JP2001174673A - Photoelectric coupling/transmitting module and manufacturing method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dispense with alignment or correction of optical axes by eliminating optical axis adjustment between a photoelectric element 2 and an optical transmission line 1 and providing a state of permanently aligned optical axes from the original manufacture to the subsequent use of the module. SOLUTION: The photoelectric coupling/transmitting module is equipped with the optical transmission line 1 for guiding and transmitting light and with the spherical photoelectric element 2 installed at the end or in the middle part of this transmission line 1. The photoelectric element 2 has a transparent spherical body 5 installed at the end or in the middle part of the transmission line 1, a light emitting film 7 provided on the outer circumference of the spherical body 5, and a pair of inside and outside electrodes 6, 8 designed to hold this light emitting film 7 in-between.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical transmission line, and a light emitting element provided at or at an end of the optical transmission line for generating light to be transmitted through the optical transmission line, or a light transmitted through the optical transmission line. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optically coupled transmission module capable of efficiently receiving and emitting light transmitted through an optical transmission line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a light emitting element and a light receiving element are optically coupled to an optical transmission line which is an optical fiber, the light emitting element and the light receiving element are mounted on a substrate, and further mounted on an XY table. The optical axis is aligned with the transmission path, and in this state, the light emitting element and the light receiving element are coupled to the end of the optical transmission path.

When an optical element is optically coupled to an optical transmission line as described above, the light emitted from the end face of the core of the optical transmission path must be accurately condensed on the light emitting surface and light receiving surface of the photoelectric element. Must accurately position the optical transmission path in the XYZ directions. Conventionally, light is always emitted from the end face of the core of the optical transmission path for this positioning, or conversely, light is incident on the end face of the core of the optical transmission path from the light emitting element, and the light emitting element and the light receiving The optical fiber must be positioned in the XYZ directions so as to maximize the light power while monitoring the light emission signal and light reception signal of the element.

[0004]

However, the positioning operation between the photoelectric device and the optical transmission line which involves monitoring as described above requires a lot of time and trouble, and has a problem that the manufacturing cost is increased. Further, even if the photoelectric device is optically coupled to the optical transmission line in this manner, the optical axis of the optical transmission line may be deviated from the optical axis of the light beam device due to vibration or impact during use. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect the optical axis deviation between the optical transmission line and the light beam element in a timely manner, and to correct the optical axis deviation when the optical axis is deviated. Therefore, there is a problem that the maintenance is troublesome.

In view of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional optical coupling transmission module, the present invention does not require alignment of the optical axis between the photoelectric element and the optical transmission line, and is permanently used from the beginning of manufacturing to the subsequent use. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical coupling transmission module which does not require optical axis alignment and optical axis correction, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a transparent spherical body 5 is integrally provided at an end or an intermediate part of the optical transmission line 1 and the outer periphery of the spherical body 5 is provided. A light emitting element and a light receiving element are provided. Accordingly, by forming the center of the spherical body 5 in advance so as to coincide with the optical axis of the optical transmission line 1, the optical axis is located at an end or an intermediate portion of the optical transmission line 1 without performing optical axis alignment. The photoelectric element 2 such as a light-emitting element or a light-receiving element can be configured in a state in which they match.

That is, the optical coupling transmission module according to the present invention comprises an optical transmission line 1 for guiding and transmitting light and a spherical photoelectric element 2 provided at an end or an intermediate portion of the optical transmission line 1. And the photoelectric element 2 includes an optical transmission line 1
A transparent spherical body 5 provided at an end or an intermediate portion of the light emitting film 7, a light emitting film 7 or a light receiving film 9 provided on an outer peripheral surface side of the spherical body 5, and the light emitting film 7 or the light receiving film 9 is sandwiched therebetween. It has a pair of inner electrodes 6 and outer electrodes 8 provided.

Here, the spherical body 5 is made of a transparent spherical hollow body, and is made of a transparent material integrated with the core 3 of the optical transmission line 2. The light emitting film 7 is a photoelectric film having a function of converting electric power to light, and the light receiving film 9 is a photoelectric film for converting light to electric power. Further, the inner electrode 6 is made of a transparent conductive film, and the other outer electrode 8 is made of a conductive film having a metallic luster also serving as a reflective film.

