JP5998450B2 - Optical waveguide module, optical waveguide module manufacturing method, and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical waveguide module, a method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module, and an electronic apparatus.

  In recent years, with the wave of computerization, wideband lines (broadband) capable of communicating a large amount of information at high speed have been spreading. Also, as devices for transmitting information to these broadband lines, transmission devices such as router devices and WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) devices are used. In these transmission apparatuses, a large number of signal processing boards in which arithmetic elements such as LSIs and storage elements such as memories are combined are installed, and each line is interconnected.

  Each signal processing board has a circuit in which arithmetic elements, storage elements, etc. are connected by electrical wiring. However, with the increase in the amount of information to be processed in recent years, each board has a very high throughput. It is required to transmit. However, with the speeding up of information transmission, problems such as generation of crosstalk and high frequency noise and deterioration of electric signals are becoming apparent. For this reason, electrical wiring becomes a bottleneck, making it difficult to improve the throughput of the signal processing board. Similar problems are also becoming apparent in supercomputers and large-scale servers.

  On the other hand, an optical communication technique for transferring data using an optical carrier wave has been developed, and in recent years, an optical waveguide is becoming popular as a means for guiding the optical carrier wave from one point to another point. This optical waveguide has a linear core part and a clad part provided so as to cover the periphery thereof. The core part is made of a material that is substantially transparent to the light of the optical carrier wave, and the cladding part is made of a material having a refractive index lower than that of the core part.

  In the optical waveguide, light introduced from one end of the core portion is conveyed to the other end while being reflected at the boundary with the cladding portion. A light emitting element such as a semiconductor laser is disposed on the incident side of the optical waveguide, and a light receiving element such as a photodiode is disposed on the emission side. Light incident from the light emitting element propagates through the optical waveguide, is received by the light receiving element, and performs communication based on the flickering pattern of the received light or its intensity pattern.

  If the electrical wiring in the signal processing board is replaced by such an optical waveguide, it is expected that the problem of the electrical wiring as described above will be solved and the signal processing board can be further increased in throughput.

  By the way, when replacing electric wiring with an optical waveguide, a light emitting element and a light receiving element are provided in order to perform mutual conversion between an electric signal and an optical signal, and an optical waveguide formed by optically connecting the light emitting element and the light receiving element therebetween. A waveguide module is used.

  In order to couple the optical waveguide, the light emitting element, and the light receiving element in the optical waveguide module, it is necessary to strictly align them. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that an electrode pattern provided on a mounting substrate and an electrode provided on a light-emitting element are bonded at a target position using a self-alignment action in which molten solder attracts the electrodes. ing.

  However, in order to exhibit such a self-alignment action, the electrode pattern of the mounting substrate and the electrode of the light emitting element must have the same shape in plan view. For this reason, restrictions are imposed on the structure of the mounting substrate and the light emitting element, and the degree of freedom in design and the versatility of the mounting substrate and the light emitting element are reduced. In addition, there are restrictions on the solder material and the mounting process.

  In addition, after the light emitting element is mounted, a transparent resin is filled between the mounting substrate and the light emitting element in order to secure the light emission intensity and protect the joint portion of the element. This filling operation needs to be performed so that the transparent resin is reliably supplied to the gap between the mounting substrate and the light emitting element. However, when the gap is small, the transparent resin may not be able to enter, so that the light emission intensity is reduced or the joint is not protected, resulting in a defective product.

  On the other hand, an alignment method using active alignment is also known. In this method, the light emitting element is caused to emit light, and the light emitting element is arranged while being aligned with the light emitting portion or the mounting substrate. However, in order to perform such alignment with high accuracy, it takes time to adjust the position. , Productivity decreases.

JP 2007-288097 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an optical waveguide module capable of easily and accurately coupling an optical element and an optical waveguide and capable of performing high-quality and stable optical communication, and an optical waveguide module capable of efficiently manufacturing such an optical waveguide module. An object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method and a highly reliable electronic device including the optical waveguide module.

