JP2012208146A - Method of manufacturing optical module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing an optical module with excellent reliability at low cost.SOLUTION: In a method of manufacturing an optical module that includes an optical fiber and a resin ferrule, an optical fiber is disposed in a metal mold, resin is injected into the metal mold and cured, to integrate the optical fiber with the ferrule.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical module including an optical component such as a photoelectric conversion element.

  With the recent increase in capacity and speed of communication networks and the improvement in processing capacity of supercomputers, an increase in transmission speed has been demanded, and optical interconnection technology has attracted attention. In order to realize optical interconnection, an optical module as described in Patent Document 1 is known. This optical module has a photoelectric conversion element, an optical fiber, and an electrical wiring, and can transmit an electrical signal between devices in connection with a signal processing device such as an LSI or connection between a signal processing device and an external interface such as a router. It is intended to improve the transmission speed by replacing it with an optical signal.

  Such an optical module includes a photoelectric conversion element that converts an optical signal and an electric signal, an optical fiber that transmits an optical signal from the outside to the photoelectric conversion element, or an optical fiber that transmits an optical signal of the photoelectric conversion element to the outside, and these photoelectric modules. It is comprised from the ferrule to which the conversion element and the optical fiber were attached.

JP 2006-59867 A

  Generally, as described in Patent Document 1, such an optical module is mechanically produced by creating a ferrule having a through hole, inserting an optical fiber into the through hole of the ferrule, and causing the photoelectric conversion element to recognize an image. It is manufactured through a process of aligning and attaching to a ferrule.

  By the way, in such an optical module, high accuracy is required for alignment between the optical fiber and the photoelectric conversion element. For this reason, high accuracy is required for an assembly process such as forming a through hole in a ferrule, mounting a photoelectric conversion element at a predetermined position, or inserting an optical fiber to a predetermined position. Thus, when manufacturing an optical module, it is necessary to perform a process requiring high accuracy a plurality of times, which is a factor that cannot reduce the manufacturing cost of the optical module.

  In the manufacturing method described in Patent Document 1, the photoelectric conversion element is mounted on the ferrule via a metal bump, and the optical fiber is fixed to the ferrule with an adhesive. Therefore, a metal as a bump and a resin as an adhesive are mixed in the optical module. Due to the large difference in thermal expansion coefficient between these metals and resins, the optical coupling efficiency of the optical module can be reduced by changing the separation distance between the photoelectric conversion element and the optical fiber with environmental changes such as temperature changes. There is a risk that the reliability of the optical module is impaired.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an optical module that is excellent in reliability at a low manufacturing cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following.
(1) A method of manufacturing an optical module including an optical fiber and a resin ferrule,
Place optical fiber inside the mold,
A method for manufacturing an optical module, in which a resin is injected into the mold and cured to integrate the optical fiber and the ferrule.
(2) The optical fiber is provided independently of the mold, and is positioned in the mold by being gripped by a fiber gripper that grips or releases the fiber (1). ) Optical module manufacturing method.
(3) The optical module manufacturing method according to (2), wherein the optical fiber is gripped by the fiber gripping portion at least at two locations along the optical axis direction.
(4) The method for manufacturing an optical module according to (2) or (3), wherein a contact surface of the fiber gripping portion with the optical fiber has a V-groove shape on a surface orthogonal to the optical axis. .
(5) The mold includes a first mold and a second mold that are separated in a mold opening direction.
After separating the first mold and the second mold, between the first mold and the second mold so that the optical axis of the optical fiber intersects the mold opening direction. The method for manufacturing an optical module according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the optical fiber is disposed.
(6) The optical module according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the optical fiber is gripped by a mold-matching surface between the first mold and the second mold. Production method.
(7) The optical fiber according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein the optical fiber is positioned in the mold with a tip surface thereof abutting against an inner wall of the mold. Module manufacturing method.
(8) A plurality of the optical fibers are arranged in parallel in the mold so that their optical axes are parallel,
The method for manufacturing an optical module according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the plurality of fiber gripping portions are connected to each other in a direction intersecting the optical axis.

