Background
As the demands for speed and integration density increase with optical interconnect technology, conventional integrated photonic chips have been unable to meet the demands due to limitations in on-chip space, loss, and manufacturing tolerances. In recent years, three-dimensional stereo integration technology has attracted attention. The multilayer structure utilizes three-dimensional integration properties and multifunctional materials, can solve the development limitations of traditional integrated photonic platforms, and the additional optical device layers can provide higher density integration, lower loss, better device performance, and higher manufacturing tolerances. However, the multilayer structure brings the above advantages and faces a great problem, namely the coupling package of the integrated photonic chip.
The distance between the layers of the multilayer integrated photonic chip is several to several tens of microns, while the cladding diameter of a standard single-mode optical fiber is about 125 microns, and the larger cladding diameter of the optical fiber brings a significant challenge to the coupling of the multilayer closely spaced waveguide array with standard optical fiber components. Therefore, a transition device is needed to solve the problem of coupling the three-dimensional multilayer waveguide and the optical fiber array.
At present, a tapered spot size converter is used as a transition device to realize the coupling between the photonic integrated chip and the optical fiber. The most common is a two-dimensional tapered spot-size converter, which is relatively simple in construction and only achieves dimensional changes in the horizontal direction. However, due to the vertical confinement, the mode field distribution is generally flat and elliptical, which greatly reduces the coupling efficiency with the fiber. The three-dimensional tapered spot size converter can vary in size in both the horizontal and vertical directions, thereby improving matching with the mode field of the fiber. However, the preparation process is complex, the size can only be changed in the vertical direction, the shape change such as bending in the vertical direction cannot be realized, the three-dimensional spot size converter can only realize the coupling of the single-layer photonic integrated waveguide and the optical fiber, and the limitation of the larger cladding diameter of the optical fiber on the coupling of the multilayer closely-spaced waveguide and the optical fiber element cannot be overcome.
Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the defects in the prior art, the invention aims to provide a three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device, which overcomes the limitation of larger cladding diameter of optical fibers and realizes the coupling of a closely-arranged three-dimensional multilayer waveguide array and a standard optical fiber array.
The technical scheme is as follows: in order to solve the technical problems, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:
the invention relates to a three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device, which comprises a substrate, a transparent frame fixed on the substrate, a cladding layer and a waveguide core layer arranged in the cladding layer and used for light propagation and light mode spot conversion. The waveguide core layer is composed of two layers of S-shaped bent conical waveguide arrays which are arranged in parallel, and the S-shaped bent conical waveguide arrays are symmetrical up and down and arranged at intervals. The S-shaped bent tapered waveguide comprises a wide end and a narrow end, and the S-shaped bent tapered waveguide is gradually tapered from the narrow end to the wide end, so that the S-shaped bent tapered waveguide not only realizes the size change in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, but also is bent in the vertical direction. The wide end of the S-shaped bent tapered waveguide array is connected with an optical fiber, and the narrow end of the S-shaped bent tapered waveguide array is aligned with the photonic integrated waveguide.
The invention can also adopt the following technical measures to further optimize the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device:
optionally, the two end faces of the device may be vertical, or may be ground into inclined end faces with a certain inclination.
Optionally, the cross-sections of the wide end and the narrow end of the S-shaped curved tapered waveguide are circular, the diameter of the narrow end is D1, and the diameter of the wide end is D2.
Optionally, the distance between two adjacent S-shaped curved tapered waveguides in each layer is d, and the vertical distance between two S-shaped curved tapered waveguide arrays is h.
Optionally, the positions of the upper and lower layers of S-shaped curved tapered waveguides may be aligned, or may be staggered by a certain distance g in the horizontal direction.
Optionally, the substrate is silicon, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, glass, or the like.
Optionally, the transparent frame is made of acrylic, glass, or epoxy polymer.
Alternatively, the cladding layer and the waveguide core layer are made of ultraviolet-curing polymer materials, such as silicate-based resins, modified acrylates, epoxy resins, organic-inorganic hybrid resins, and the like.
Optionally, the viscosity of the cladding material is v1, the refractive index is n1, the viscosity of the core material is v2, the refractive index is n2, and v1< v2, n1< n 2.
The invention also provides a preparation method of the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device, which comprises the following steps:
step 1: taking a substrate, and fixing the transparent frame on the substrate by glue.
Step 2: the liquid coating material was uniformly dispersed in the frame with a dip tube and filled.
And step 3: a) and fixing a needle cylinder of the dispenser on a desktop control mechanical arm.
b) And adding the liquid core layer material into a needle cylinder of a dispenser.
c) The needle is inserted into the liquid cladding material, and the position and the height of the needle insertion, the moving track and the moving speed are set by controlling a mechanical arm.
d) And applying certain pressure to the liquid core layer material in the needle cylinder to ensure that the needle head disperses the liquid core layer material into the liquid cladding material according to the set speed and track.
e) The needle is pulled out of the liquid coating material.
f) Repeating steps b) -e).
And 4, step 4: curing under an ultraviolet light source, and then aging at 50 ℃ for 12 hours;
and 5: and cutting, grinding and polishing the two ends of the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device.