Such an object is achieved by the present inventions (1) to (7) below.
(1) an optical waveguide;
An optical element main body, a light emitting / receiving unit provided in the optical element main body, and an energizing terminal provided so as to protrude from the outer surface of the optical element main body in an extending direction of an optical path originating from the light receiving / emitting unit An optical element comprising:
A substrate provided between the optical waveguide and the optical element;
A contact portion including a recess that regulates the position of the optical element by bringing the outer surface of the energization terminal into contact with an inner wall surface, and a gap between the light emitting / receiving unit and the substrate provided on the optical path of the optical element A light-transmitting part filled in the element mounting part, wherein the contact part and the light-transmitting part are integrally formed of the same material;
I have a,
The optical waveguide module , wherein the energization terminal penetrates through the bottom of the recess and is electrically connected to the substrate .

(2) said recess is further optical waveguide module according to the above (1) to the inner wall surface is configured to abut an outer surface of the optical element body.

(3) an optical waveguide;
An optical element main body, a light emitting / receiving section provided in the optical element main body, and an energizing terminal provided so as to protrude from the outer surface of the optical element main body in an extending direction of an optical path originating from the light receiving / emitting section. An optical element comprising:
A substrate provided between the optical waveguide and the optical element;
An optical waveguide module manufacturing method comprising:
Forming an uncured or semi-cured resin layer on one side of the substrate;
Forming a recess in the uncured or semi-cured resin layer;
Placing the energization terminal in the recess, and aligning the energization terminal with the inner surface of the recess; and
Mounting the optical element so as to penetrate the bottom of the recess and bring the energizing terminal and the substrate into contact with each other;
A step of fully curing the uncured or semi-cured resin layer;
A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module, comprising:

(4) an optical waveguide;
An optical element main body, a light emitting / receiving section provided in the optical element main body, and an energizing terminal provided so as to protrude from the outer surface of the optical element main body in an extending direction of an optical path originating from the light receiving / emitting section. An optical element comprising:
A substrate provided between the optical waveguide and the optical element;
An optical waveguide module manufacturing method comprising:
Forming an uncured or semi-cured resin layer on the release substrate;
Forming a recess in the uncured or semi-cured resin layer;
Placing the energization terminal in the recess, and aligning the energization terminal with the inner surface of the recess; and
Pressing the optical element so as to pass through the bottom of the recess and bring the energizing terminal and the release substrate into contact with each other;
Laminating the uncured or semi-cured resin layer peeled from the release substrate on one surface side of the substrate ;
A step of curing the resin layer before Symbol uncured or semi-cured,
A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module, comprising:

(5) The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to (3) or (4) , wherein the recess is further configured to be able to insert the optical element body.

(6) The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to any one of (3) to (5) , wherein the concave portion is formed by a molding method using a molding die.

(7) An electronic apparatus comprising the optical waveguide module according to (1) or (2) .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the optical waveguide module which can couple | bond an optical element and an optical waveguide easily and can perform optical communication stably is obtained.

It is a perspective view which shows 1st Embodiment of the optical waveguide module of this invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the other structural example of the optical waveguide module shown in FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows 2nd Embodiment of the optical waveguide module of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows 2nd Embodiment of the optical waveguide module of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows 3rd Embodiment of the optical waveguide module of this invention. It is a figure (longitudinal sectional view) for demonstrating the 1st method of manufacturing the optical waveguide module shown in FIG. It is a figure (longitudinal sectional view) for demonstrating the 1st method of manufacturing the optical waveguide module shown in FIG. It is a figure (longitudinal sectional view) for demonstrating the 2nd method of manufacturing the optical waveguide module shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an optical waveguide module, a method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module, and an electronic apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

<Optical waveguide module>
<< First Embodiment >>
First, a first embodiment of the optical waveguide module of the present invention will be described.

  1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the optical waveguide module of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. In each figure, the thickness direction is emphasized.

  An optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes an optical waveguide 1, a circuit board 2 (substrate) provided above the optical waveguide 1, and a light-emitting element 3 (optical element) mounted on the circuit board 2. Yes.

  The optical waveguide 1 has a long band shape, and the circuit board 2 and the light emitting element 3 are provided at one end of the optical waveguide 1 (the left end in FIG. 2).

  The light emitting element 3 is an element that converts an electrical signal into an optical signal, emits the optical signal from the light emitting unit 31, and enters the optical waveguide 1. The light emitting element 3 shown in FIG. 2 has a light emitting part 31 provided on the lower surface thereof, and an electrode 32 for energizing the light emitting part 31. The light emitting unit 31 emits an optical signal downward in FIG. 2 is an example of the light trace of the signal light emitted from the light emitting element 3.