(9) A method for producing an optical module comprising a photoelectric conversion element, a substrate having a through-hole, an optical fiber, and a ferrule,
The photoelectric conversion element, the substrate and the optical fiber are arranged in a mold so that the light receiving / emitting surface of the photoelectric conversion element faces the tip surface of the optical fiber through the through hole of the substrate,
A method for manufacturing an optical module, in which a resin is injected into the mold and cured to integrate the substrate, the optical fiber, and the photoelectric conversion element with a ferrule.
(10) The method of manufacturing an optical module according to (9), wherein the optical fiber is gripped by a fiber gripping portion and positioned in the mold.
(11) The method of manufacturing an optical module according to (9) or (10), wherein the photoelectric conversion element is gripped by an element gripping portion and positioned in the mold.
(12) Before placing the substrate in the mold, electrical wiring is formed on the substrate,
The method for manufacturing an optical module according to any one of (9) to (11), wherein the electrode terminal of the photoelectric conversion element is disposed in the mold while being pressed against the electrical wiring.
(13) Before placing the substrate in the mold, electrical wiring is formed on the substrate;
Fixing the electrode terminal of the photoelectric conversion element to the electrical wiring;
The said photoelectric conversion element and the said board | substrate are arrange | positioned in the said metal mold | die, The manufacturing method of the optical module as described in any one of (9) to (11) characterized by the above-mentioned.
(14) The method for manufacturing an optical module according to (12) or (13), wherein the substrate is a metal plate.

(15) A method for producing an optical module comprising a photoelectric conversion element, a substrate having a through-hole, an optical fiber, and a ferrule,
Arrange the substrate and the optical fiber in the mold so that the tip surface of the optical fiber faces the through hole of the substrate,
Injecting and curing a resin in the mold, the substrate, the optical fiber and the photoelectric conversion element are integrated with a ferrule,
A method for manufacturing an optical module, comprising: attaching a photoelectric conversion element to the ferrule so that a light emitting / receiving surface faces the tip surface.
(16) The method of manufacturing an optical module according to (15), wherein the optical fiber is gripped by a fiber gripping portion and positioned in the mold.
(17) The method of manufacturing an optical module according to (15) or (16), wherein the photoelectric conversion element is gripped by an element gripping portion and positioned in the mold.
(18) Before placing the substrate in the mold, electrical wiring is formed on the substrate;
The method of manufacturing an optical module according to any one of (15) to (17), wherein the electrode terminal of the photoelectric conversion element is disposed in the mold while being pressed against the electric wiring.
(19) Before placing the substrate in the mold, electrical wiring is formed on the substrate,
Fixing the electrode terminal of the photoelectric conversion element to the electrical wiring;
The method of manufacturing an optical module according to any one of (15) to (17), wherein the photoelectric conversion element and the substrate are arranged in the mold.
(20) The method for manufacturing an optical module according to (18) or (19), wherein the substrate is a metal plate.

  According to the method for manufacturing an optical module according to the present invention, since the ferrule and the optical fiber are integrally formed, there is no need to form a through hole and insert the optical fiber into the through hole. Therefore, these steps are unnecessary, and an optical module can be provided at low cost. In addition, since no adhesive is required to fix the optical fiber to the ferrule, the position of the optical fiber with respect to the ferrule due to temperature changes is difficult to change, and the optical coupling efficiency has high optical coupling efficiency that is less likely to fluctuate with environmental changes. An optical module having efficiency can be provided.

1 is a perspective view of an optical module according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of a fiber holding part. It is a perspective view of the optical module which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the optical module which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the optical module which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing an optical module according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an optical module 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The optical module 1 includes a tape core wire 10 in which a plurality of optical fibers 12 (four in the illustrated example) are bundled and covered with a coating layer 11, and a rectangular parallelepiped resin ferrule that covers the distal end side of the optical fiber 12. 20.

  The tip surface 13 of the optical fiber 12 is exposed from one side surface of the ferrule 20 to form an optical connection surface 21 that is a connection surface with an external device. For example, the optical fiber of the optical connector can be optically connected to the optical fiber 12 of the optical module 1 by disposing the connection surface of the optical connector including an optical fiber (not shown) opposite to the optical connection surface 21.

  Further, on the upper surface 22 of the ferrule 20 (one side surface adjacent to the optical connection surface 21), there are a plurality of concave portions 24 recessed to the optical fiber 12 embedded in the ferrule 20 in a plurality of locations (shown in the figure). In the example shown in FIG. Although not shown, a similar recess 24 is formed on the lower surface 23 of the ferrule 20.

