JP2016139066A - Optical wiring component and electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical wiring component capable of minimizing a significant reduction in optical coupling efficiency during processes of manufacturing and optical connection, and a highly reliable electronic device having such an optical wiring component.SOLUTION: An optical wiring component 10 includes an optical waveguide 1, an optical connector 5, an adhesive 6, and a lens member 7 (light transmissive member). The optical connector 5 includes a connector body 51, a through-hole 50, an opposing surface 52 located on a side of another optical component, non-opposing surface 53 located on an opposite side from the opposing surface 52, and a mounting surface 501 provided on an inner surface of the through-hole 50. The optical waveguide 1 is mounted on the mounting surface 501 via the adhesive 6. In planar view from a direction normal to the mounting surface 501, a tip end face 102 (light I/O surface) of the optical waveguide 1 and the opposing surface 52 are displaced from each other such that the tip end face 102 is positioned further from the non-opposing surface 53 than the opposing surface 52.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical wiring component and an electronic device.

  Conventionally, supercomputers and large-scale servers are constructed by storing a large number of electric circuit boards on which electronic components such as semiconductor elements are mounted in a rack and electrically connecting them together.

  On the other hand, in recent years, it has been studied to replace a connection portion such as an electric connection in an electric circuit board, an electric connection between electric circuit boards, and an electric connection between racks with an optical connection using an optical wiring. This replacement is expected to increase the capacity, speed, and energy saving of information transmission and improve performance.

  As this optical wiring, for example, an optical wiring component in which a connector is attached to an optical fiber is used.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an optical wiring component including a tape-type optical fiber cord including a plurality of optical fibers and an MT connector (having a configuration defined in JIS C5981) attached to an end portion of the fiber cord. Has been. An optical fiber included in the fiber cord is inserted through a through hole formed in the MT connector. The optical fiber is held so that the end face of the optical fiber is positioned on the end face of the MT connector.

  On the other hand, the MT connector is mechanically connected to the holding member. An optical fiber is inserted through the holding member so that the end face is exposed. Then, by mechanically connecting the MT connector and the holding member, the end face of the optical fiber inserted through the MT connector and the end face of the optical fiber inserted through the holding member face each other and are optically connected.

JP 2012-93536 A

  By the way, the optical fiber inserted through the holding member is bonded and fixed to the holding member. At the time of this adhesive fixation, depending on the amount of the adhesive, the adhesive may protrude from the holding member and adhere to the end face of the optical fiber. The adhesive thus attached causes a significant decrease in light incident / exit efficiency with respect to the optical fiber.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses that the optical fiber is fixed in a state of protruding from the holding member, and the protruding portion is removed by polishing the surface of the holding member. However, such a polishing operation not only causes an increase in cost due to an increase in man-hours, but also may cause a decrease in the input / output efficiency of the optical fiber depending on the polishing state.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an optical wiring component capable of suppressing a significant decrease in optical coupling efficiency in a manufacturing process or an optical connection process, and a highly reliable electronic device including the optical wiring component.

Such an object is achieved by the present inventions (1) to (6) below.
(1) An optical waveguide comprising an elongated core portion and a light incident / exit surface that can be optically coupled to the core portion;
A connector body, a facing surface located on the other optical component side provided on the connector body and optically coupled to the optical waveguide, a non-facing surface located on the opposite side of the facing surface provided on the connector body, An optical connector provided on the connector body, and a mounting surface on which the optical waveguide can be mounted;
In the state where the optical waveguide is placed on the mounting surface, an adhesive that bonds the optical waveguide and the mounting surface;
A light transmissive member disposed on the facing surface;
Have
In the planar view from the normal direction of the mounting surface, the light incident / exit surface and the facing surface are arranged such that the light incident / exit surface is located on the opposite side of the non-facing surface with respect to the facing surface. An optical wiring component characterized by being offset from each other.

(2) The optical connector further includes a penetrating portion that opens into a plane including the facing surface and a plane including the non-facing surface and penetrates the connector body,
The mounting surface is the optical wiring component according to the above (1), which is a part of the inner surface of the penetrating portion.

(3) The optical waveguide has a layer shape and includes two main surfaces facing each other.
One of the main surfaces is bonded to the mounting surface via the adhesive,
The other main surface is the optical wiring component according to (2), wherein the other main surface is separated from the inner surface of the penetrating portion.

  (4) The optical connector according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the optical connector further includes a recess formed by recessing a part of a plane including the mounting surface.

  (5) The optical wiring component according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the light transmissive member has a lens function.

  (6) An electronic apparatus comprising the optical wiring component according to any one of (1) to (5).

  According to the present invention, it is difficult for the adhesive to adhere to the light incident / exit surface of the optical waveguide, and the light transmissive member serves to protect the light incident / exit surface of the optical waveguide from scratches, foreign substances, and the like. Thus, an optical wiring component capable of suppressing a significant decrease in optical coupling efficiency in the manufacturing process and the optical connection process can be obtained.

  In addition, according to the present invention, since the optical wiring component is provided, a highly reliable electronic device can be obtained.