  A light transmission portion 61 is disposed in the gap between the circuit board 2 and the light emitting element 3. The light transmission part 61 extends to the outside of the light emitting element 3, and the thickness is thicker than that of the light transmission part 61 on the outside of the light emitting element 3 to form a step. This step portion becomes a contact portion 62 that contacts the outer edge of the light emitting element 3. The light transmitting portion 61 and the contact portion 62 constitute an element mounting portion 6 that is integrally formed of the same material. In FIG. 1, illustration of the element mounting portion 6 is omitted.

  On the other hand, a mirror (optical path conversion unit) 16 is provided corresponding to the position of the light emitting element 3 in the optical waveguide 1. The mirror 16 converts the optical path of the optical waveguide 1 extending in the left-right direction in FIG. 2 to the outside of the optical waveguide 1. In FIG. 2, the mirror 16 is optically connected to the light emitting portion 31 of the light emitting element 3. The optical path is converted by 90 °. Through such a mirror 16, the signal light emitted from the light emitting element 3 can be incident on the core portion 14 of the optical waveguide 1. Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a light receiving element is provided at the other end of the optical waveguide 1. This light receiving element is also optically connected to the optical waveguide 1, and the signal light incident on the optical waveguide 1 reaches the light receiving element. As a result, optical communication is possible in the optical waveguide module 10.

  Here, when the light emitting element 3 is mounted on the circuit board 2, it is necessary to strictly align the position of the light emitting element 3 so that the optical axis of the light emitting unit 31 and the optical axis of the mirror 16 coincide with each other. . In the optical waveguide module 10, by providing the element mounting portion 6, the outer edge of the main body of the light emitting element 3 comes into contact with the contact portion 62. Therefore, the light emitting element 3 can be adjusted while easily and accurately aligning the position of the light emitting element 3. Can be fixed. As a result, the optical waveguide module 10 having high optical coupling efficiency between the optical waveguide 1 and the light emitting element 3 is obtained.

  Further, the light transmission part 61 formed integrally with the contact part 62 is disposed on the optical path connecting the light emitting part 31 and the mirror 16, and substantially between the light emitting part 31 and the mirror 16. It is possible to eliminate the gas-solid interface and suppress light scattering at this interface to increase the optical coupling efficiency. Further, the light emitting unit 31 and the mirror 16 are protected from the external environment, and the light emitting unit 31 is securely fixed. In the present invention, the alignment and fixing of the light emitting element 3 by the abutting portion 62 and the protection of the optical path by the light transmitting portion 61 and the fixing of the light emitting portion 31 can be performed simultaneously by one optical element mounting portion 6. For this reason, it is possible to easily and surely prevent the positional deviation of the light emitting element 3 and to prevent the optical coupling efficiency from being lowered due to the positional deviation. As a result, the optical waveguide module 10 that can stably perform high-quality optical communication is obtained.

Hereinafter, each part of the optical waveguide module 10 will be described in detail.
(Optical waveguide)
The optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a strip-shaped laminate in which a clad layer 11, a core layer 13, and a clad layer 12 are laminated in this order from below. Among these, as shown in FIG. 1, the core layer 13 is formed with a single core portion 14 that is linear in a plan view, and a side cladding portion 15 that is adjacent to the side surface of the core portion 14. The core part 14 is extended | stretched along the longitudinal direction of a strip | belt-shaped laminated body, and is located in the approximate center of the width | variety of a laminated body. In FIG. 1, the core portion 14 is provided with dots.

  In the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 2, the light incident through the mirror 16 is reflected at the interface between the core portion 14 and the clad portion (the clad layers 11 and 12 and the side clad portions 15), and the other end. It can be propagated to the part. Thereby, optical communication can be performed based on at least one of the blinking pattern of light received at the emitting end and the intensity pattern of light.

  In order to cause reflection at the interface between the core part 14 and the clad part, a difference in refractive index needs to exist at the interface. Although the refractive index of the core part 14 should just be larger than the refractive index of a clad part, and the difference is not specifically limited, It is preferable that it is 0.5% or more of the refractive index of a clad part, and it is 0.8% or more. Is more preferable. On the other hand, the upper limit value may not be set, but is preferably about 5.5%. If the difference in refractive index is less than the lower limit, the effect of transmitting light may be reduced, and even if the upper limit is exceeded, no further increase in light transmission efficiency can be expected.