In the optical coupling transmission module according to the present invention having such features, the photoelectric element 2 is formed on the basis of a transparent spherical body 5 provided at an end or an intermediate portion of the optical transmission line 1. Since the photoelectric element 2 is formed on the outer peripheral surface side of the optical transmission line 1 in advance,
The photoelectric element 2 is provided at an end or an intermediate part of the optical transmission path 1 without performing a complicated process such as alignment of the optical axis of the photoelectric element 2 and the optical transmission path 1. be able to. Furthermore, since the photoelectric element 2 and the optical transmission path 1 can be integrated, there is no displacement of the optical axis between the photoelectric element 2 and the optical transmission path 1 due to vibration or impact during use, and the number of maintenance operations is reduced. It becomes unnecessary.

Further, in such an optical coupling transmission module, since the photoelectric element 2 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the transparent spherical body 5 provided at the end or the intermediate part of the optical transmission path 1,
Light that is emitted or received will propagate centripetally or radially with respect to the center. Thereby, when the photoelectric element 2 is a light emitting element, light is collected at the center of the spherical body and the light is transmitted to the optical transmission line 1.
And efficient light integration becomes possible. When the photoelectric element 2 is a light receiving element, light can be propagated and received radially from the center of the spherical body, and the light can be received over a wide light receiving area, so that efficient light reception is possible.

Such an optically coupled transmission module includes a step of forming a material of an optically coupled transmission module in which a transparent spherical body 5 is provided at an end or an intermediate portion of the optical transmission line 1; 5 is formed by sequentially forming an inner electrode 6, a light-emitting film 7 or a light-receiving film 9, and an outer electrode 8 on the outer peripheral surface. That is, it can be manufactured by simple means, and the connection between the photoelectric element 2 and the optical transmission line 1 is not required, so that the manufacture becomes extremely easy.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described specifically and in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 show examples of an optical coupling transmission module in which a light emitting element is provided as an optoelectronic element 2 at an end of an optical transmission line 1 which is an optical fiber. FIG. 3 shows the order of steps for manufacturing such an optically coupled transmission module.

The optical transmission line 1 is composed of a transparent core 3 having a long section and a circular cross section, and a transparent cladding 4 surrounding the core 3 and having a smaller refractive index than the core 3. Thereby, the light propagating in the core 3 is totally reflected at the boundary between the core 3 and the clad 4 while transmitting the light in the longitudinal direction of the core 3.

Generally, the core 3 of the optical transmission line 1 is made of an inorganic transparent material such as quartz glass or an organic transparent material, and the clad 4 is made of an inorganic transparent material having a smaller refractive index or an organic transparent material. Made of transparent material. To control the refractive index, for example, an additive such as germanium oxide (GeO ₂ ) or fluorine (F) is doped into a transparent material.

As another additive, it is excited by light emitted from a photoelectric element 2 which is a light emitting element described later,
An element that emits light having a longer wavelength than the light emitted from the photoelectric element 2 can be added. Such additives include lanthanoid series La, Ce, Pr, Nd, P
m, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dr, Ho, Er, Tm, Y
b, Lu, and one or more of these can be added. The added amount is 100 ppm to 10000
ppm, preferably several hundred ppm to several thousand ppm
It is about.

At the end of the optical transmission line 1, a transparent spherical body 5 is formed. Although the spherical body 5 may be hollow, it is preferable to form the spherical body 5 from the same material as the core 3 as an empty solid body 5 as shown in FIG. The center of the spherical body 5 is located at the optical axis of the core 3, that is, the optical transmission path 1
On the extension of the optical axis.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, an optical transmission line 1 having a spherical body 5 at an end is prepared. Next, FIG.
As shown in (b), indium tin oxide (ITO), tin oxide (SnO ₂ ), zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), indium germanium oxide (IGO), etc. are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the spherical body 5. The inner electrode 6 made of a transparent conductive film whose main component is. As the inner electrode 6,
It is configured as a single layer film or a composite film of the transparent conductive material as described above. Such an inner electrode 6 is formed by depositing the transparent material on the surface of the spherical body 5 by means such as a plasma CVD method.

The transparent conductive film forming the inner electrode 6 is
The connection portion 12 is formed continuously over the outer peripheral side of the optical transmission line 1, and this portion is metalized on the surface or the like. Further, as shown in FIG.
The light emitting film 7 is provided on the substrate. The light-emitting film 7 is formed of an inorganic light-emitting material such as inorganic electroluminescence or inorganic LED, or an organic light-emitting material such as organic electroluminescence or organic LED. For example, the light-emitting film 7 is formed by depositing the above-described light-emitting material on the inner electrode 6 by means such as vacuum deposition or plasma CVD. The light emitting film 7 is formed so as to cover a portion of the inner electrode 6 made of the transparent conductive film except for the connection portion 12.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a metal film made of a metal having a high reflectance and a low electric resistance such as Al or Ag is formed so as to cover the light emitting film 7. An outer electrode 8 is provided. For example, a metal such as Al or Ag is formed around the light emitting film 7 by means such as vacuum deposition, sputtering, or electroless plating, and the outer electrode 8 is provided. Thereby, the optical coupling transmission module as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is completed. When the outer electrode 8 is provided, the outer electrode 8 may not be provided on a part of the surface of the light emitting film 7 and the part may be opened in a window shape.