It is a perspective view which shows 1st Embodiment of the optical wiring component of this invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view when the optical wiring component shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from the direction A and a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1. It is CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the part which excluded the light transmissive member from the optical wiring component shown in FIG. It is a top view when the part shown in FIG. 4 is seen from D direction, and the EE sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that the optical wiring component shown in FIG. 1 and another optical component are connected. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a part of an optical waveguide included in the optical wiring component shown in FIG. 3. It is the top view about the opposing surface of an optical connector among the parts which excluded the optically transparent member from 2nd Embodiment of the optical wiring component of this invention, and sectional drawing of the said part.

  The optical wiring component and the electronic device of the present invention will be described in detail below based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

<Optical wiring parts>
<< First Embodiment >>
First, a first embodiment of the optical wiring component of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of an optical wiring component according to the present invention, FIG. 2A is a plan view when the optical wiring component shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from the direction A, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a portion excluding the light transmissive member from the optical wiring component shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5A is a plan view when the portion shown in FIG. 4 is viewed from the D direction. FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line EE in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the optical wiring component shown in FIG. 1 is connected to another optical component. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, the upper part of FIGS. 2 and 5 is referred to as “upper” and the lower part is referred to as “lower”.

  An optical wiring component 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an optical waveguide 1, an optical connector 5 provided at an end of the optical waveguide 1, and a lens member 7 (an example of a light transmissive member).

  The optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a sheet having a long cross-sectional shape with a thickness smaller than the width. In the optical waveguide 1, an optical signal can be transmitted between one end and the other end in the longitudinal direction.

  In each drawing of the present application, only the vicinity of the left end of the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 2 among the optical wiring components 10 is shown, and the other parts are not shown. The configuration of the optical wiring component 10 other than the vicinity of the left end of the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 2 is not particularly limited. For example, the configuration can be the same as that of the vicinity of the left end or other configurations. In this specification, the left end portion of the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 2B is also referred to as a “tip portion 101”, and the left end surface is also referred to as a “tip surface 102”.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, such an optical waveguide 1 includes a laminate in which a clad layer 11, a core layer 13, and a clad layer 12 are laminated in this order from below. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, eight long core portions 14 provided in parallel and side clad portions 15 adjacent to the side surfaces of the core portions 14 are formed on the core layer 13. ing. In FIG. 3, the core layer 13 is illustrated through the cladding layer 11 of the optical waveguide 1.

  These core portions 14 function as a transmission path for transmitting an optical signal in the optical waveguide 1. The tip surface 102 of each core part 14 is a light incident / exit surface that can be optically coupled to the optical path of each core part 14.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an optical connector 5 is provided at the distal end portion 101 of the optical waveguide 1 so as to cover the distal end portion 101. That is, the optical connector 5 includes a connector main body 51 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a through hole 50 (through part) formed in the connector main body 51, and the distal end portion of the optical waveguide 1 is formed in the through hole 50. 101 is inserted.

  The left end surface of the optical connector 5 in FIGS. 2B and 5B is a surface positioned on the other optical component 9 side when the optical wiring component 10 is optically connected to the other optical component 9. Become. In this specification, the left end surface of the optical connector 5 in FIGS. 2B and 5B is referred to as “opposing surface 52”, and the right end surface of the optical connector 5 in FIGS. 2B and 5B. The surface opposite to the facing surface 52 is referred to as “non-facing surface 53”. In other words, the optical connector 5 includes a connector body 51, a facing surface 52 provided in the connector body 51, a non-facing surface 53 provided in the connector body 51, and a through hole 50 formed in the connector body 51. It is equipped with.

  The through hole 50 is formed so as to penetrate from the plane including the opposing surface 52 of the connector body 51 to the plane including the non-facing surface 53. Moreover, the through-hole 50 is comprised so that it may have a cut surface which makes a rectangle, when cut | disconnected along the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction.

  If the inner surface located above among the inner surfaces of the through hole 50 is defined as “upper surface”, this upper surface is the mounting surface 501 on which the optical waveguide 1 is mounted. The optical waveguide 1 is bonded to the mounting surface 501 via an adhesive 6. The adhesive 6 spreads and cures in the gap between the mounting surface 501 and the optical waveguide 1 and fixes the optical waveguide 1 in a sufficiently large area, and further improves the positional relationship between the optical waveguide 1 and the optical connector 5. Can be determined accurately.

  Further, the lens member 7 is provided adjacent to the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5 in FIG.

  The lens member 7 includes a substantially spherical lens portion 71 interposed between another optical component optically connected to the optical waveguide 1 (see another optical component 9 shown in FIG. 6) and the optical waveguide 1, And a support portion 72 that supports the lens portion 71. The lens member 7 shown in FIG. 2 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and its outer shape substantially matches the outer shape of the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5 when viewed from the direction A in FIG.

  The support portion 72 includes a surface that abuts the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5, a frame 721 that is provided so as to surround the lens portion 71, and an inner side of the frame 721, and the frame 721 and the lens portion 71 And a connection body 722 for connecting the two.