The difference in refractive index is expressed by the following equation, where A is the refractive index of the core portion 14 and B is the refractive index of the cladding portion.
Refractive index difference (%) = | A / B-1 | × 100

  Moreover, in the structure shown in FIG. 1, although the core part 14 is formed in linear form by planar view, you may be curving, branching, etc. in the middle, The shape is arbitrary.

  The cross-sectional shape of the core portion 14 is generally a square such as a square or a rectangle (rectangle), but is not particularly limited, and is not limited to a circle, such as a perfect circle or an ellipse, a rhombus, a triangle, or a pentagon. A polygon such as

  The width and height of the core portion 14 are not particularly limited, but are preferably about 1 to 200 μm, more preferably about 5 to 100 μm, and still more preferably about 20 to 70 μm.

  The constituent material of the core layer 13 is not particularly limited as long as the above-described refractive index difference is generated. Specifically, the core layer 13 is an acrylic resin, a methacrylic resin, a polycarbonate, a polystyrene, an epoxy resin, or an oxetane resin. Other cyclic ether resins, polyamides, polyimides, polybenzoxazoles, polysilanes, polysilazanes, various resin materials such as cyclic olefin resins such as benzocyclobutene resins and norbornene resins, quartz glass, borosilicate glass Such as a glass material.

  Of these, norbornene resins are particularly preferable. The norbornene-based polymer includes, for example, ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), combination of ROMP and hydrogenation reaction, polymerization by radical or cation, polymerization using a cationic palladium polymerization initiator, and other polymerization initiators (for example, It can be obtained by all known polymerization methods such as polymerization using nickel or other transition metal polymerization initiators).

  On the other hand, the clad layers 11 and 12 are located below and above the core layer 13, respectively. The clad layers 11 and 12 together with the side clad parts 15 constitute a clad part surrounding the outer periphery of the core part 14, thereby allowing the optical waveguide 1 to propagate the signal light without leaking. Functions as an optical path.

  The average thickness of the clad layers 11 and 12 is preferably about 0.1 to 1.5 times the average thickness of the core layer 13 (average height of each core portion 14). More preferably, the average thickness of the clad layers 11 and 12 is not particularly limited, but it is preferably about 1 to 200 μm and preferably about 3 to 100 μm. Is more preferable, and it is still more preferable that it is about 5-60 micrometers. Thereby, the function as a clad layer is suitably exhibited while preventing the optical waveguide 1 from becoming unnecessarily large (thickened).

  Further, as the constituent material of each 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, but a norbornene polymer is particularly preferable.

  Further, when selecting the constituent material of the core layer 13 and the constituent materials of the clad layers 11 and 12, the material may be selected in consideration of the refractive index difference between them. Specifically, in order to reflect light reliably at the boundary between the core layer 13 and the cladding layers 11 and 12, the refractive index of the constituent material of the core layer 13 is sufficiently larger than the refractive index of the cladding layers 11 and 12. The material may be selected as follows. Thereby, a sufficient refractive index difference is obtained in the thickness direction of the optical waveguide 1, and light can be prevented from leaking from the core portion 14 to the cladding layers 11 and 12.

  From the viewpoint of suppressing light attenuation, it is also important that the adhesiveness (affinity) between the constituent material of the core layer 13 and the constituent materials of the cladding layers 11 and 12 is high.

  The optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 2 further includes a support film 18 provided on the lower surface of the clad layer 11 and a cover film 19 provided on the upper surface of the clad layer 12. These support film 18 and cover film 19 may be provided as necessary and may be omitted.

  Examples of the constituent material of the support film 18 and the cover film 19 include various resin materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyolefin such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyimide, and polyamide.

  Moreover, although each average thickness of the support film 18 and the cover film 19 is not specifically limited, It is preferable that it is about 5-200 micrometers, and it is more preferable that it is about 10-100 micrometers. Thereby, since the support film 18 and the cover film 19 have moderate rigidity, it becomes difficult to inhibit the flexibility of the optical waveguide 1. Moreover, the cover film 19 becomes difficult to inhibit light transmission.