Next, a method for manufacturing the optical module 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 2, the coating layer 11 is removed from the tip end side of the tape core wire 10 by a predetermined length to expose the optical fiber 12 of a predetermined length, and then the tape core wire 10 is placed in the mold 30. 10 is arranged.

  The mold 30 used in this manufacturing method includes an upper mold 31 and a lower mold 32 that open in the vertical direction. Each of the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 includes fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 that can grip the optical fiber 12. The inner walls of the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 are shaped along the outer shape of the ferrule 20, and an internal space A that matches the outer shape of the ferrule 20 when the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 are combined. Defined. An injection hole 35 through which resin can be injected into the internal space A is formed in a part of the mold 30.

  The tape core wire 10 is disposed in the internal space A between the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 in a state where the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 are separated. If the optical axis of the tape core wire 10 is disposed in the mold 30 from the direction orthogonal to the mold opening direction of the mold 30, it is preferable that the mold 30 and the tape core wire 10 do not interfere with each other.

  The tape core wire 10 is preferably arranged so that the distal end surface 13 of the optical fiber 12 abuts against the inner wall 36 of the mold 30. With such a configuration, the positioning operation of the optical fiber 12 is facilitated and the positioning accuracy is improved. Further, since the optical module 1 is formed in a state in which the front end surface 13 is exposed to the optical connection surface 21 of the ferrule 20 during a resin molding process described later, the ferrule 20 is cut or polished to expose the front end surface 13. The process to perform can be made unnecessary.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, without moving the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32, only the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 are driven toward the internal space A of the mold 30, and the front end surface thereof. The outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 12 is gripped by the gripping surfaces 41a and 42a formed in the above. As described above, since the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 are operated independently of the upper die 31 and the lower die 32, the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 penetrate the upper die 31 and the lower die 32, respectively. Through holes 33 and 34 are formed.

  The drive sources of the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 may be separate from the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32, or both may be driven by a single drive source as in the slide core method. When a plurality of optical fibers 12 are arranged side by side in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction as in the present embodiment, in order to maintain the distance between the optical fibers 12 evenly, Alternatively, the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 arranged in a direction orthogonal to each other may be connected to each other.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 have V-grooves in the gripping surfaces 41 a and 42 a on the surface orthogonal to the optical axis of the optical fiber 12.
By making the gripping surfaces 41a and 42a V-shaped, the optical fiber 12 having a circular cross section can be moved to the central valley B when the optical fiber is gripped by the gripping surfaces 41a and 42a. Is easily located at a predetermined position in the mold 30.

  Furthermore, when the optical fiber 12 is gripped by the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42, it is preferable to grip the optical fiber 12 in order from the side closer to the coating layer 11. Even when the optical fiber 12 is bent from the coating layer 11 toward the distal end surface 13, the amount of bending on the side of the optical fiber 12 close to the coating layer 11 is small, so that the optical fiber 12 is held by the fiber holding portions 41 and 42. It is easy.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 are combined. Here, the facing surfaces of the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 facing each other are provided with a coating layer gripping portion 37 for gripping the tape core wire 10 in close contact with the coating layer 11 of the tape core wire 10. preferable. Compared with the case where the through hole is formed in the mold 30 and the tape core wire 10 is inserted into the internal space A from the through hole, the tape core wire 10 can be easily arranged in the mold 30.

  When the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 are combined, the resin C is injected from the injection hole 35 into the internal space A, and the ferrule 20 is integrally molded together with the tape core wire 10. At this time, since the position of the optical fiber 12 is held by the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42, the position does not shift even if the resin C is injected.

  As the resin C to be injected into the mold 30, thermoplastic polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) can be used. Since PPS has good fluidity, it is suitable for precision molding by injection molding, and since it has a higher melting point than solder, it has high heat resistance and can be used for soldering when mounting electronic components.

  In addition, the injection hole 35 for injecting the resin C is preferably provided in a portion of the mold 30 that forms a surface on which the optical connection surface 21 is not formed in order not to leave a gate mark on the optical connection surface 21 of the ferrule 20. This is because the optical connection surface 21 is preferably a flat surface in order to associate with a member such as an optical connector as a connection partner.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, after the resin C injected into the mold 30 is cured, the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 are separated, and the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 are separated from the ferrule 20. The optical module 1 is taken out from the mold 30 while being separated. At this time, concave portions 24 are formed on the upper surface 22 and the lower surface 23 of the ferrule 20 as traces of the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 gripping the optical fiber 12. The recess 24 may be filled with a resin or the like in a later step.