  By providing the lens member 7 having such a lens function, the light incident on the optical waveguide 1 from the other optical component 9 and the light incident on the other optical component 9 from the optical waveguide 1 are converging to each other. The optical coupling efficiency can be increased.

  By the way, in this embodiment, the front end surface 102 (light incident / exit surface) of the optical waveguide 1 is shifted to the left side from the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5 in plan view. Note that the plan view refers to a plan view from the normal direction of the mounting surface 501.

  In other words, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, it can be said that the tip surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 protrudes on the opposite side of the non-facing surface 53 from the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5. Thereby, when the optical waveguide 1 is mounted on the mounting surface 501 of the optical connector 5, it is possible to suppress or prevent the adhesive 6 from adhering to the distal end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the optical waveguide 1 is disposed with respect to the optical connector 5 so that the distal end surface 102 protrudes from the placement surface 501. For this reason, a certain distance is ensured between the front end surface 102 and the mounting surface 501. Thereby, even if the adhesive 6 supplied to the gap between the mounting surface 501 and the optical waveguide 1 flows so as to spread, the probability of reaching the tip surface 102 located away from the mounting surface 501 is very high. Get smaller. As a result, it becomes difficult for the adhesive 6 to adhere to the distal end surface 102, and the optical coupling efficiency between the optical waveguide 1 and the lens member 7 can be prevented from decreasing.

  From the above, the optical wiring component 10 having the above-described characteristics can suppress a decrease in optical coupling efficiency with other optical components 9 during the manufacturing process.

  On the other hand, the optical wiring component 10 according to the present embodiment includes a lens member 7 (light transmissive member) provided between the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5 and another optical component 9. That is, the lens member 7 is disposed so as to cover the distal end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1.

  By providing such a lens member 7, it is possible to avoid the front end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 being directly exposed to the outside of the optical wiring component 10. For this reason, the front end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 is protected by the lens member 7, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a problem that the front end surface 102 is scratched or foreign matter adheres.

  Such a problem may occur in the process of connecting the optical wiring component 10 and another optical component 9, for example.

  In FIG. 6, the optical wiring component 10 and the other optical component 9 are arranged as shown by the arrows shown in FIG. 6 while the end surface of the optical fiber 91 and the end surface of the lens member 7 provided in the other optical component 9 are opposed to each other. Are shown in a state of being connected to each other. The other optical component 9 shown in FIG. 6 includes an optical fiber 91 and an optical connector 92 provided so as to cover one end of the optical fiber 91.

  If the lens member 7 is not present, the optical fiber 91 and the optical waveguide can be used in the optical connection process between the optical wiring component and the other optical component 9 when the work procedure is inadequate or the work is inadvertent. There is a possibility that the front end surface 102 comes into contact with the front end surface 102 and the front end surface 102 is damaged.

  On the other hand, in the optical wiring component 10 including the lens member 7, the tip surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 is protected by the lens member 7, so that the tip surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 is connected to other optical components 9 in the optical connection process. Contact can be prevented. Therefore, the optical wiring component 10 can suppress a decrease in optical coupling efficiency with other optical components 9 in the optical connection process.

  For example, a cut surface obtained by cutting the base material of the optical waveguide 1 can be used as the distal end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1. Since the cut surface is usually a smooth surface and has high light incident / exit efficiency, the optical wiring component 10 and others can be used as long as they can be prevented from being scratched or adhering to foreign matter by the above-described devices. It is possible to contribute to increasing the optical coupling efficiency with the optical component 9. In other words, according to the present embodiment, the good tip surface 102 formed of the cut surface immediately after cutting can be used for connection with another optical component 9 while maintaining a good state.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the optical wiring component 10 will be further described in detail.
As described above, the optical waveguide 1 is bonded to the mounting surface 501 via the adhesive 6. Thereby, the optical waveguide 1 is fixed in a state of being inserted into the through hole 50. As a result, the optical waveguide 1 can be protected from external forces, environmental changes, and the like, so that a decrease in optical coupling efficiency between the optical wiring component 10 and the other optical component 9 can be more reliably suppressed.

  The through hole 50 is a cavity (hole) formed so as to penetrate the connector main body 51, and opens in a plane including the facing surface 52 and a plane including the non-facing surface 53 of the optical connector 5.

  The cross-sectional shape of the through hole 50 (cut surface shape in a direction orthogonal to the line connecting the openings) is not limited to the rectangle as described above, and may be a square, a parallelogram, a hexagon, an eight Other shapes such as a square shape and an oval shape may be used.

  Further, as described above, the distal end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 protrudes on the opposite side of the non-opposing surface 53 with respect to the opposing surface 52 of the optical connector 5, but this protruding length L1 (FIG. 5B). Reference) is preferably about 3 to 500 μm, more preferably about 5 to 300 μm. If the protruding length L1 is about this level, even if the adhesive 6 protrudes from the gap between the mounting surface 501 and the optical waveguide 1, the probability of reaching the tip surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 is sufficiently low. Moreover, it can prevent that the protrusion length L1 becomes long too much and a big restriction | limiting is imposed on the shape of the lens member 7. FIG.