  Note that the support film 18 and the clad layer 11 and the cover film 19 and the clad layer 12 are bonded or bonded, and as a method therefor, thermocompression bonding, bonding with an adhesive or a pressure-sensitive adhesive is used. Etc.

  Among these, examples of the adhesive layer include epoxy adhesives, acrylic adhesives, urethane adhesives, silicone adhesives, and various hot melt adhesives (polyester and modified olefins). Moreover, as a thing with especially high heat resistance, thermoplastic polyimide adhesive agents, such as a polyimide, a polyimide amide, a polyimide amide ether, a polyester imide, a polyimide ether, are used preferably. Since the adhesive layer made of such a material is relatively flexible, even if the shape of the optical waveguide 1 changes, the change can be freely followed. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent peeling due to the shape change.

  The average thickness of such an adhesive layer is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 1 to 100 μm, and more preferably about 5 to 60 μm.

  As described above, the mirror 16 is provided in the middle of the optical waveguide 1 (see FIG. 2). The mirror 16 is formed of an inner wall surface of a space (cavity) obtained by digging in the middle of the optical waveguide 1. A part of this inner wall surface is a plane that crosses the core portion 14 at an angle of 45 °, and this plane becomes the mirror 16. The optical waveguide 1 and the light emitting unit 31 are optically coupled via the mirror 16.

  A reflective film may be formed on the mirror 16 as necessary. As the reflective film, a metal film such as Au, Ag, or Al is preferably used.

  Further, the mirror 16 can be replaced by an optical path conversion means such as a bent waveguide that bends the optical axis of the core portion 14 by 90 °.

(Light emitting element)
As described above, the light-emitting element 3 has the light-emitting portion 31 and the electrode 32 on the lower surface, and specifically, a semiconductor laser such as a surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), a light-emitting diode (LED), or the like. It is a light emitting element.

  On the other hand, the semiconductor element 4 is mounted on the circuit board 2 of the optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIGS. The semiconductor element 4 is an element that controls the operation of the light emitting element 3, and has an electrode 42 on the lower surface. Examples of the semiconductor element 4 include a combination IC including a driver IC, a transimpedance amplifier (TIA), a limiting amplifier (LA), and various LSIs and RAMs.

  The light emitting element 3 and the semiconductor element 4 are electrically connected by a circuit board 2 to be described later, and the semiconductor element 4 is configured so that the light emission pattern of the light emitting element 3 and the intensity pattern of light emission can be controlled.

(Circuit board)
A circuit board 2 is provided above the optical waveguide 1, and the lower surface of the circuit board 2 and the upper surface of the optical waveguide 1 are bonded via an adhesive layer 5.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the circuit board 2 includes an insulating substrate 21, a conductor layer 22 provided on the lower surface thereof, and a conductor layer 23 provided on the upper surface. The light emitting element 3 and the semiconductor element 4 mounted on the circuit board 2 are electrically connected via the conductor layer 23.

  The insulating substrate 21 shown in FIG. 2 has translucency. For this reason, the signal light emitted from the light emitting element 3 can be guided to the optical waveguide 1. Note that a through hole may be provided in the insulating substrate 21 in accordance with the optical path of the signal light. In this case, the insulating substrate 21 may be opaque.

  The insulating substrate 21 is preferably flexible. The flexible insulating substrate 21 contributes to improving the adhesion between the circuit board 2 and the optical waveguide 1 and has an excellent followability to a shape change. As a result, when the optical waveguide 1 is flexible, the entire optical waveguide module 10 is also flexible and has excellent mountability. Further, when the optical waveguide module 10 is bent, it is possible to reliably prevent the insulating substrate 21 and the conductor layers 22 and 23 from peeling and the circuit board 2 and the optical waveguide 1 from peeling. This prevents a decrease in insulation and a decrease in transmission efficiency.

  The Young's modulus (tensile modulus) of the insulating substrate 21 is preferably about 1 to 20 GPa and more preferably about 2 to 12 GPa in a general room temperature environment (around 20 to 25 ° C.). If the range of the Young's modulus is this level, the insulating substrate 21 has sufficient flexibility to obtain the above-described effects.

  Examples of the material constituting the insulating substrate 21 include various resin materials such as polyimide resins, polyamide resins, epoxy resins, various vinyl resins, and polyester resins such as polyethylene terephthalate resins. Of these, those mainly composed of a polyimide resin are preferably used. The polyimide resin is particularly suitable as a constituent material of the insulating substrate 21 because it has high heat resistance and excellent translucency and flexibility.

