1. Purpose of the gate
Qualification is only meaningful if the units tested are the product customers will receive. This gate checks that the qualification units were built on the frozen design and the qualified assembly process, with production lasers, fibres and materials, and that the plan of stresses, conditions, sample sizes and readouts is approved before any stress begins.
Starting qualification on unrepresentative units is one of the most expensive mistakes in a photonic product, because laser ageing and environmental stresses take a long time and must be repeated if the build changes.
What done means at this gate: units built on the intended production flow, with the production laser and fibre attach, enter reliability qualification.
The gate opens the Reliability Qualification stage, which covers showing that the optical parts will last in the field: laser ageing and wear-out, the stability of coupling and adhesives under temperature cycling, damp heat and mechanical shock, photodetector and modulator drift, the electronic die's own qualification to JEDEC practice, and for optoelectronic modules the generic reliability assurance practice the industry publishes, such as Telcordia GR-468.
10 more sections for registered members.