  Further, the protrusion length L1 is preferably about 5 to 500% of the average thickness t of the optical waveguide 1 (see FIG. 5B), more preferably about 10 to 400%. By setting the ratio of the protruding length L1 to the average thickness t of the optical waveguide 1 within the above range, the protruding length L1 can be adjusted while considering the bending rigidity of the optical waveguide 1. For this reason, the protruding length L1 becomes too large, and the protruding portion of the optical waveguide 1 is bent by its own weight or the like, or the protruding length L1 becomes insufficient and the benefit of protruding the tip surface 102 cannot be sufficiently received. Can be prevented.

  On the other hand, the width W1 of the through hole 50 may be equal to the width W of the optical waveguide 1, but is preferably set to be wider than the width W of the optical waveguide 1 (see FIG. 5). Thereby, a gap can be provided between the side surface of the optical waveguide 1 and the inner surface of the through hole 50. As a result, the adhesive 6 is allowed to protrude from the side surface of the optical waveguide 1, and accordingly, the adhesive 6 is less likely to reach the distal end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1, and the optical wiring component 10 and other parts A decrease in the efficiency of optical coupling with the optical component 9 can be more reliably suppressed. Further, even when the optical waveguide 1 is expanded, there is a space that allows the expansion, so that stress is not easily concentrated on the optical waveguide 1 along with the expansion. As a result, it is possible to suppress a decrease in transmission efficiency of the optical waveguide 1 due to stress concentration.

  Note that the width W1 of the through hole 50 is appropriately adjusted according to the amount of the adhesive 6 used for the optical wiring component 10, but is about 1.01 to 3 times the width W of the optical waveguide 1. Preferably, it is about 1.1 to 2 times. As a result, it is possible to more reliably suppress the protrusion of the adhesive 6 and suppress the decrease in the transmission efficiency of the optical waveguide 1 while avoiding the optical connector 5 from being significantly enlarged.

  Further, when the inner surface located below among the inner surfaces of the through-hole 50 is a “lower surface 502”, the optical waveguide 1 is separated from the lower surface 502 with a space. That is, the optical waveguide 1 is fixed to the optical connector 5 in a state where the optical waveguide 1 is shifted to the mounting surface 501 side in the through hole 50.

  In other words, since the optical waveguide 1 has a strip shape as described above, the optical waveguide 1 includes two main surfaces facing each other (in a front-back relationship). Accordingly, one of the two main surfaces is bonded to the placement surface 501 of the through hole 50 via the adhesive 6, while the other main surface is connected to the lower surface 502 of the through hole 50. There is a space between them.

  In such a state, even if a volume change occurs in the adhesive 6 or the optical waveguide 1 due to a change in the environment in which the optical wiring component 10 is placed, depending on the space between the optical waveguide 1 and the lower surface 502, The volume change can be absorbed. For this reason, it is possible to prevent a large stress from being generated along with the volume change, and to prevent a decrease in transmission efficiency of the optical waveguide 1 due to the stress concentration.

  The distance L2 between the optical waveguide 1 and the lower surface 502 of the through hole 50 is preferably about 1 to 1500% of the average thickness t of the optical waveguide 1, and more preferably about 3 to 1000%. By setting the distance L2 within the above range, even if the optical waveguide 1 expands, the volume change can be sufficiently absorbed by the space of the distance L2. As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in transmission efficiency of the optical waveguide 1 due to stress concentration. On the other hand, the optical connector 5 can be prevented from becoming extremely large.

  In the present invention, it is not always necessary that the optical waveguide 1 and the lower surface 502 of the through hole 50 are separated from each other. For example, the optical waveguide 1 and the lower surface 502 may also be bonded via an adhesive or the like. Moreover, although the adhesive agent etc. are not used, the state which the optical waveguide 1 and the lower surface 502 are contacting may be sufficient. Furthermore, a material having a lower elastic modulus than that of the optical waveguide 1 may be filled between the optical waveguide 1 and the lower surface 502.

(Optical connector)
As described above, the optical connector 5 includes the connector main body 51 and the through hole 50 formed in the connector main body 51.

  The optical connector 5 may include a part conforming to various connector standards. Examples of such connector standards include a miniature MT connector, an MT connector specified in JIS C 5981, a 16MT connector, a two-dimensional array MT connector, an MPO connector, and an MPX connector.

  In the plane including the opposing surface 52 of the connector main body 51 of the optical connector 5 according to this embodiment, two guide holes 511 are opened as shown in FIGS. These guide holes 511 pass through the connector body 51 and also open in a plane including the non-facing surface 53.

  When connecting the optical wiring component 10 to another optical component 9, guide pins (not shown) are inserted into these guide holes 511. Thereby, when aligning the optical wiring component 10 and the other optical component 9, the positions of each other can be more accurately aligned, and both can be fixed to each other. That is, the guide hole 511 functions as a connection mechanism for connecting the optical wiring component 10 to another optical component 9.

  The guide hole 511 does not necessarily pass through the connector main body 51, and may not be opened in a plane including the non-facing surface 53.

  Further, instead of the connection mechanism, a locking mechanism using locking by a claw, an adhesive, or the like may be used.

