JP3426861B2 - Optical fiber alignment body - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber having a structure of an optical fiber alignment component, in which one or more optical fibers are arranged and held and fixed by a holding substrate. The present invention relates to a fiber alignment body. 2. Description of the Related Art As a structure for aligning and fixing a plurality of optical fibers while keeping their optical axes parallel, a structure as shown in FIG. 5 is generally used. One rectangular alignment substrate 2
5, a guide groove 42 for determining the position of the optical fiber is formed in parallel with a desired interval. The V-shaped cross section of the guide groove is often used. As a forming method, a processing method using mechanical grinding or etching is generally used. The optical fiber 3 is inserted into the guide groove of the alignment substrate formed in parallel.
After installing each of 5, the fixing substrate 15 for fixing the optical fiber in the guide groove from above is covered,
The gap is filled with an adhesive and fixed. Regarding the shape of the fixed substrate 15 for holding, a rectangular shape is often used, and the width of the fixed substrate 15 is usually adjusted to the alignment substrate 25 in which the guide groove is formed.
The cross-sectional shape of the manufactured optical fiber alignment body is a rectangular integrated shape. Also, the size of the cross-sectional shape is generally adjusted to the connection cross-sectional shape of a member such as an optical waveguide for connecting the optical fiber alignment body as much as possible in order to make the connection cross-sectional area as large as possible. Thereafter, the side face on the side where the end face of the optical fiber 35 is located is polished, and the end face position of the optical fiber in the optical axis direction is adjusted. In the polishing step, mechanical polishing is usually performed. [0003] However, in the above-described conventional structure, an alignment substrate and a fixed substrate are manufactured in accordance with the type of the cross-sectional shape of a member such as an optical waveguide for connecting the optical fiber alignment body. Therefore, it was difficult to standardize the shape of the aligned substrate. Also, when the cross-sectional shape of the optical waveguide member to be connected is large, especially when the width of the waveguide member is large, the alignment substrate must be enlarged accordingly, and when manufacturing the alignment substrate, a substrate that can be removed from the substrate base material. The number decreases. This is particularly important in the case of a method of manufacturing an alignment substrate in which a silicon substrate is subjected to an etching process to form a guide groove, and from the viewpoint of cost, it is desired to obtain as many alignment substrates as possible from one silicon substrate. It was an important problem that the size of the object increased. [0004] The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional manufacturing method, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a structure capable of manufacturing an optical fiber alignment body with low cost and practical means. And SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve these problems. An alignment substrate having a guide groove for installing an optical fiber on an upper surface thereof, and an optical fiber is provided on an upper surface of the alignment substrate. In an optical fiber alignment body composed of a fixed substrate that is installed to hold and fix the optical fiber after being installed, a rectangular recess is formed in the fixed substrate, and the alignment substrate is arranged in the recess. Provided is an optical fiber alignment body that holds and fixes a fiber by pressing it down by a concave portion of a fixed substrate, and has a portion for aligning another component on a side surface of the fixed substrate. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a comparative example of an optical fiber alignment body according to the present invention. FIG. 1A shows a sectional view thereof, and FIG. 1B shows an overall perspective view. On the alignment substrate 21 for arranging optical fibers, a V
A groove 41 is formed. Optical fibers 31, 32, 33, and 34 are provided in each V-groove 41, respectively. From the upper surface, a rectangular fixed substrate 11 for holding down an optical fiber.