  According to the method for manufacturing the optical module 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention as described above, the optical fiber 12 can be formed integrally with the ferrule 20. Therefore, compared with the manufacturing method described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to reduce processes that require high positioning accuracy, such as a process for forming a through hole formed in the ferrule 20 and a process for inserting the optical fiber 12 into the through hole. . Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  Further, since the optical fiber 12 is integrated with the ferrule 20 and does not need to be fixed with an adhesive or the like, there is little change in the relative position between the optical fiber 12 and the ferrule 20 due to heat and humidity. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly reliable optical module in which the optical coupling efficiency does not easily fluctuate even when the environment changes.

  Furthermore, there is no possibility that the optical coupling efficiency is lowered due to the dimensional accuracy of the through hole, or the optical coupling efficiency is lowered due to the positioning accuracy of the optical fiber 12 in the through hole. Further, when the optical fiber 12 is inserted into the through-hole, the shavings generated by the tip surface 13 of the optical fiber 12 scraping the inner wall of the through-hole may adhere to the tip surface 13 of the optical fiber 12 and reduce the optical coupling efficiency. Nor. Therefore, according to the manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, an optical module having high optical coupling efficiency can be provided.

  In the above description, it has been described that the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 are driven independently with respect to the upper die 31 and the lower die 32, but the upper fiber gripping portion 41 is moved with respect to the upper die 31. The lower fiber gripping portion 42 may be integrated with the lower mold 32. The optical fiber 12 can be gripped by driving the upper fiber gripper 41 after the optical fiber 12 is placed and aligned on the fiber gripper 42 integral with the lower mold 32. There is no need to provide a drive mechanism for the lower fiber gripping portion 42, and the tape core wire 10 can be easily positioned in the mold 30.

  In the above description, the example in which the upper mold 31 and the lower mold 32 are combined after the optical fiber 12 is gripped by the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 has been described. The optical fiber 12 may be gripped by the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 after combining.

  In the above example, the method for manufacturing the optical module 1 in which the tape core wire 10 from which the coating layer 11 on the front end side is removed is disposed in the ferrule 20 is described as an example. Of course, the optical module 1 in which the independent optical fibers 12 are arranged in the ferrule 20 may be formed.

Second Embodiment
Next, a photoelectric conversion module 1a which is a kind of optical module according to the second embodiment of the present invention and a manufacturing method thereof will be described. The photoelectric conversion module 1a according to the second embodiment of the present invention differs from the first embodiment in that an electrical wiring 50, a substrate 60, a photoelectric conversion element 70, and a protective layer 80 are provided on the distal end side of the optical fiber 12. Is the same configuration as in the first embodiment. In the following description, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, and the detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a photoelectric conversion module 1a according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The photoelectric conversion module 1 a includes a ferrule 20 including an optical fiber 12, a substrate 60 provided with electrical wiring 50, and a photoelectric conversion element 70 covered with a protective layer 80.

  The electrical wiring 50 is provided on the substrate 60 so as to extend from the photoelectric conversion element 70 covered with the protective layer 80 to a region not covered with the protective layer 80. An external terminal 51 that is electrically connected to an external device is formed on the substrate 60 in a region not covered with the protective layer 80. The photoelectric conversion element 70 is electrically connected to an external device via the electric wiring 50.

  A through hole 61 that penetrates from the back surface to the front surface is formed in the substrate 60, and the front end surface 13 of the optical fiber 12 is disposed to face the light receiving and emitting surface of the photoelectric conversion element 70 through the through hole 61. . The substrate 60 may be a glass epoxy substrate or a lead frame such as a copper plate.

  The photoelectric conversion element 70 is a light emitting element such as a VCSEL or a light receiving element such as a photodiode that is electrically connected to the electric wiring 50 and is optically connected to the optical fiber 12. The photoelectric conversion element 70 is covered with a resin element protection layer 80 and protected from the outside. In particular, since the element protection layer 80 is formed integrally with the substrate 60, the electrode contact portion between the photoelectric conversion element 70 and the electric wiring 50 can be effectively protected from the outside.