  Further, the shape of the through hole 50 is not limited to the illustrated shape. For example, in the optical connector 5 shown in FIG. 2, the distance between the mounting surface 501 and the lower surface 502 is constant, but the shape of the through hole 50 is not limited to this, and for example, the non-facing surface 53 from the facing surface 52 side. The shape may be such that the distance between the mounting surface 501 and the lower surface 502 gradually increases toward the side.

  Examples of the constituent material of the optical connector 5 include phenolic resins, epoxy resins, olefin resins, urea resins, melamine resins, various resin materials such as unsaturated polyester resins, stainless steel, and aluminum alloys. Various metal materials.

  Moreover, although the side surface of the through-hole 50 (penetration part) which concerns on this embodiment is completely closed, the penetration part which concerns on this invention is not limited to this structure. For example, the connector main body 51 may be divided into a plurality of parts. That is, the connector main body 51 may be configured in a state where these plural parts are assembled and fixed to each other. For example, the connector main body 51 may be formed by removing a portion including the lower surface 502 of the through hole 50. In this case, the lower surface of the through hole 50 is in an open state.

  In addition, from the viewpoint of protecting the optical waveguide 1 from external force, environmental change, and the like, it is preferable that the side surface of the through hole 50 is closed.

(Optical waveguide)
FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a part of an optical waveguide included in the optical wiring component shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, for convenience of explanation, the vicinity of the two core portions 14 in the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG.

  The two core parts 14 shown in FIG. 7 are each surrounded by a clad part (side clad part 15 and clad layers 11 and 12), and can confine light in the core part 14 and propagate.

  The refractive index distribution in the cross section of the core portion 14 may be any distribution. This refractive index distribution may be a so-called step index (SI) type distribution in which the refractive index changes discontinuously, or a so-called graded index (GI) type distribution in which the refractive index changes continuously. May be. If the SI type distribution is used, it is easy to form a refractive index distribution. If the GI type distribution is used, the probability that the signal light is collected in a region having a high refractive index is increased, so that transmission efficiency is improved.

  Further, the core portion 14 may be linear or curved in plan view. Furthermore, the core part 14 may branch or cross | intersect on the way.

  The cross-sectional shape of the core portion 14 is not particularly limited, and may be a circle such as a perfect circle, an ellipse, or an oval, or a polygon such as a triangle, a quadrangle, a pentagon, or a hexagon. By being (rectangular), there is an advantage that the core portion 14 can be easily formed.

  The width and height of the core portion 14 (thickness of the core layer 13) are not particularly limited, but are preferably about 1 to 200 μm, more preferably about 5 to 100 μm, and about 10 to 70 μm. More preferably. Thereby, it is possible to increase the density of the core portion 14 while suppressing a decrease in the transmission efficiency of the optical waveguide 1.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, when the plurality of core portions 14 are arranged in parallel, the width of the side cladding portion 15 located between the core portions 14 is preferably about 5 to 250 μm, preferably 10 to 200 μm. More preferably, it is about 10 to 120 μm. Thereby, it is possible to increase the density of the core portion 14 while preventing the optical signals from being mixed (crosstalk) between the core portions 14.

  The constituent material (main material) of the core layer 13 as described above is, for example, acrylic resin, methacrylic resin, polycarbonate, polystyrene, cyclic ether resin such as epoxy resin or oxetane resin, polyamide, polyimide, poly Benzoxazole, polysilane, polysilazane, silicone resin, fluorine resin, polyurethane, polyolefin resin, polybutadiene, polyisoprene, polychloroprene, polyester such as PET and PBT, polyethylene succinate, polysulfone, polyether, benzocyclo In addition to various resin materials such as cyclic olefin resins such as butene resin and norbornene resin, glass materials such as quartz glass and borosilicate glass can be used. Note that the resin material may be a composite material in which materials having different compositions are combined.

  The average thickness of the cladding layers 11 and 12 is preferably about 0.05 to 1.5 times the average thickness of the core layer 13, and more preferably about 0.1 to 1.25 times. Specifically, the average thickness of the cladding layers 11 and 12 is preferably about 1 to 200 μm, more preferably about 3 to 100 μm, and further preferably about 5 to 60 μm. Thereby, the function as a clad part is ensured while preventing the optical waveguide 1 from becoming thicker than necessary.

  Further, as the constituent material of the cladding layers 11 and 12, for example, the same material as the constituent material of the core layer 13 described above can be used, and in particular, (meth) acrylic resin, epoxy resin, silicone resin, It is preferably at least one selected from the group consisting of a polyimide resin, a fluorine resin, and a polyolefin resin, and more preferably a (meth) acrylic resin or an epoxy resin.

  Although the width | variety of the optical waveguide 1 is not specifically limited, It is preferable that it is about 1-100 mm, and it is more preferable that it is about 2-50 mm.

  Moreover, the number of the core parts 14 formed in the optical waveguide 1 is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 1 to 100. When the number of core portions 14 is large, the optical waveguide 1 may be multilayered as necessary. Specifically, the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 7 can be multilayered by alternately stacking core layers and cladding layers.

