JP2003215374A - Light guide tape carrier and method for producing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light guide tape carrier capable of simply holding light guides for photo-electric composite substrates as individual chips without deforming the light guides and having enhanced mass production efficiency and to provide a method for producing the same. <P>SOLUTION: Light guides 4a, 4b,... to be stuck on a printed board 31 are continuously produced at a uniform pitch on a flexible tape based on a polyimide or the like along the lengthwise direction of the tape 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical waveguide tape carrier for an optical-electrical composite substrate, which is formed by mixing an optical waveguide and an electric wiring on a printed circuit board, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, all printed circuit boards transmit and receive by electric signals, but in recent years, a method in which light is used in a high speed part due to the limit of electric transmission speed, that is, a printed circuit board as shown in FIG. 31 is an optical waveguide 32 and electrical wiring 33
There has been proposed an opto-electric composite substrate 30 formed by mixing and. Such an opto-electric composite substrate is also disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-332301.

In the optical-electrical composite substrate 30, the signal taken in from the outside passes through the I / O chip 34 and is processed by the I / O chip 34.
Although transmitted to the C and LSI 35, the line of normal speed is composed of electric wiring 33. However, the optical waveguide 32 is used in a portion that transmits a high-speed signal of several Gbps or more,
An LD (laser diode, semiconductor laser) member 36 and a PD (photodiode) member 37 are used for the signal conversion.

The conventional optical waveguide 32 is, as will be described later,
It is produced on the Si substrate in a process different from the printed circuit board 31,
It is used for a portion 30h for transmitting a high speed signal of the opto-electric composite substrate 30 as shown in FIG.

This portion 30h is obtained by pasting a conventional optical waveguide 32 consisting of a core 41 and a clad 42 via an adhesive layer 43 on a printed circuit board 31 having an electric wiring 33 formed therein. The electrical wiring 33 is also formed on the optical waveguide 32. LD44, LD driver 45
The LD member 36 made of, for example, and the PD member 37 made of the PD 46, the PD driver 47, etc. are connected to the electrical wiring 33 on the optical waveguide 32 so as to be electrically insulated from each other. The LD member 36 and the PD member 37 are the optical waveguide 3
Optically connected at 2.

The electrical signal a input to the portion 30h is input to the LD member 36 via the electrical wiring 33 on the optical waveguide 32, and is converted into the optical signal b by the LD 44 and the LD driver 45. The optical signal b propagates through the core 41, and the PD
It is input to the member 37, and is converted again into the electric signal a by the PD 46 and the PD driver 47. The electric signal a is output from the portion 30h via the electric wiring 33 in the printed board 31.

A conventional method for manufacturing the optical waveguide 32 is shown in FIG.
This will be described in (a) to (g). First, the lower clad layer 52 is formed on a flat substrate (wafer) 51 such as Si.
When a resin such as a polymer is used, a resin film is formed by a spin coater or the like, and then exposed and cured (FIG. 5).
(A), (b)}. A resin is applied onto the lower clad layer 52 by a spin coating method to form a core layer 53 {see FIG.
(C)}, exposing using the mask 54 {FIG. 5 (d)},
Unnecessary portions are removed by etching to form a core 53a to be an optical waveguide pattern {FIG. 5 (e)}. Finally, when the entire surface is covered with the clad coating layer 55, the optical waveguide 3
2 is produced {FIG. 5 (f)}. This optical waveguide 32
As shown in FIG. 6, when peeled off from the Si substrate 51 and attached to the printed circuit board 31 via the adhesive layer 43, the optical-electrical composite substrate 30 formed by mixing the optical waveguide and the electrical wiring on the printed circuit board 31 is obtained. Completed (FIG. 5 (g)).

[0008]

However, since the conventional optical waveguide 32 is manufactured on the Si substrate 51, the optical waveguide 32 is separated from the Si substrate 51 when the optical-electrical composite substrate 30 is manufactured. However, in that case, there is a problem that the optical waveguide 32 is deformed due to a large peeling force and the transmission characteristics are deteriorated.

Therefore, a releasing treatment may be performed in order to reduce the peeling force, but in this case, adhesion reliability becomes a problem when the optical waveguide 32 is adhered to the printed board 31.

Further, since the Si substrate 51 is a single wafer type,
It also has the drawback of poor mass production efficiency. That is, since the size of the Si substrate 51 that can be currently manufactured is limited, the number of optical waveguides 32 that can be manufactured on one Si substrate 51 is naturally limited.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical waveguide tape carrier and its manufacturing method in which the optical waveguide for an optical-electrical composite substrate can be easily separated into individual pieces without being deformed and the mass production efficiency is improved. Especially.