  When the photoelectric conversion element 70 is a light emitting element, the photoelectric conversion element 70 generates an optical signal according to an electric signal input from the external terminal 51 and transmits the optical signal to the optical fiber 12. When the photoelectric conversion element 70 is a light receiving element, the photoelectric conversion element 70 generates an electric signal according to the optical signal input from the optical fiber 12 and transmits the electric signal from the external terminal 51 to the external device.

Next, a method for manufacturing the photoelectric conversion module 1a will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 8, the tape core wire 10, the substrate 60 on which the electrical wiring 50 is formed, and the photoelectric conversion element 70 are placed in the mold 30a in an open state.

  The mold 30a used in the present embodiment has a mold opening direction of the upper mold 31a and the lower mold 32a in addition to the upper mold 31a and the lower mold 32a that are opened in the vertical direction as in the first embodiment. A horizontal mold 38 that opens in the intersecting direction is provided. The inner wall 39 of the horizontal mold 38 has a shape capable of forming the protective layer 80, and element gripping portions 43 and 44 that can grip the photoelectric conversion element 70 are attached vertically.

  The optical fiber 12 is placed on the fiber gripper 42 positioned below and placed in the mold 30a. Further, the substrate 60 disposed in the mold 30a is provided with a through hole 61 having a diameter larger than the diameter of the optical fiber 12 so as to penetrate from the back surface to the surface, and the electric wiring 50 is provided on the surface. The substrate 60 is placed on the lower mold 32a so that the electrical wiring 50 faces away from the optical fiber 12. Further, the photoelectric conversion element 70 is placed on the lower element grip 44 with the light receiving / emitting surface facing the optical fiber 12 side.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, after the horizontal mold 38 is brought into contact with the upper mold 31a and the lower mold 32a, the fiber gripping portion 42 and the element gripping portion 43 are driven, and the optical fiber 12 and photoelectric conversion are performed. The optical fiber 12 and the photoelectric conversion element 70 are positioned so that the element 70 faces through the through hole 61 of the substrate 60. Furthermore, after holding the optical fiber 12 by the fiber holding parts 41 and 42 and holding the photoelectric conversion element 70 by the element holding parts 43 and 44, the upper mold 31a and the lower mold 32a are combined.

  Specifically, after the horizontal mold 38 is brought into contact with the upper mold 31a and the lower mold 32a, the fiber gripping portion 42 is set so that the front end surface 13 of the optical fiber 12 faces the through hole 61 of the substrate 60. The position of the optical fiber 12 is determined by driving. Next, the element holding part 44 on which the photoelectric conversion element 70 is placed is driven to position the light receiving / emitting surface of the photoelectric conversion element 70 at a position facing the through hole of the substrate 60. After the optical fiber 12 and the photoelectric conversion element 70 are positioned, the upper fiber gripping part 41 and the element gripping part 43 are lowered to hold the positions of the optical fiber 12 and the photoelectric conversion element 70.

  The horizontal mold 38 is provided with an element pressing portion 45 that can press the photoelectric conversion element 70 against the substrate 60, and after the positioning of the photoelectric conversion element 70 is completed, the photoelectric conversion element 70 is pressed against the substrate 60 by the element pressing portion 45. May be. Thereby, since the electrode provided in the photoelectric conversion element 70 and the electric wiring 50 on the board | substrate 60 can be contact | adhered, the photoelectric conversion element 70 can be electrically connected with the electric wiring 50 reliably.

  When the substrate 60, the optical fiber 12, and the photoelectric conversion element 70 are positioned at predetermined positions, the upper mold 31a and the lower mold 32a are closed, the resin C is injected into the internal space A from the injection hole 35, and the ferrule 20 and the protective layer 80 is integrally formed with the substrate 60, the optical fiber 12, and the photoelectric conversion element 70. At this time, since the positions of the optical fiber 12 and the photoelectric conversion element 70 are held by the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42 and the element gripping portions 43 and 44, the positions are not shifted even when the resin C is injected.

