium, copper or an alloy of copper and beryllium.
26. Matrix as claimed in claim 18, wherein said element is common to all or part of said components and forms a continuous line or grid.
27. Matrix as claimed in claim 18, wherein each electronic component is a bipolar transistor, whereof at least one semi-conductor area is formed in one of the lateral faces thereof and is in contact with said element.
28. Method for producing an electronic device comprising a plurality of electronic components added to a substrate, comprising the steps of:
producing an active layer by epitaxy on a sacrificial stratum;
depositing andor implanting on the free surface of said active layer functional elements characteristic of said components, such as an electrode, particularly an anode, andor a metallization layer allowing each component to be hybridized;
etching trenches in rows andor columns in said active layer at least until said stratum emerges, in such a way as to individualize said components within a matrix;
producing an electrically conductive bump contact on at least one of the free faces of each component so individualized, in such a way as to form contact pickups;
producing by deposition at least one electrically conductive film extending over said trenches in such a way as to connect at least in twos said contact pickups of adjacent components, said film being of a set thickness in order to give it sufficient resilience to maintain the electrical connection despite a relative displacement between components;
hybridizing the components on the substrate;
selectively thinning down the faces of each component located facing said substrate, in such a way as to leave all or part of said functional elements in projection;
removing said stratum by mechanical machining or chemical attack, in such a way as to reveal the electrically conductive film,
said steps of producing the active layer, etching trenches and depositing the at least one film being in accordance with claim 1.
29. Method for producing an electronic device comprising a plurality of electronic components as claimed in claim 28, wherein the deposition step comprises:
depositing a layer of electrically insulating material covering the whole surface of said active layer, namely that of the trench and that of said components;
piercing said layer of electrically insulating material by photolithography followed by an etching operation performed at the bottom and over all or part of the edges of said trench;
depositing said electrically conductive film on all or part of the free surface of said components and said trenches;
locally removing said electrically conductive film by etching the surfaces of said components.
30. Method for producing an electronic device comprising a plurality of electronic components as claimed in claim 28, wherein the conductor is constituted of several layers, including an electrical conduction layer and a cohesion layer intended to allow assembly on the contact pickup and in that the removal step is carried out using a plasma selected in such a way as to be inert at least as regards said conduction layer.
31. Electronic device comprising a plurality of electronic components added to a substrate, each component being mechanically connected to said substrate by means of a link element, wherein each component is additionally electrically connected to at least one adjacent component by means of a part forming a conductor, and wherein the components and associated conductors thereof form a matrix in accordance with claim 14.
32. Electronic device as claimed in claim 31, wherein said contact pickup is formed on the component face opposite the component face that is applied onto said substrate.
33. Electronic device as claimed in claim 31, wherein said contact pickup is formed on the component face that is applied onto said substrate.
34. Electronic device as claimed in claim 31, wherein the component is a transistor or a diode.
35. Detector of electromagnetic radiation, such as X-rays, infrared rays or visible light, wherein it comprises a device as claimed in claim 31, and wherein each component comprises a material able to interact with the radiation under consideration.
36. Emitter of electromagnetic radiation, such as laser beams, wherein it comprises a device as claimed in claim 31, and wherein each component is constituted by a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser emitter (VCSEL) or a light-emitting diode.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

What is claimed is:

1. A bidirectional optical semiconductor apparatus comprising:
a substrate embedding an optical waveguide, through which output light and input light are propagated;
a semiconductor light-emitting device for emitting the output light toward one end of the optical waveguide;
an optical branching filter, provided in the optical waveguide, for transmitting at least part of the output light and guiding at least part of the input light to the outside of the optical waveguide;
a semiconductor light-receiving device, provided over the substrate, for receiving the input light guided by the optical branching filter to the outside of the optical waveguide; and
a light-blocking member, formed on the surface of the substrate, for blocking the light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting device.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light-blocking member is a plastic film, a metal layer or a thin-film dielectric filter.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of quartz glass, silicon crystals or polymers.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the optical branching filter is an optical element provided to intersect with the optical waveguide.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the optical waveguide is a core of an optical fiber embedded in a groove formed in the substrate.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the optical fiber is fixed by a fixing member to the substrate and embedded in the groove, and
wherein a refractive index of the fixing member is smaller than a refractive index of a cladding of the optical fiber.
7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein a refractive index of the substrate is smaller than a refractive index of a clad-ding of the optical fiber.
8. A bidirectional optical semiconductor apparatus comprising:
a substrate embedding an optical waveguide, through which output light and input light are propagated;
a semiconductor light-emitting device for emitting the output light toward one end of the optical waveguide;
an optical branching filter, provided in the optical waveguide, for transmitting at least part of the output light and guiding at least part of the input light to the outside of the optical waveguide;
a semiconductor light-receiving device, provided over the substrate, for receiving the input light guided by the optical branching filter to the outside of the optical waveguide; and
a highly reflective layer, provided on a surface of the substrate opposite to the semiconductor light-receiving de-vice, for reflecting the light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting device in a direction departing from the semi-conductor light-receiving device at a high reflectivity.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the substrate is made of quartz glass, silicon crystals or polymers.
