Reliability-Driven Alignment Control for Manufacturable Photonics Packaging

As photonics modules transition from prototypes to scalable manufacturing, coupling performance is often limited less by the peak achieved during active alignment than by the retained coupling after permanent attachment and environmental stress. This talk presents a reliability-driven process optimization (RDPO) methodology for alignment critical photonics packaging that links alignment decisions to verification gates, measurement integrity, and manufacturability controls.

The approach organizes the assembly flow into checkpoint “C gates” (C0–C4): degrees of freedom definition and sensitivity framing; risk mapping tied to drift mechanisms; measurement system analysis (gage R&R) to validate that drift is measurable; stability verification and bias compensation logic for attach induced shifts; and a control plan deployment (manufacturable window, sampling strategy, and reaction plan). A representative, non-proprietary case study is presented using a normalized coupling retention metric derived from standard alignment logs to compare a baseline process versus RDPO execution through thermal cycling. Emphasis is placed on building an auditable, tool-portable framework that improves repeatability across equipment and sites while remaining compatible with confidentiality constraints common in industry.

Attendees will leave with practical templates for defining retention metrics, designing verification gates, and translating reliability intent into scalable controls.

About the presenter
Keyur Doshi is staff hardware development engineer at Nokia, R&D focused on alignment critical photonics packaging, coupling stability, metrology discipline, and reliability aligned process control for photonics modules. He develops technologies that translate active alignment performance into stable post-attachment outcomes using measurement system analysis and verification gates. His work bridges coupling sensitivity, manufacturing execution, and reliability screening to enable scalable, auditable photonics packaging practices.