  In addition to the through hole 61, the substrate 60 is provided with a hole penetrating the front surface and the back surface of the substrate 60, and the resin C is formed between the tape core 10 side and the photoelectric conversion element 70 side in the internal space A of the mold 30a. It may be easy to move. Moreover, resin may be inject | poured from both the tape core wire 10 side and the photoelectric conversion element 70 side, and may be inject | poured only from either other side.

  When the resin C is cured, the mold 30a is opened as shown in FIG. 10, and the photoelectric conversion module 1a is taken out. At this time, concave portions 24 are formed on the upper surface 22 and the lower surface 23 of the ferrule 20 as traces of the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42. In addition, concave portions 81 are formed as traces of the element gripping portions 43 and 44 on the upper and lower surfaces of the element protective layer 80 (see FIG. 7). The recesses 24 and 81 may be filled later with a resin or the like.

  In the above description, the example in which the photoelectric conversion element 70 is integrally attached to the substrate 60 together with the ferrule 20 and the protective layer 80 has been described. However, the photoelectric conversion element 70 is connected to the electric wiring 50 by solder connection, thermocompression bonding, bump connection, or the like. The substrate 60 may be attached to the substrate 60 in advance and placed in the mold 30a. In this case, the element gripping parts 43 and 44 and the element pressing part 45 are unnecessary. Further, since it is not necessary to position the photoelectric conversion element 70 at a predetermined position in the mold 30a, variations in the positioning accuracy of the photoelectric conversion element 70 with respect to the optical fiber 12 can be suppressed.

  In the above example, the substrate 60 provided with the electrical wiring 50 is formed integrally with the tape core wire 10 and the ferrule 20. However, the electrical wiring 50 corresponds to the electrode pattern with a metal plate having a certain degree of rigidity. If the lead frame is formed in such a shape, the photoelectric conversion module 1a without the substrate 60 may be formed by arranging the lead frame in the mold 30a instead of the substrate 60.

<Third Embodiment>
In the example of the second embodiment described above, the photoelectric conversion element 70 is covered with the resin element protection layer 80, and the photoelectric conversion element 70, the substrate 60, the optical fiber 12, the ferrule 20, and the protection layer 80 are integrated. Although the example which forms the module 1a was shown, the photoelectric conversion element 70 is not covered with the protective layer 80, and the photoelectric conversion element 70 may not be integrally formed with the ferrule 20.

  FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a photoelectric conversion module 1b which is a type of optical module according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The photoelectric conversion module 1b is the same as the second embodiment except that the photoelectric conversion element 70 is attached to the substrate 60 in an exposed state without being covered with the protective layer 80, except for the second embodiment. It is a configuration.

A method for manufacturing the photoelectric conversion module 1b will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 12, similarly to the first and second embodiments described above, the substrate 60 and the optical fiber 12 are placed in the mold 30b so that the front end surface 13 of the optical fiber 12 faces the through hole 61 of the substrate 60. Deploy. Next, after the optical fiber 12 is gripped by the fiber gripping portions 41 and 42, the upper mold 31b, the lower mold 32b, and the horizontal mold 38b are combined. Thereafter, the resin C is injected from the injection hole 35 and cured, and the photoelectric conversion module component 1 c in which the substrate 60 and the optical fiber 12 are integrated with the ferrule 20 is formed.

  When the substrate 60 is placed in the mold 30b, it is preferable that the horizontal mold 38b is in close contact with the surface of the substrate 60 so that the resin C does not enter the electrical wiring 50 of the substrate 60. By exposing the electrical wiring 50 to the surface of the ferrule 20, the photoelectric conversion element 70 can be reliably connected to the electrical wiring 50.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 13, after taking out the photoelectric conversion module component 1 c from the mold 30 b, the photoelectric conversion element 70 so that the light receiving and emitting surface faces the tip surface 13 of the optical fiber 12 through the through hole 61. Is attached to the substrate 60 to produce the photoelectric conversion module 1b. Since there is no need to position the photoelectric conversion element 70 inside the mold 30b, the photoelectric conversion element 70 can be easily attached.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using the embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above-described embodiment.