10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the optical branching filter is an optical element provided to intersect with the optical waveguide.
11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the optical waveguide is a core of an optical fiber embedded in a groove formed in the substrate.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the optical fiber is fixed by a fixing member to the substrate and embedded in the groove, and
wherein a refractive index of the fixing member is smaller than a refractive index of a cladding of the optical fiber.
13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a refractive index of the substrate is smaller than a refractive index of a clad-ding of the optical fiber.
14. A bidirectional optical semiconductor apparatus comprising:
a substrate embedding an optical waveguide, through which output light and input light are propagated;
a semiconductor light-emitting device for emitting the output light toward one end of the optical waveguide;
an optical branching filter, provided in the optical waveguide, for transmitting at least part of the output light and guiding at least part of the input light to the outside of the optical waveguide;
a semiconductor light-receiving device, provided over the substrate, for receiving the input light guided by the optical branching filter to the outside of the optical waveguide; and
a light-absorbing member, provided over part of the substrate other than the optical waveguide, for absorbing the light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting device.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the substrate is made of quartz glass, silicon crystals or polymers.
16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the optical branching filter is an optical element provided to intersect with the optical waveguide.
17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the optical waveguide is a core of an optical fiber embedded in a groove formed in the substrate.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the optical fiber is fixed by a fixing member to the substrate and embedded in the groove, and
wherein a refractive index of the fixing member is smaller than a refractive index of a cladding of the optical fiber.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein a refractive index of the substrate is smaller than a refractive index of a clad-ding of the optical fiber.
20. A bidirectional optical semiconductor apparatus comprising:
a substrate embedding an optical waveguide, through which output light and input light are propagated;
a semiconductor light-emitting device for emitting the output light toward one end of the optical waveguide;
an optical branching filter, provided in the optical waveguide, for transmitting at least part of the output light and guiding at least part of the input light to the outside of the optical waveguide;
a semiconductor light-receiving device, provided over the substrate, for receiving the input light guided by the optical branching filter to the outside of the optical waveguide; and
an optical element, provided over part of the substrate other than the optical waveguide, for absorbing the light, emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting device and deviated from the optical waveguide, or for reflecting the light in a direction departing from the semiconductor light-receiving device.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the substrate is made of quartz glass, silicon crystals or polymers.
22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the optical branching filter is an optical element provided to intersect with the optical waveguide.
23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the optical waveguide is a core of an optical fiber embedded in a groove formed in the substrate.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the optical fiber is fixed by a fixing member to the substrate and embedded in the groove, and
wherein a refractive index of the fixing member is smaller than a refractive index of a cladding of the optical fiber.
25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein a refractive index of the substrate is smaller than a refractive index of a clad-ding of the optical fiber.
26. A bidirectional optical semiconductor apparatus comprising:
a substrate embedding an optical waveguide, through which output light and input light are propagated;
a semiconductor light-emitting device for emitting the output light toward one end of the optical waveguide;
an optical branching filter, provided in the optical waveguide, for transmitting at least part of the output light and guiding at least part of the input light to the outside of the optical waveguide;
a semiconductor light-receiving device, provided over the substrate, for receiving the input light guided by the optical branching filter to the outside of the optical waveguide;
a package for housing the substrate, the semiconductor light-emitting device, the optical branching filter and the semiconductor light-receiving device; and
a light-absorbing film, formed on an inner wall surface of the package, for absorbing the light emitted from the semi-conductor light-emitting device.
27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the substrate is made of quartz glass, silicon crystals or polymers.
28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the optical branching filter is an optical element provided to intersect with the optical waveguide.
29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the optical waveguide is a core of an optical fiber embedded in a groove formed in the substrate.
30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the optical fiber is fixed by a fixing member to the substrate and embedded in the groove, and
wherein a refractive index of the fixing member is smaller than a refractive index of a cladding of the optical fiber.
31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein a refractive index of the substrate is smaller than a refractive index of a cladding of the optical fiber.