[0012]

The present invention was devised to achieve the above object, and the invention of claim 1 is
This is an optical waveguide tape carrier in which an optical waveguide to be attached to a printed circuit board is continuously produced at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the tape on a flexible tape based on polyimide or the like.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the optical waveguide tape carrier according to the first aspect, the optical waveguide formed on the tape is cut and separated with the tape on the lower surface thereof into individual pieces, and the individual pieces are attached to the printed circuit board. is there.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an optical waveguide to be attached to a printed circuit board is continuously produced on a flexible tape made of polyimide or the like at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the tape. The clad resin is applied on the tape by a roll coating method, the clad resin is exposed to form a lower clad layer, the core resin is applied on the lower clad layer by a roll coating method, and the core resin is applied on a mask. Is a method of manufacturing an optical waveguide tape carrier, in which a core is formed by exposing after exposure to light and a clad coating layer covering the core and the lower clad layer is formed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the optical waveguide formed on the tape is punched together with the tape on the lower surface thereof by a press or the like, and attached to a printed circuit board.
It is a manufacturing method of the optical waveguide tape carrier described.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an optical waveguide tape carrier which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 according to the present invention is mainly used for an optical-electrical composite substrate 2 formed on a printed circuit board 31 in which optical waveguides and electrical wiring are mixed. The optical waveguides 4a, 4b, etc., which are used as waveguides and are attached to the printed circuit board 31 on a flexible tape 3 based on polyimide, epoxy or the like, are arranged at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the tape 3. It was produced continuously.

The optical waveguide tape carrier 1 is manufactured, for example, in a state wound on a reel. The optical waveguide tape carrier 1 is fed from the reel by a required length, supplied, and used.

Optical waveguides 4a, 4 produced on the tape 3
b ... is cut and separated from the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 together with the tape 3 on the lower surface thereof into individual pieces.
Is affixed on the printed circuit board 31 so that is on the lower side.

Next, a method of manufacturing the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

Prior to the manufacture of the optical waveguide tape carrier 1, a flexible tape 3 mainly composed of polyimide or epoxy is wound from an upstream supply reel around which the tape 3 (not shown) is wound to a downstream take-up reel. . The winding reel is driven by a winding means (not shown) to wind the tape 3 at a predetermined speed. While the tape 3 moves between the supply reel and the take-up reel, the optical waveguides 4a ... Are continuously formed on the tape 3 at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the tape 3 in the process described below. It

First, the tape 3 is coated with a clad resin by a roll coating method using a roll 21 as a coating means, and the coated clad resin is exposed to form a lower clad layer 22 (FIG. 2). (A), (b)}. As the clad resin, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin to which a photosensitive resin such as fluorine or boron is added can be used.

On the lower clad layer 22, a resin for core is
The core layer 23 is formed by coating by a roll coating method using a roll or the like as a coating means similar to that described above (FIG. 2).
(C)}. As the core resin, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin to which a photosensitive resin such as germanium, titanium or phosphorus is added can be used.

A mask 24 is arranged near the upper part of the core layer 23, and the core layer 23 is exposed from above the mask 24 (FIG. 2 (d)). At this time, since the tape 3 is moving near the lower part of the mask 24 at a predetermined speed, the core layer 23 is exposed every predetermined time according to the moving speed of the tape 3. After the exposure, unnecessary portions (core layer 23 that is not exposed and cured) are removed by etching to form cores 23a having a rectangular cross section, which will be an optical waveguide pattern {FIG. 2 (e)}.

After the cores 23a are formed, a clad coating layer 25 covering the cores 23a and the lower clad layer 22 is formed.
It is formed using the above-mentioned clad resin. As a result, the lower clad layer 22 and the core 23a are formed on the tape 3.
..., the optical waveguide 4a including the clad coating layer 25
Are continuously produced at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the tape 3 {FIG. 2 (f)}, and the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 shown in FIG. 1 is completed.

The optical waveguide tape carrier 1 is commercialized, for example, in a state of being wound on a winding reel.
The optical waveguide tape carrier 1 is fed from the reel by a required length, supplied, and used.

Each optical waveguide 4a produced on the tape 3 ...
Together with the tape 3 on the lower surface thereof are punched out from the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 by a press or the like to be separated into individual pieces. The tape 3 on the lower surface of the printed circuit board 31
When the individualized optical waveguide 4a is attached together with the adhesive tape 26 so that the tape 3 on the lower surface is on the lower side, the optical-electrical composite substrate 2 in which optical and electrical wirings are combined is completed. Do {FIG. 2 (g)}.