As shown in FIG. 4, a power supply 10 is connected between a connection portion 12 connected to the inner electrode 6 and the outer electrode 8, and a voltage is applied between the electrodes 6 and 8. Thereby, the light emitting film 7 emits light and emits light. This light gathers toward the center of the spherical body 5 and is further transmitted through the optical transmission line 1. Further, since the outer electrode 8 is made of a film having a metallic luster with a high reflectance, light traveling toward the outside of the spherical body 5 is reflected by the outer electrode 8 also serving as a reflective film, and travels toward the center of the spherical body 5. And is transmitted through the optical transmission line 1.

As described above, when the outer electrode 8 is not provided on a part of the surface of the light emitting film 7 and the part is opened in a window shape, light can be introduced into the spherical body 5 from the outside. It is possible. In this optical coupling transmission module, the center of the spherical body 5 serving as the basis of the photoelectric element 2 which is a light emitting element is on an extension of the optical axis of the optical transmission path 1 and coincides with each other. For this reason,
At the time of completion, the optical axes of the photoelectric element 2 and the optical transmission line 1 already match, and there is no need to perform optical axis alignment. further,
Since the optical transmission path 1 and the photoelectric element 2 are integrated, the optical axis does not shift due to vibration or impact during use.

Next, the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 will be described. The optical coupling transmission module according to this embodiment is not provided at the end of the optical transmission line 1 but at the intermediate portion of the optical transmission line 1 as a light emitting element. Are provided. In this case, it is possible to function as an amplifier that amplifies the light transmitted through the optical transmission line 1 instead of a mere light source that emits light transmitted through the optical transmission line 1.

The optically coupled transmission module shown in FIG. 4 differs from the optically coupled transmission module shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 in that a photoelectric element 2 as a light emitting element is provided at an intermediate portion of the optical transmission line 1. No, there is no fundamental difference. In the example shown in FIG. 4, as described above, the outer electrode 8 is not provided on a part of the surface of the light emitting film 7, and the part can be opened in a window shape. In this case, light can be introduced into the spherical body 5 from the outside.

Next, the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 will be described. In the optical coupling transmission module according to this embodiment, a light receiving element is provided as an optoelectronic element 2 at an end of an optical transmission line 1. The difference here is that the element film inserted between the inner electrode 6 made of a transparent conductive film and the outer electrode 8 made of a metal film is not a light emitting film but a light receiving film 9. That is, when light transmitted through the optical transmission path 1 is incident on the light receiving film 8 through the inner electrode 6 which is a transparent conductive film, the light receiving film 8 is excited and photoelectrically converted, and the light is transmitted between the inner electrode 6 and the outer electrode 8. An electromotive force is generated in between. By detecting this with the electric signal detector 11, the optical signal can be converted into an electric signal and detected as an electric signal.

Since the outer electrode 8 is made of a film having a metallic luster having a high reflectivity, light emitted from the center of the spherical body 5 and going to pass through the light receiving film 8 is transmitted to the outer electrode 8 which also serves as a reflective film. 8 reflected. Thus, the optical signal can be efficiently captured and converted into an electric signal.
Note that also in the example shown in FIG.
The outer electrode 8 is not provided on a part of the surface of the sphere, and that part can be opened in a window shape. In this case, the light inside the spherical body 5 is received by an external light receiver through this window or the like. It is also possible.

As the light-receiving film 9 having the above-mentioned functions, the PN of amorphous silicon or polycrystalline silicon thin film is used.
A bonding film, a PIN bonding film, a Schottky bonding film, or the like is used. Further, such a light receiving film 9 can be formed of a single layer or a plurality of layers of an organic photoelectric conversion material.

This optical coupling transmission module also differs from the above-described examples shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 only in that the photoelectric film is replaced by the light-emitting film 7 to the light-receiving film 9, and there is basically no difference in other parts. . Of course, the manufacturing method is the same as the basic manufacturing method except that the photoelectric film is changed from the light emitting film 7 to the light receiving film 9.

