Abstract: Techniques and mechanisms for providing effective connectivity with surface level microbumps on an integrated circuit package substrate. In an embodiment, different metals are variously electroplated to form a microbump which extends through a surface-level dielectric of a substrate to a seed layer including copper. The microbump includes nickel and tin, wherein the nickel aids in mitigating an absorption of seed layer copper. In another embodiment, the microbump has a mass fraction of tin, or a mass fraction of nickel, that is different in various regions along a height of the microbump.

Abstract: Techniques and mechanisms for providing effective connectivity with surface level microbumps on an integrated circuit package substrate. In an embodiment, different metals are variously electroplated to form a microbump which extends through a surface-level dielectric of a substrate to a seed layer including copper. The microbump includes nickel and tin, wherein the nickel aids in mitigating an absorption of seed layer copper. In another embodiment, the microbump has a mass fraction of tin, or a mass fraction of nickel, that is different in various regions along a height of the microbump.

Abstract: The present invention provides a software-based electro-optic modulator bias control system resident in an optical transceiver including an electro-optic modulator that includes an optical-to-electrical converter including a transimpedance amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter, and a software algorithm, wherein the software algorithm is operable for determining an optimum bias voltage applied to the electro-optic modulator by discovering a maximum average optical power transmitted by the electro-optic modulator, or quadrature point, wherein the quadrature point is discovered by determining at what bias voltage the slope of an average optical power transmitted by the electro-optic modulator, defined as an optical power change given an incremental bias voltage change, is equal to zero.