JP2003107269A - Optical fiber fixing tool and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber fixing tool 10 which is easily fixed by soldering. SOLUTION: An optical fiber 18 provided with solder 16 is fixed to a V groove substrate 11, where at least a part of V grooves 13 is provided with an heating resistor 15, by soldering.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber fixture for holding metallized fibers used in optical connectors and optical modules used for optical communication and the like, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an optical fiber fixing member,
A substrate having a plurality of grooves is used. For example, in FIG.
The optical fiber fixing member 20 shown in (a) and (b) is a plate-like body in which a V groove 13 for holding an optical fiber is formed, and a fiber element obtained by removing the coating of the optical fiber 19 in the V groove 13 is provided. Hold the lines 18 side by side, cover this with the lid 12,
If the gap between the two is filled with the adhesive 22 and fixed, each element wire 18 is reliably supported at three points, and the plurality of optical fibers 19 can be aligned and held with high accuracy. Further, V-grooves 14 for inserting positioning guide pins may be provided at both ends of the V-grooves 13 for holding the optical fiber (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-215208).

Then, the end faces 11a of the optical fiber fixing member 20 are brought into contact with each other to form an optical connector, or the end face 11a of the optical fiber fixing member 20 is connected to an optical waveguide, or a light emitting / receiving element is connected to the optical connector. It can be a module.

Further, in recent years, in an optical module in which a light emitting / receiving element and an optical fiber fixing tool are connected, an optical fiber fixing tool that hermetically seals the inside of the optical module has been demanded. In response to this request, as shown in FIG. 4, the optical fiber alignment member 3
Another optical fiber fixing member 31 for airtight fixing is attached to the rear of 0, and the optical fiber 19 and the optical fiber fixing members 31 and 32 are airtightly fixed.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, a hermetically sealed portion 18a is provided behind the optical fiber alignment member 20 by partially stripping the coating of the optical fiber and applying metal plating to the outer peripheral portion of the quartz fiber. An optical fiber fixing tool of the type that hermetically fixes the stopper 18a and the outer wall of the optical module is used.

[0005]

However, each of the conventional optical fiber fixtures described above has a problem that it takes time to fix the optical fiber, the V-groove substrate and the lid. In addition, there is a problem that after the optical module is assembled and fixed inside the PKG, the airtightness inside the PKG cannot be secured due to deterioration of the adhesive. In the conventional optical fiber fixture shown in FIG. 3, when fixing the optical fibers while maintaining the alignment accuracy, the optical fibers are aligned in the V-groove, the V-groove substrate and the lid are pressed by the upper and lower surfaces, and an adhesive is applied. It is necessary to fix it with ultraviolet rays, heat, etc., but it takes time for the adhesive to harden, and if the pressing force becomes uneven, the fibers move in the middle and the positional accuracy between the fibers shifts. Was. Further, in the conventional optical fiber fixture 20 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the V-groove substrate 21, the lid 12 and the optical fiber element wire 18 are fixed with an adhesive. However, when this is fixed inside the optical PKG. However, there is a problem that the gas generated from the adhesive adheres to the output surface of the LD and increases the loss of the optical output of the LD.

That is, in any of the conventional optical fiber fixtures, it takes a long time to fix the optical fiber, the V-groove substrate and the lid, and there is a problem that the fiber position accuracy is deviated and an airtight fixation cannot be performed.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. An optical fiber element is provided on a V-groove substrate in which at least a part of the V-groove is provided with a heating resistor. The feature is that the wire is fixed by soldering.

Further, the solder is made of Au-Sn or Pb-Sn.

Further, the heating resistor is CrSi or NiC.
It is characterized by being any one of r, SiO ₂ -Cr, NiTi, and TaN.

Moreover, after mounting the soldered optical fiber element wire on the V-groove substrate in which at least a part of the V-groove is provided with a heating resistor, the heating resistor is energized to melt the solder. It is characterized in that it is fixed by soldering.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

An optical fiber fixture 10 shown in FIG. 1 (a).
Is provided with a plurality of V-shaped grooves 13 as concave portions for holding the optical fiber wires 18 which are optical elements, and a heating resistor 15 is provided in a part thereof. Further, the optical fiber is a member in which solder 16 is applied to the outer periphery thereof, and the V-groove substrate 11, the lid 12 and the optical fiber element wire 18 are fixed by soldering.

The V-groove substrate 11 of the present invention is made of a silicon material produced by etching the V-groove 13, or a ceramic material, glass or quartz material produced by cutting, grinding or pressing the V-groove 13. In addition, the V-groove substrate 11 has a thin film thickness, and the thickness variation is stable.
rSi, NiCr, SiO ₂ -Cr, Ni-Ti, TaN
A heating resistor 15 made of any one of the
From 20 μm to 20 μm, and is provided by a vapor deposition process at a position across the V groove 13 and connected from the right end to the left end. Further, a metal thin film such as Ni or Au for fixing solder may be formed on the uppermost surface of the heating resistor 15. The metal thin film may be arranged at a position different from that of the heating resistor 15. The heating resistor may be a thin film resistor in order to reduce the thickness and reduce the thickness variation.

