Image sensors are used in a wide variety of applications. Image sensors are typically packaged in a cavity of a ceramic substrate, and the cavity is sealed with a glass lid. The substrate and lid are custom parts designed specifically for a particular image sensor. These custom parts and the labor required for their assembly are expensive.
Light Emitting Devices (LEDs) and photodiodes have low-cost packages, but these low-cost packages are not suitable for use with image sensors having high lead counts. Inexpensive silicone gels can be used as a packaging material for image sensors, but silicone gels have a low glass transition temperature, a high coefficient of thermal expansion, and are contaminating. These detrimental characteristics render silicone gels as non-suitable packaging materials for image sensors. Inexpensive epoxies can also be used as packaging materials for image sensors, but epoxies have a high modulus and poor optical conduction. These detrimental qualities render epoxies as non-suitable packaging materials for image sensors.
Accordingly, a need exists for an optical semiconductor component having a low cost package and method of manufacturing such an optical semiconductor component. In addition to being inexpensive, the packaging material in the optical semiconductor component should have a low modulus, a high glass transition temperature, a low coefficient of thermal expansion, non-contaminating characteristics, and high optical transparency.
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