  1: optical module, 10: tape core wire, 11: coating layer, 12: optical fiber, 13: tip surface, 20: ferrule, 21: optical connection surface, 22: upper surface, 23: lower surface, 24: recess, 30, 30a, 30b: mold, 31, 31a, 31b: upper mold, 32, 32a, 32b: lower mold, 33, 34: through hole, 35: injection hole, 36, 39: inner wall, 37: covering layer gripping Part, 38, 38b: horizontal mold, 41, 42: fiber gripping part, 41a, 41b: gripping surface, 43, 44: element gripping part, 45: element pressing part, 50: electrical wiring, 51: external terminal, 60 : Substrate, 61: through hole, 70: photoelectric conversion element, 80: protective layer, 81: recess, A: internal space, B: valley, C: resin

Claims (20)

An optical module manufacturing method including an optical fiber and a resin ferrule,
Place optical fiber inside the mold,
A method for manufacturing an optical module, in which a resin is injected into the mold and cured to integrate the optical fiber and the ferrule.   The said optical fiber is provided independently of the said metal mold | die, It is hold | gripped by the fiber holding part which performs the operation | movement which hold | grips or opens the said fiber, and is positioned in the said metal mold | die. Manufacturing method of optical module.   The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 2, wherein the optical fiber is gripped by the fiber gripping portion at least at two locations along the optical axis direction.   4. The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 2, wherein a contact surface of the fiber gripping portion with the optical fiber has a V-groove shape on a surface orthogonal to the optical axis. The mold includes a first mold and a second mold that are separated in the mold opening direction,
After separating the first mold and the second mold, between the first mold and the second mold so that the optical axis of the optical fiber intersects the mold opening direction. 5. The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber is disposed.   6. The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber is held by a mold-matching surface between the first mold and the second mold.   The optical fiber manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the optical fiber is positioned in the mold by abutting a front end surface thereof on an inner wall of the mold. A plurality of the optical fibers are arranged in the mold in parallel so that their optical axes are parallel,
The method for manufacturing an optical module according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of fiber gripping portions are connected to each other in a direction intersecting the optical axis. A method of manufacturing an optical module comprising a photoelectric conversion element, a substrate having a through hole, an optical fiber, and a ferrule,
The photoelectric conversion element, the substrate and the optical fiber are arranged in a mold so that the light receiving / emitting surface of the photoelectric conversion element faces the tip surface of the optical fiber through the through hole of the substrate,
A method for manufacturing an optical module, in which a resin is injected into the mold and cured to integrate the substrate, the optical fiber, and the photoelectric conversion element with a ferrule.   The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 9, wherein the optical fiber is gripped by a fiber gripping portion and positioned in the mold.   11. The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 9, wherein the photoelectric conversion element is gripped by an element gripping portion and is positioned in the mold. Before placing the substrate in the mold, electrical wiring is formed on the substrate,
12. The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 9, wherein the photoelectric conversion element is disposed in the mold in a state where an electrode terminal of the photoelectric conversion element is pressed against the electric wiring. Before placing the substrate in the mold, electrical wiring is formed on the substrate,
Fixing the electrode terminal of the photoelectric conversion element to the electrical wiring;
The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 9, wherein the photoelectric conversion element and the substrate are arranged in the mold.   14. The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 12, wherein the substrate is a metal plate. A method of manufacturing an optical module comprising a photoelectric conversion element, a substrate having a through hole, an optical fiber, and a ferrule,
Arrange the substrate and the optical fiber in the mold so that the tip surface of the optical fiber faces the through hole of the substrate,
Injecting and curing a resin in the mold, the substrate, the optical fiber and the photoelectric conversion element are integrated with a ferrule,
A method for manufacturing an optical module, comprising: attaching a photoelectric conversion element to the ferrule so that a light emitting / receiving surface faces the tip surface.   The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 15, wherein the optical fiber is gripped by a fiber gripping portion and positioned in the mold.   The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 15, wherein the photoelectric conversion element is gripped by an element gripping portion and positioned in the mold. Before placing the substrate in the mold, electrical wiring is formed on the substrate,
18. The method of manufacturing an optical module according to claim 15, wherein the electrode terminal of the photoelectric conversion element is disposed in the mold while being pressed against the electric wiring. Before placing the substrate in the mold, electrical wiring is formed on the substrate,
Fixing the electrode terminal of the photoelectric conversion element to the electrical wiring;
The method for manufacturing an optical module according to claim 15, wherein the photoelectric conversion element and the substrate are disposed in the mold.   The method for manufacturing an optical module according to claim 18, wherein the substrate is a metal plate.

Images