  Further, the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 7 further includes a support film 2 as a lowermost layer and a cover film 3 as an uppermost layer.

  Examples of the constituent material of the support film 2 and the cover film 3 include various resin materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyolefin such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyimide, and polyamide.

  Moreover, although the average thickness of the support film 2 and the cover film 3 is not specifically limited, It is preferable that it is about 5-500 micrometers, and it is more preferable that it is about 10-400 micrometers. Thereby, since the support film 2 and the cover film 3 will have moderate rigidity, while supporting the core layer 13 reliably, the core layer 13 can be reliably protected from external force and an external environment.

  In addition, the support film 2 and the cover film 3 should just be provided as needed, respectively, and may be abbreviate | omitted.

(adhesive)
Examples of the adhesive 6 include an epoxy adhesive, an acrylic adhesive, a urethane adhesive, a silicone adhesive, an olefin adhesive, and various hot melt adhesives (polyester and modified olefin). .

  The tensile modulus (Young's modulus) of the cured product of the adhesive 6 is preferably about 100 to 20000 MPa, more preferably about 300 to 15000 MPa, still more preferably about 500 to 12500 MPa, and particularly preferably 1000 to 2000 MPa. The pressure is about 10,000 MPa. By setting the tensile elastic modulus of the cured product of the adhesive 6 within the above range, it is possible to more reliably fix the optical waveguide 1 to the optical connector 5 and to concentrate thermal stress or the like in the optical waveguide 1. It is possible to suppress the increase in transmission loss.

  The tensile elastic modulus of the adhesive 6 is measured at a temperature of 25 ° C. using a method based on JIS K 7127.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the glass transition temperature of the hardened | cured material of the adhesive agent 6 is about 30-260 degreeC, and it is more preferable that it is about 35-200 degreeC. By setting the glass transition temperature of the cured product of the adhesive 6 within the above range, the heat resistance of the optical wiring component 10 can be further increased.

  In addition, the glass transition temperature of the hardened | cured material of the adhesive agent 6 can be measured by the dynamic viscoelasticity measuring method (DMA method).

  FIG. 3 shows a state in which a part of the adhesive 6 provided between the mounting surface 501 of the optical connector 5 and the optical waveguide 1 protrudes to the left side of the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5. Although shown, the adhesive 6 may not protrude in this way.

  Note that the adhesive 6 does not need to be provided on the entire surface of the placement surface 501. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the adhesive 6 is applied to a part of the placement surface 501 on the non-facing surface 53 side. There may be a site that is not provided. Thus, since the optical waveguide 1 is not restrained in the part where the adhesive 6 is not provided, the optical waveguide 1 is allowed to bend to some extent in the thickness direction. For this reason, even when the optical waveguide 1 is bent in the thickness direction, it is possible to prevent stress from being easily concentrated on a part of the optical waveguide 1. As a result, an increase in transmission loss or the like can be suppressed even when the optical waveguide 1 is bent.

(Lens member)
Although the shape of the lens member 7 is not particularly limited as long as it has optical transparency, the lens member 7 includes the lens portion 71 and the support portion 72 as described above.

  The lens member 7 shown in FIG. 2B includes a space 73 provided on the optical connector 5 side and capable of receiving the protruding portion of the optical waveguide 1 protruding from the optical connector 5.

  That is, the right end surface of the frame 721 of the lens member 7 protrudes to the right side of the right end surface of the lens portion 71, and a space 73 having a length corresponding to the protruding length is formed inside the frame 721. .

  By providing such a space 73, even if the optical waveguide 1 protrudes from the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5, it is possible to prevent the optical waveguide 1 and the lens portion 71 from contacting each other. As a result, it is possible to prevent the tip surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 from being scratched and the lens portion 71 from being scratched, and light between the optical wiring component 10 and the other optical component 9 during the optical connection process. A reduction in coupling efficiency can be prevented.

  The distance L3 (see FIG. 3) between the right end surface of the lens portion 71 and the distal end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 is preferably about 1 to 200 μm, and more preferably about 3 to 100 μm. By setting the distance L3 within the above range, even if an air layer exists between the lens portion 71 and the optical waveguide 1, it is possible to minimize a decrease in optical coupling efficiency between the two. In addition, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the probability that the lens portion 71 and the optical waveguide 1 come into contact with each other when the optical wiring component 10 is assembled.

  On the other hand, the lens member 7 shown in FIG. 2B includes a space 74 provided on the side opposite to the optical connector 5 (on the other optical component 9 side shown in FIG. 6).

  That is, the left end surface of the frame 721 of the lens member 7 protrudes to the left of the left end surface of the lens portion 71, and a space 74 having a length corresponding to the protruding length is formed inside the frame 721. .

  By providing such a space 74, for example, even when a part of another optical component 9 connected to the optical wiring component 10 protrudes, the protruding portion can be received in the space 74. Thereby, it can prevent that the other optical component 9 and the lens part 71 contact. As a result, it is possible to prevent the lens portion 71 from being damaged, and it is possible to prevent the optical coupling efficiency between the optical wiring component 10 and the other optical component 9 from being lowered in the optical connection process.