Next, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 will be described. The optical coupling transmission module according to this embodiment includes:
The photoelectric element 2 as a light receiving element is provided not at the end of the optical transmission line 1 but at an intermediate portion of the optical transmission line 1. In this case, it is possible to function not only as a simple light receiver for receiving the light transmitted through the optical transmission line 1 but also as a relay light receiver for monitoring the light transmitted through the optical transmission line 1.

The optical coupling transmission module shown in FIG. 6 differs from the optical coupling transmission module shown in FIG. 5 in that a photoelectric element 2 as a light receiving element is provided at an intermediate portion of the optical transmission line 1. There is no difference. In the example shown in FIG. 6, as described above, the outer electrode 8 is not provided on a part of the surface of the light receiving film 9, and the part can be opened like a window. In this case, it is possible to receive the light inside the spherical body 5 from the outside.

[0030]

As described above, in the optical coupling module according to the present invention, since the photoelectric element 2 is formed on the basis of the transparent spherical body 5 provided at the end or the intermediate part of the optical transmission line 1, By forming the optical transmission path 1 and the spherical body 5 so that the optical axes thereof coincide with each other, the photoelectric element 2 and the optical transmission path 1 are formed.
A troublesome process such as optical axis alignment with the above becomes unnecessary. further,
Since the photoelectric element 2 and the optical transmission path 1 can be integrated, there is no displacement of the optical axis between the photoelectric element 2 and the optical transmission path 1 due to vibration or impact during use. Accordingly, an optical coupling transmission module requiring no maintenance is obtained.

Further, the optical coupling transmission module can be obtained by merely sequentially forming the inner electrode 6, the light emitting film 7 or the light receiving film 9, and the outer electrode around the spherical body 5, so that the light emitting element and the light receiving element can be obtained in a very simple process. It becomes possible to manufacture an optically coupled transmission module in which the photoelectric element 2 such as an element and the optical transmission path 1 are coupled.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing an example of an optical coupling transmission module according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part showing a light propagation state in the example of the optical coupling transmission module.

FIG. 3 is a half cross-sectional perspective view of a main part showing an example of a state in a manufacturing process of the optical coupling transmission module.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part showing a light propagation state in another example of the optical coupling transmission module.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part showing a light propagation state in still another example of the optical coupling transmission module.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part showing a light propagation state in still another example of the optical coupling transmission module.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical transmission line 2 Photoelectric element 5 Spherical body 7 Light receiving film 6 Inner electrode 8 Outer electrode 9 Light emitting film

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H037 AA01 BA02 BA11 CA00 5F041 AA09 CA12 CA64 CA65 CA86 CA87 CA88 CA94 DA75 EE01 EE23 FF14 5F088 AA01 AB03 AB04 AB05 BB01 CB03 CB04 CB06 CB07 FA02 FA05 FA15 JA14 LA03

Claims (6)

[Claims] An optical transmission path for guiding light for electric transmission (1)
And an optical coupling transmission module having a spherical photoelectric element (2) provided at an end or an intermediate portion of the optical transmission path (1), the photoelectric element (2) is connected to the end of the optical transmission path (1). A transparent spherical body (5) provided in the middle or middle part, a light emitting film (7) or a light receiving film (9) provided on the outer peripheral surface side of the spherical body (5), and the light emitting film (7) Alternatively, an optical coupling transmission module comprising a pair of an inner electrode (6) and an outer electrode (8) provided so as to sandwich a light receiving film (9). 2. The optical coupling transmission module according to claim 1, wherein the spherical body (5) is made of a transparent spherical voidless body. 3. The optically coupled transmission module according to claim 2, wherein the sphere (5) is made of a transparent material integral with the core (3) of the optical transmission path (2). 4. The optically coupled transmission module according to claim 1, wherein the inner electrode is made of a transparent conductive film. 5. The outer electrode (8) is made of a film having a metallic luster also serving as a reflection film.
The optical coupling transmission module according to any one of the above. 6. An optical transmission line (1) for guiding light for electric transmission.
And an optical coupling transmission module having a spherical photoelectric element (2) provided at an end or an intermediate portion of the optical transmission line (1). Forming a material of an optical coupling transmission module provided with a transparent spherical body (5) at a portion; and forming an inner electrode (6), a light emitting film (7) or a light emitting film (7) on the outer peripheral surface of the spherical body (5) of the material. A method for manufacturing an optically coupled transmission module, comprising sequentially forming a light receiving film (9) and an outer electrode (8) to constitute a photoelectric device (2).