The adhesive layer 26 may be formed in advance on the printed board 31 at a position where the optical waveguide 4a is attached. As the adhesive layer 26, for example, an ultraviolet curable type, a thermosetting type, or a pressure sensitive type can be used.

Since the conventional optical waveguide 32 described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 is produced on a Si substrate, the optical waveguide 32 is peeled off from the Si substrate to produce an optical-electric composite substrate. A step of pasting on 31 is required. At that time, the conventional optical waveguide 32 is deformed due to a large peeling force and deteriorates the transmission characteristics. However, the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 according to the present invention has the optical waveguides 4a, 4b ... Are continuously produced at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the tape 3,
Each of the optical waveguides 4a, 4b ... With the tape 3 on the lower surface thereof,
Since the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 can be punched from the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 and attached to the printed circuit board 31 as it is, deformation of the optical waveguides 4a, 4b ... Can be minimized and individualized easily.

Further, in the conventional optical waveguide 32, a releasing treatment may be applied to reduce a large peeling force.
The optical waveguide tape carrier 1 according to the present invention does not require a mold release treatment. Therefore, the adhesion reliability when the optical waveguides 4a, 4b ... Are adhered to the printed circuit board 31 is also sufficient.

Since the Si substrate is a single-wafer type, it is inferior in mass production efficiency. However, in the optical waveguide tape carrier 1 according to the present invention, the respective optical waveguides 4a, 4b ... Are manufactured and supplied as reel tape carriers. Suitable for mass production and cost effective. Therefore, mass production efficiency is improved and the cost is low.

Further, the flexible tape 3 based on polyimide or epoxy is very easy to handle as compared with the Si substrate.

In the above embodiment, the roll 21 is used as a means for applying the clad resin or the core resin, but the application means is not limited to the roll 21.
It can be something like a knife. When a knife is used, variations in the thickness of the applied resin can be reduced.

As the method for forming the cores 4a, in addition to the method using the above-mentioned photosensitive resin, reactive ion etching (RIE: Reactive Ion Etchin) is used.
g) or the like can be used. In this case, an optical waveguide with high accuracy can be manufactured.

After the clad coating layer 25 is formed, cutting and separating means such as a press is provided on the downstream side of the clad coating layer 25, and the optical waveguides 4a, 4b ... The tape 3 may be taken up by a take-up reel.

The adhesive layer 26 may be formed in advance on the lower surface of the tape 3 instead of on the printed board 31. in this case,
Since the optical waveguides 4a, 4b ... Are produced on the tape with the adhesive layer, the cost is slightly higher than that of the above-mentioned embodiment, but the optical waveguides 4a, 4b are cut and separated from the tape into individual pieces. ... more easily on the printed circuit board 31
Can be pasted on. It is more preferable to previously attach a protective tape or the like for protecting the adhesive force of the adhesive layer to the lower surface of the adhesive layer-provided tape.

[0038]

As is apparent from the above description,
According to the present invention, the following excellent effects are exhibited.

(1) The deformation of the optical waveguide can be minimized and individualized easily.

(2) Mass production efficiency is improved.

(3) The handling is simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a method of manufacturing the optical waveguide tape carrier shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an opto-electric composite substrate.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of an opto-electric composite substrate.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional method of manufacturing an optical waveguide.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a process of pasting a conventional optical waveguide on a printed board.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Optical waveguide tape carrier 2 Optical-electrical composite substrate 3 flexible tape 4a, 4b ... Optical waveguide 31 printed circuit board

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kanji Tanaka             1-6-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Standing Wire Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2H047 KA03 PA02 PA15 PA24 PA28                       QA05 RA08 TA05 TA41

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An optical waveguide characterized in that a flexible tape made of polyimide or the like is provided with optical waveguides to be adhered onto a printed circuit board continuously at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the tape. Tape carrier. 2. The optical waveguide tape carrier according to claim 1, wherein the optical waveguide formed on the tape is cut and separated into individual pieces together with the tape on the lower surface of the optical waveguide, and the optical waveguide tape carrier is attached onto a printed circuit board. 3. A clad for clad on a tape for continuously producing optical waveguides to be attached on a printed circuit board on a flexible tape made of polyimide or the like at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the tape. Apply the resin by roll coating method, expose the cladding resin to form the lower cladding layer, apply the core resin on the lower cladding layer by roll coating method, expose the core resin from the mask, and then etch Forming a core and forming a clad coating layer covering the core and the lower clad layer. 4. The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide tape carrier according to claim 3, wherein the optical waveguide formed on the tape is punched together with the tape on the lower surface by a press or the like, and is attached on a printed circuit board.