  Further, the lens member 7 includes two guide holes 75. These guide holes 75 are opened on the left end surface and the right end surface of the frame 721 of the lens member 7, respectively, as shown in FIG. That is, the guide hole 75 is provided so as to penetrate the frame 721.

  When connecting the optical wiring component 10 to another optical component 9, guide pins (not shown) are inserted into these guide holes 75. Thereby, when connecting the optical wiring component 10 and the other optical component 9, a mutual position can be match | combined more correctly and both can be fixed mutually. That is, the guide hole 75 functions as a connection mechanism for connecting the optical wiring component 10 to another optical component 9.

  The guide hole 75 according to the present embodiment communicates with the guide hole 511 provided in the connector main body 51. For this reason, when the guide pin is inserted, the guide hole 75 and the guide hole 511 are continuously inserted. Therefore, the lens member 7 and the optical connector 5 are positioned with respect to the other optical components 9, respectively. Can be combined.

  Further, instead of the connection mechanism, a locking mechanism using locking by a claw, an adhesive, or the like may be used.

  The constituent material of the lens member 7 is not particularly limited as long as it is a light-transmitting material. For example, a cyclic ether type such as an acrylic resin, a methacrylic resin, a polycarbonate, a polystyrene, an epoxy resin, or an oxetane resin. Resin, polyamide, polyimide, polybenzoxazole, polysilane, polysilazane, various resin materials such as cyclic olefin resin such as benzocyclobutene resin and norbornene resin, and various glass materials such as quartz glass and borosilicate glass And various crystal materials such as sapphire and quartz.

  The lens member 7 can be replaced with an arbitrary member having optical transparency. Such a light transmissive member may be, for example, a single plate, a film or the like in addition to optical elements such as filters, prisms, and light guides.

<< Second Embodiment >>
Next, a second embodiment of the optical wiring component of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 8A is a plan view of the facing surface of the optical connector in the portion of the optical wiring component of the present invention excluding the light transmissive member from the second embodiment, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of a part.

  Hereinafter, although 2nd Embodiment is described, in the following description, it demonstrates centering around difference with 1st Embodiment, The description is abbreviate | omitted about the same matter. In FIG. 8, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those described above, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The upper surface of the through hole 50 of the optical connector 5 shown in FIG. 8B includes a mounting surface 501a located on the non-opposing surface 53 side. The optical waveguide 1 is bonded to the mounting surface 501a with an adhesive 6 interposed therebetween.

  Moreover, the upper surface of the through-hole 50 shown to Fig.8 (a) is located in the opposing surface 52 side, and contains the recessed part 501b formed by denting the plane containing the mounting surface 501a upwards in FIG.

  Furthermore, the boundary between the mounting surface 501a and the recess 501b is accompanied by a step, and the step surface 503 is orthogonal to the mounting surface 501a and the recess 501b.

  In the present embodiment, such a recess 501 b is provided in the optical connector 5, so that a gap 501 c corresponding to the thickness of the recess 501 b is formed between the upper surface of the through hole 50 and the optical waveguide 1. Arise. By providing such a gap 501c, a part of the adhesive 6 bonding the mounting surface 501a and the optical waveguide 1 can protrude into the gap 501c. Since the gap 501c is thicker than the mounting surface 501a and the optical waveguide 1 and the gap, the adhesive 6 protruding into the gap 501c is stored in a sufficient amount in the gap 501c. As a result, in the present embodiment, the probability that the adhesive 6 reaches the tip surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 can be further reduced as compared with the first embodiment.

  The recess 501b only needs to be provided on the upper surface of the through hole 50. Preferably, as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b), the recess 501b is in a plane including the facing surface 52 of the optical connector 5. Provided to be exposed. The optical connector 5 having such a structure can be easily manufactured because the concave portion 501b can be easily formed by, for example, machining. Further, when the adhesive 6 accumulates in the recess 501b, the area of the adhesive 6 that is exposed to light or outside air increases, so that there is an advantage that the curing reaction of the adhesive 6 easily proceeds quickly.

  The length L4 of the concave portion 501b, that is, the length L4 of the concave portion 501b in the direction connecting the openings of the through holes 50 is the amount of the adhesive 6 used for the optical wiring component 10 and the gap between the optical waveguide 1 and the mounting surface 501a. Although it is appropriately adjusted according to the thickness of the film, it is preferably about 10 to 1000 μm, and more preferably about 20 to 800 μm. By setting the length L4 within the above range, it is possible to suppress the adhesive 6 from protruding to the tip surface 102 while suppressing the position accuracy of the tip surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 from being lowered. .

  In addition, the length L4 of the recess 501b with respect to the width W of the optical waveguide 1 (the length in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the core portion 14) is preferably about 0.003 to 1 times, and 0.006 to 0 More preferably, it is about 5 times. Thereby, the length of the recessed part 501b is ensured to some extent so that the front end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 is not greatly displaced. As a result, it is possible to sufficiently enjoy the effect of providing the concave portion 501b while preventing the optical coupling efficiency between the optical wiring component 10 and the other optical component 9 from greatly decreasing.