The optical fiber wire 18 has a length of 0.01 mm to 30 mm along the entire outer peripheral surface thereof, and is made of either Au-Sn or Pb-Sn solder 16 which can be soldered and has a small thickness variation. The structure has a thickness of 0.05 μm to 20 μm. The solder may be thin film solder in order to reduce the thickness and reduce the thickness variation.

Next, a method of manufacturing the optical fiber fixture of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heating resistor 15 is positioned with the solder 16 applied to a part of the optical fiber 18, and V
After being aligned in the grooves 13, the entire back surface is covered with a lid 12 that is treated with a thin metal film of Ni, Au, etc., and a heating resistor 15 is formed.
The probe is contacted at both ends, and the current is 20mA at a voltage of 3V.
Approximately 200 mA is applied to melt the solder 16, and the plurality of optical fiber wires 18 can be positioned with high accuracy within a short time within 1 minute and fixed by soldering. Since the solder can be melted and fixed to the entire circumference of the optical fiber element wire 18 by melting the solder instantaneously, the positioning accuracy of the optical fiber element wire 18 is high and the solder bonding force is good.

In the optical fiber fixture of the present invention thus obtained, the heating resistor 15 is energized and reheated to melt the solder, thereby re-adjusting and removing the optical fiber element wire 18. Is possible.

The optical fiber fixture according to the present invention is
Since gas is not generated after fixing inside the optical PKG, loss of optical output of the LD is not increased.

[0019]

EXAMPLES Here, an experiment was conducted by the following method.

As an example of the present invention, the V-groove substrate 11 was made of silicon. The V groove 13 has eight cores, and NiCr is applied to a part of the V groove 13 as a heat generating thin film heating element 15.
The lid 12 was made of Pyrex (registered trademark) glass, and the back surface was subjected to Au-Sn thin film treatment.

Further, a thin film solder metal made of Au--Sn was vapor-deposited on a part of the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber wire 18. First, the solder 16 of the optical fiber element wire 18 is aligned with the heating resistor 15 in the 8-core V groove 13 so that the end surface of the optical fiber element wire 18 and the end surface 11a of the V groove substrate 11 are flush with each other. Then, the optical fiber 18 is covered with the lid 12, the eight optical fibers 18 are aligned and positioned with high precision, and a probe is brought into contact with both ends of the heating element 15 to apply a current of about 150 mA to rapidly heat the solder 16 and fix the solder. did.

On the other hand, a conventional optical fiber fixture 20 was prepared as a comparative example. The V groove substrate 21 and the lid 12 are U
It was fixed with V adhesive.

The time required from the start of fixing to the end of fixing was measured for each of 20 samples of the sample of the present invention and the sample of the conventional example.

The results are shown in Table 1.

[0025]

[Table 1]

From the above results, in the conventional optical fiber fixture 20, the average time required to complete the fixing of the 20 is 65.0 seconds, whereas the optical fiber fixture 10 of the present invention is The time required to finish fixing 20 out of 20 is 23.
Since it was 5 seconds, the optical fiber fixture 10 of the present invention
It was confirmed that was a highly reliable member suitable for fixing for a short time.

[0027]

According to the present invention, by fixing the optical fiber element wire to the V-groove substrate in which at least a part of the V-groove is provided with the heating resistor, the solder can be fixed easily in a short time. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 illustrates an optical fiber fixture of the present invention,
(A) is a perspective view and (b) is a structural view of a V groove portion.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining a method for manufacturing an optical fiber fixture according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional optical fiber fixed view,
(A) is a perspective view and (b) is a structural view of a V groove portion.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional optical fiber fixture.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional optical fiber fixture.

[Explanation of symbols] 10: Optical fiber fixture 11: V-groove substrate 11a: end face 12: Lid 13: V groove 14: Guide pin insertion V groove 15: Heating resistor 16: Solder 18: Optical fiber strand 19: Optical fiber 20: Optical fiber fixing member 21: V-groove substrate 22: Adhesive 30: Optical fiber fixture 31: Optical fiber fixing member 32: fixing member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber fixture, characterized in that an optical fiber element wire is fixed by soldering to a V-groove substrate in which at least a part of the V-groove is provided with a heating resistor. 2. The optical fiber fixture according to claim 1, wherein the solder is one of Au-Sn and Pb-Sn. 3. The heating resistor is CrSi, NiCr, S.
The optical fiber fixture according to claim 1, which is any one of iO ₂ -Cr, NiTi, and TaN. 4. A V-groove substrate in which at least a part of the V-groove is provided with a heating resistor, a soldered optical fiber element wire is placed, and then the heating resistor is energized to melt the solder. A method for manufacturing an optical fiber fixture, characterized in that it is fixed by soldering.