Thermal stresses in box-type laser packages

[[abstract]]The effect of Au coating on thermally induced stresses in box-type semiconductor laser packages was investigated by a finite-element method (FEM). The simulated results showed that Invar–Invar joints with Au coating have maximum stresses two times higher than joints without Au coating. This is due to the different coefficients of the thermal expansion (CTE) between dissimilar materials of Invar and Au, resulting in higher stresses. Maximum stresses were also found to be increased as the Au thickness increased. This effect is attributed to the increase in the thermal gradient in the welded region provided by the increased thermal conduction of the thicker Au coating layer. These results suggest that both the difference in CTE between dissimilar materials and higher thermal conduction of Au coating layer have an important impact on thermally induced stresses for optoelectronic packages having laser-welded Au coated materials