Optionally, the shape of the waveguide is determined by a needle movement track, the diameter of the waveguide is controlled by pressure intensity, the inner diameter of the needle and the movement speed of the needle, and the smaller the pressure intensity, the smaller the inner diameter of the needle, the faster the movement speed of the needle and the smaller the diameter of the waveguide.
Optionally, when the waveguide core layer is manufactured, the starting part of the narrow end and the ending part of the wide end of the "S" shaped curved tapered waveguide comprise a section of uniform structure for subsequent cutting and grinding processes.
Has the advantages that: compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages:
1. and realizing the coupling of the three-dimensional multilayer waveguide and the optical fiber array. Compared with a common three-dimensional tapered mode spot conversion device, the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device provided by the invention not only realizes size change, but also bends in the vertical direction, and can expand the interlayer spacing (several micrometers) of the closely-arranged multilayer waveguides to several hundred micrometers, so as to overcome the limitation of the diameter of an optical fiber cladding and realize the efficient coupling of a three-dimensional multilayer waveguide array and an optical fiber array.
2. Simple process and low cost. The invention relates to a preparation method of a three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device, which is characterized in that the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device is manufactured by utilizing a novel needle tube dispersion method, the method is different from the traditional photoetching method, a photomask is not needed, the process is simple, the manufacture can be completed within a few minutes, and the production cost is well reduced.
3. The adjusting method is simple, convenient and efficient, and has high controllability. According to the preparation method of the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device, the shape and the size of the waveguide can be controlled only by adjusting parameters such as the movement track, the movement speed and the pressure of the needle head, and further the device with more excellent performance is obtained.
Detailed Description
The invention will be further described with reference to the following drawings and examples, but the invention is not limited to the examples.
As shown in fig. 1, the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device of the present invention includes a substrate 1, a fixed transparent frame 2 on the substrate, a cladding layer 3 in the transparent frame, and a waveguide core layer (not shown). The waveguide core layer is composed of two layers of S-shaped bent conical waveguides 4 arrays which are arranged in parallel, the shapes of the S-shaped bent conical waveguides are vertically symmetrical, and the S-shaped bent conical waveguides are arranged at intervals. As shown in fig. 2, the "S" -shaped curved tapered waveguide 4 includes a wide end and a narrow end, both of which are circular in cross-sectional shape, are tapered from the narrow end to the wide end, and are curved in the vertical direction. The wide end has a diameter of 10 μm and is aligned with the optical fiber, and the narrow end has a diameter of 3 μm and is connected to the photonic integrated waveguide. The two end faces of the device are vertical, the end face structures are shown in fig. 3 and fig. 4, the interlayer distance between the upper layer and the lower layer at the narrow end of the S-shaped bent conical waveguide 4 array is 21 micrometers, and the interlayer distance between the upper layer and the lower layer at the wide end is 250 micrometers. The lateral spacing of adjacent S-shaped curved tapered waveguides 4 in each layer is 127 μm.
The substrate 1 is made of glass, and the transparent frame 2 is made of an acrylic plate. The cladding layer 3 and the waveguide core layer are made of uv-curing optical glue from NORLAND, usa. The clad 3 material was NOA76 type, had a viscosity of 4,000 mPas and a refractive index of 1.51. The core material was NOA68T, had a viscosity of 25,000 mPas and a refractive index of 1.54.
The preparation steps of the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device of the embodiment are as follows:
step 1: a glass substrate with the size of 500mm multiplied by 150mm is taken as a substrate, and the transparent frame is fixed on the substrate by glue, and a groove with the length of 300mm, the width of 100mm and the height of 1mm is formed with the substrate, as shown in figure 5.
Step 2: the liquid cladding material was uniformly dispersed in the grooves in the frame with a dip tube and filled, as shown in fig. 6.
And step 3: a) mounting a needle head with the inner diameter of 20 mu m on a needle cylinder of a dispenser, and fixing the needle cylinder of the dispenser on a desktop control mechanical arm;
b) and adding the liquid core layer material into a needle cylinder of a dispenser.
c) The needle is inserted into the liquid cladding material, and the position and the height of the needle insertion, the moving track and the moving speed are set by controlling a mechanical arm.
d) Applying 150kPa pressure to the liquid core layer material in the needle cylinder to ensure that the needle head disperses the liquid core layer material into the liquid cladding material according to a set track, and in the dispersion process, adjusting the moving speed of the needle head to gradually change from 300mm/S to 20mm/S so as to obtain the S-shaped bent conical waveguide;
e) pulling the needle out of the liquid cladding material;
f) repeating the steps b) -e), so as to obtain two layers of S-shaped bent tapered waveguide arrays, as shown in the figures 7 and 8;
and 4, step 4: curing the mixture for 3 minutes under an ultraviolet light source with the wavelength of 365nm and the power of 8W, and then aging the cured mixture for 12 hours under the temperature condition of 50 ℃ as shown in figure 9.
And 5: and cutting, grinding and polishing the two ends of the three-dimensional optical waveguide transition access device.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and such modifications are also considered to be within the scope of the present invention. Those not described in detail in this specification are within the skill of the art.