  The width W2 of the recess 501b may be narrower than the width W of the optical waveguide, but is preferably set wide. Thereby, since the gap 501c having a sufficient thickness is also arranged in the width direction of the optical waveguide 1, the probability that the adhesive 6 reaches the front end surface 102 of the optical waveguide 1 can be further reduced.

  At this time, the width W2 of the concave portion 501b with respect to the width W of the optical waveguide 1 is preferably about 1.01 to 3 times, and more preferably about 1.1 to 2 times. As a result, it is possible to more reliably suppress the protrusion of the adhesive 6 and suppress the decrease in the transmission efficiency of the optical waveguide 1 while avoiding the optical connector 5 from being significantly enlarged.

  Further, the recess depth d of the recess 501b affects the amount of the adhesive 6 that can be stored, and thus is appropriately set according to the length L4 of the recess 501b, but is preferably about 3 to 100 μm. More preferably, it is about 5 to 80 μm.

On the other hand, the recess depth d is preferably about 0.5 to 30% of the length L4 of the recess 501b, and more preferably about 1 to 20%. By setting the recess depth d of the recess 501b within the above range, a sufficient amount of the adhesive 6 can be stored in the recess 501b, so that the adhesive 6 is more difficult to protrude and a large amount of adhesive is used. It can be suppressed that the positional accuracy of the distal end face 102 of the optical waveguide 1 is lowered due to the accumulation of 6.
In such a second embodiment, the same operations and effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

<Electronic equipment>
As described above, the optical wiring component of the present invention as described above can suppress a decrease in optical coupling efficiency in the optical connecting portion even when connected to other optical components. Therefore, by providing the optical wiring component of the present invention, a highly reliable electronic device (electronic device of the present invention) capable of performing high-quality optical communication is obtained.

  Examples of the electronic device including the optical wiring component of the present invention include electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a game machine, a router device, a WDM device, a personal computer, a television, and a home server. In any of these electronic devices, it is necessary to transmit a large amount of data at high speed between an arithmetic device such as an LSI and a storage device such as a RAM. Therefore, by providing such an electronic device with the optical wiring component of the present invention, problems such as noise and signal degradation peculiar to electric wiring can be eliminated, and a dramatic improvement in performance can be expected.

  In addition, the amount of heat generated in the optical waveguide portion is greatly reduced compared to electrical wiring. For this reason, the electric power required for cooling can be reduced and the power consumption of the whole electronic device can be reduced.

  As mentioned above, although the optical wiring component and electronic device of this invention were demonstrated based on embodiment of illustration, this invention is not limited to these.

  For example, in each of the above embodiments, an optical connector is attached to one end of the optical waveguide. However, a similar optical connector may be attached to the other end, and a different optical connector is attached. May be. Various light receiving and emitting elements may be mounted on the other end instead of the optical connector.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical waveguide 2 Support film 3 Cover film 5 Optical connector 6 Adhesive 7 Lens member (light transmissive member)
9 Other optical parts 10 Optical wiring parts 11 Clad layer 12 Clad layer 13 Core layer 14 Core part 15 Side clad part 50 Through hole 51 Connector body 52 Opposing surface 53 Non-opposing surface 71 Lens part 72 Supporting part 73 Space 74 Space 75 Guide Hole 91 Optical fiber 92 Optical connector 101 Tip portion 102 Tip surface 501 Placement surface 501a Placement surface 501b Recess 501c Clearance 502 Bottom surface 503 Step surface 511 Guide hole 721 Frame 722 Connection body

Claims (6)

An optical waveguide comprising a long core portion and a light incident / exit surface that can be optically coupled to the core portion;
A connector body, a facing surface located on the other optical component side provided on the connector body and optically coupled to the optical waveguide, a non-facing surface located on the opposite side of the facing surface provided on the connector body, An optical connector provided on the connector body, and a mounting surface on which the optical waveguide can be mounted;
In the state where the optical waveguide is placed on the mounting surface, an adhesive that bonds the optical waveguide and the mounting surface;
A light transmissive member disposed on the facing surface;
Have
In the planar view from the normal direction of the mounting surface, the light incident / exit surface and the facing surface are arranged such that the light incident / exit surface is located on the opposite side of the non-facing surface with respect to the facing surface. An optical wiring component characterized by being offset from each other. The optical connector further includes a penetrating portion that opens into the plane including the facing surface and the plane including the non-facing surface and penetrates the connector body,
The optical wiring component according to claim 1, wherein the placement surface is a part of an inner surface of the penetrating portion. The optical waveguide is layered and includes two main surfaces facing each other.
One of the main surfaces is bonded to the mounting surface via the adhesive,
The optical wiring component according to claim 2, wherein the other main surface is separated from an inner surface of the penetrating portion.   4. The optical wiring component according to claim 1, wherein the optical connector further includes a concave portion in which a part of a plane including the placement surface is recessed. 5.   The optical wiring component according to claim 1, wherein the light transmissive member has a lens function.   An electronic apparatus comprising the optical wiring component according to claim 1.

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