Is covered. Optical fibers 31 to 34, alignment substrate 2
1 and the fixed substrate 11 are fixed by an adhesive 51. On the lower surface of the fixed substrate, a rectangular concave portion 12 is formed, and the aligned substrate in which the optical fiber is arranged is contained in the concave portion. Optical fibers 31 to 34 are fixed substrate concave bottom surface 1
It is pressed down by 3 and fixed. In this case, the depth of the fixed substrate concave portion 12 is smaller than the height from the bottom of the alignment substrate when the optical fibers are aligned on the alignment substrate 21 to the highest point of the aligned optical fibers. Optical fibers 31 to 3
4 can be fixed in the V groove 41 in the alignment substrate 21. The width and height of the fixed substrate 11 are adjusted as much as possible to the width of the optical waveguide to be connected, and the connection cross-sectional area between the optical fiber alignment body and the optical waveguide is ensured by increasing the cross-sectional area of the fixed substrate. It is. In the case of such a configuration of the optical fiber alignment body, even if the cross-sectional shape of the optical waveguide to be connected changes, it is sufficient to simply change the shape of the fixed substrate,
There is no need to change the shape of the alignment substrate. As for the size of the alignment substrate, it is possible to use a standard product whose width is made as small as possible, and it is possible to greatly improve the cost of the alignment substrate. FIG. 2 shows another comparative example. With the optical fibers aligned and held and fixed, the height of the bottom of the alignment substrate 21 is equal to the position of the bottom of the fixed substrate 11, and the optical fibers are firmly fixed in the V-grooves even if the cross-sectional shape becomes rectangular as a whole. If so, there is no problem. FIG. 3 similarly shows another comparative example. When the optical waveguide member to be connected is located at the center of the section of the member or the like, the thickness of the optical fiber alignment substrate 21 is made relatively smaller than the depth of the concave portion 12 of the fixed substrate 11 so that the optical fiber comes near the center. It is also possible to do. As shown in FIG. 4, in the optical fiber alignment body of the present invention, a fitting portion 15 for positioning the optical fiber alignment body is formed on the side surface 14 of the fixed substrate 11 shown in the above-described comparative example. The alignment of the optical fiber alignment body is performed by the fixed substrate fitting portion 15 on the convex portion 61 formed on the common substrate 6. A standard substrate can be used as the alignment substrate 21 used at this time. As described above, with the structure of the optical fiber alignment body according to the present invention, it is possible to design the shape of the side surface of the fixed substrate into various shapes for the purpose of alignment, consideration of parts assembly, and the like. Although the embodiment has been described with respect to a plurality of optical fiber alignment bodies, it is needless to say that the structure according to the present invention can be applied to a single optical fiber alignment component. As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, according to the present invention, the cross section of the fixing substrate for holding and fixing the optical fiber is formed into a shape having a concave portion, and the inside of the concave portion is formed. When the optical fiber alignment body is configured to hold and fix the optical fibers aligned on the alignment substrate by the bottom part of the optical fiber, even if the cross-sectional shape of the optical waveguide to be connected changes, it is fixed without changing the shape of the alignment substrate An optical fiber alignment body having a sufficient connection cross-sectional area can be manufactured only by changing the shape of the substrate. As for the size of the alignment substrate, it is possible to use a standard product whose width is made as small as possible, and it is possible to greatly improve the cost of the alignment substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A and 1B are views showing an optical fiber alignment body of a comparative example, FIG. 1A is a sectional view, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing another comparative example of the optical fiber alignment body. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing still another comparative example of the optical fiber alignment body. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of an optical fiber alignment body according to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a conventional optical fiber alignment body. [Description of References] 11, 12, 13, 14, Optical Fiber Fixing Substrates 21, 22, 23, 24, Optical Fiber Alignment Substrates 31, 32, 33, 34, Optical Fiber 41, V Groove 51, Adhesive 6 , 61, common board 7, auxiliary board

Claims (1)

(57) Claims 1. An alignment substrate having a guide groove for installing an optical fiber on the upper surface, and an optical fiber installed on the upper surface of the alignment substrate for holding and fixing the optical fiber after installation. In the optical fiber alignment body composed of a fixed substrate to be formed, a rectangular recess is formed in the fixed substrate , and the alignment substrate is placed in the recess.
By arranging, the optical fiber is pressed by the recess of the fixed substrate.
Attach and hold, and fix the side of the fixed substrate
Optical fiber aligning member, characterized by have a site for alignment with other components.