1. A laser diode apparatus comprising:
a mounting block;
a plurality of diode lasers, each mounted to said mounting block and each capable of emitting a respective diode laser beam; and
a plurality of mirrors each for providing slow axis collimation and reflective direction of an incident corresponding one diode laser beam, each one of said plurality of mirrors optically coupled to at least one respective diode laser of said plurality of diode lasers and optically oriented therewith so as to be capable of reflectively providing the diode laser beams in a stacked arrangement;
wherein each of said mirrors is capable of providing slow axis and fast axis pointing correction of the respective diode laser beams via rotation, displacement, or rotation and displacement of said each mirror with respect to one or more axes associated therewith or associated with the respective diode laser beams.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said mirrors is made with two curved spherical or aspherical surfaces, providing three effective surfaces for spherical and comatic aberration correction.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said mirrors includes a highly reflective front surface.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said mirrors includes a front surface having an aspheric shape.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the stacked arrangement is aligned with a fast axis of the diode laser beams such that the laser beams point in the same direction in the fast axis.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said mounting block includes a plurality of adjacent flat mounting surfaces wherein each corresponding one of said plurality of diode lasers is mounted thereon, each one mounting surface of said plurality of mounting surfaces being vertically stepped with respect to each one adjacent mounting surface in a direction laterally perpendicular to the emission direction of said plurality of diode lasers.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the stacked arrangement of diode laser beams has a beam order corresponding to the order of said plurality of diode lasers mounted to said plurality of mounting surfaces.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said mounting block is heat dissipative.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said mirrors is cylindrical.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said mirrors is aspheric.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a housing, including a bottom housing mounting surface;
wherein said mounting block is mounted to said bottom housing mounting surface, and;
wherein said plurality of mirrors is mounted to said bottom housing mounting surface.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of fast axis collimators each optically coupled to a corresponding one of said plurality of diode lasers.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a focusing optic for focusing the stacked arrangement of diode laser beams.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a module output optically coupled to said focusing optic, wherein the stacked arrangement of diode laser beams is capable of becoming focused into said module output.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said module output is an optical fiber, a beam homogenization rod, beam homogenization optics, or free-space beam delivery optics.
16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said plurality of mirrors provides correction for off-axis aberrations.
17. A laser diode apparatus comprising:
a mounting block;
a plurality of diode lasers, each mounted to said mounting block and each capable of emitting a respective diode laser beam; and
a plurality of mirrors each for providing slow axis collimation and reflective direction of an incident corresponding one diode laser beam, each one of said plurality of mirrors optically coupled to at least one respective diode laser of said plurality of diode lasers and optically oriented therewith so as to be capable of reflectively providing the diode laser beams in a stacked arrangement;
wherein each of said mirrors includes an anti-reflective front surface and a highly reflective back-surface and an interior propagation region.
18. A laser diode apparatus comprising:
a mounting block;
a plurality of diode lasers, each mounted to said mounting block and each capable of emitting a respective diode laser beam; and
a plurality of mirrors each for providing slow axis collimation and reflective direction of an incident corresponding one diode laser beam, each one of said plurality of mirrors optically coupled to at least one respective diode laser of said plurality of diode lasers and optically oriented therewith so as to be capable of reflectively providing the diode laser beams in a stacked arrangement;
wherein each of said mirrors includes two cylindrical cuts defining a front surface and said reflective back surface, said front surface including one or more anti-reflection coatings applied thereto, said reflective back surface including one or more high reflection coatings applied thereto, and wherein said anti-reflection and high reflection coatings significantly reduce optical aberrations.
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 digital watermark detection apparatus to detect the watermark information from an input image signal, comprising:
a first transformation unit configured to obtain an orthogonal transformation image signal by subjecting one of an input image signal embedded with watermark information and a first accumulated signal obtained by accumulating the input image signal over a period of time to orthogonal transformation;
a scaling unit configured to generate a scaled image signal by scaling the orthogonal transformation image signal;
a complex addition unit configured to produce a complex addition signal by subjecting the orthogonal transformation image signal and the scaled image signal to complex addition;
a second transformation unit configured to produce a transformation complex addition signal by subjecting the complex addition signal to orthogonal transformation or inverse orthogonal transformation; and
an estimation unit configured to estimate the watermark information based on a peak which appears at one of the transformation complex addition signal and a second accumulated signal obtained by accumulating the transformation complex addition signal over a period.
2. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a signal generation unit configured to generate the second accumulated signal by normalizing an amplitude of the transformation complex addition signal and accumulating the transformation complex addition signal having the normalized amplitude.
3. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises a division unit configured to divide the input image signal into at least two divided signals, and wherein the scaling unit scales the input image signal for each of the divided image signals.
4. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises a division unit configured to divide the input image signal into at least two divided signals, and wherein the first transformation unit subjects the input image signal for each of the divided image signals to orthogonal transformation.
5. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the estimation unit estimates the watermark information by determining a level of the peak in accordance with a threshold value changing according to an accumulation period of the second accumulated signal.
6. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the estimation unit detects the watermark information by at least first and second detection methods, and determining the watermark information when detection results given by the first and second detection methods coincide with each other.
7. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the estimation unit estimates the watermark information by determining a polarity of the peak.
8. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises a pixel skipping unit configured to carry out pixel skipping of pixels of the input image signal, and wherein the scaling unit scales an input image signal obtained by the pixel skipping.
9. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises a pixel skipping unit configured to carry out pixel skipping of pixels of the input image signal, and wherein the first transformation unit subjects an input image signal obtained by the pixel skipping to orthogonal transformation.
10. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the complex addition unit carries out the complex addition by compressing amplitude of the orthogonal transformation image signal.
11. A digital watermark detection apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises an extraction unit configured to extract a specific frequency component arranged in a pre-stage of the scaling unit or a post-stage thereof.