  Specific examples of the insulating substrate 21 include film substrates used for polyester copper-clad film substrates, polyimide copper-clad film substrates, aramid copper-clad film substrates, and the like.

  In addition, the average thickness of the insulating substrate 21 is preferably about 5 to 50 μm, and more preferably about 10 to 40 μm. The insulating substrate 21 having such a thickness has sufficient flexibility regardless of the constituent material. If the thickness of the insulating substrate 21 is within the above range, the optical waveguide module 10 can be thinned.

  Furthermore, if the thickness of the insulating substrate 21 is within the above range, it is possible to prevent the transmission efficiency from being lowered due to the divergence of the signal light. For example, the signal light emitted from the light emitting unit 31 of the light emitting element 3 passes through the circuit board 2 and diverges at a constant emission angle and enters the mirror 16, but the separation distance between the light emitting unit 31 and the mirror 16 is large. If it is too large, the signal light will diverge too much and the amount of light reaching the mirror 16 may be reduced. On the other hand, by setting the average thickness of the insulating substrate 21 within the above range, the separation distance between the light emitting unit 31 and the mirror 16 can be surely reduced, so that the signal light is diffused widely. The mirror 16 is reached. As a result, a decrease in the amount of light reaching the mirror 16 can be suppressed, and a loss (optical coupling loss) associated with optical coupling between the light emitting element 3 and the optical waveguide 1 can be reliably reduced.

  The insulating substrate 21 may be a relatively rigid substrate other than the flexible substrate described above.

  Such an insulating substrate 21 has high bending resistance, and prevents damage to the light emitting element 3 due to bending.

  In this case, the Young's modulus (tensile modulus) of the insulating substrate 21 is preferably about 5 to 50 GPa and more preferably about 12 to 30 GPa in a general room temperature environment (around 20 to 25 ° C.). preferable. If the range of the Young's modulus is about this level, the insulating substrate 21 can more reliably exhibit the effects as described above.

  As a material constituting such a highly rigid insulating substrate 21, for example, paper, glass cloth, resin film or the like is used as a base material, and this base material includes phenolic resin, polyester resin, epoxy resin, cyanate. What impregnated resin materials, such as resin, a polyimide-type resin, a fluorine-type resin, is mentioned.

  Specifically, in addition to insulating substrates used for composite copper-clad laminates such as glass cloth / epoxy copper-clad laminates, glass nonwoven fabrics / epoxy copper-clad laminates, polyetherimide resin substrates, polyetherketone resin substrates Examples thereof include heat-resistant and thermoplastic organic rigid substrates such as polysulfone resin substrates, and ceramic rigid substrates such as alumina substrates, aluminum nitride substrates, and silicon carbide substrates.

  The insulating substrate 21 may be a single substrate, or may be a multilayer substrate (build-up substrate) formed by stacking a plurality of substrates. In this case, a patterned conductor layer is included between the layers of the multilayer substrate, and an arbitrary electric circuit may be formed in the conductor layer. Thereby, a high-density electric circuit can be constructed in the insulating substrate 21.

  Further, the insulating substrate 21 may be provided with one or a plurality of through holes penetrating in the thickness direction, and these through holes are filled with a conductive material, or the through holes A conductive material film may be formed along the inner wall surface. This conductive material becomes a through via that electrically connects both surfaces of the insulating substrate 21.

  The conductor layer 22 and the conductor layer 23 provided on the insulating substrate 21 are each made of a conductive material. A predetermined pattern is formed on each of the conductor layers 22 and 23, and this pattern functions as a wiring. When the through via is formed in the insulating substrate 21, the through via is connected to each of the conductor layers 22 and 23, whereby conduction between the conductor layer 22 and the conductor layer 23 is achieved.

  Examples of the conductive material used for each of the conductor layers 22 and 23 include aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), gold (Au), silver (Ag), platinum (Pt), nickel (Ni), and palladium (Pd ), Tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), or other metal materials or alloys thereof.

  In addition, such a wiring pattern is patterned in advance on a separately prepared substrate, for example, a method of patterning a conductor layer once formed on the entire surface (for example, partially etching a copper foil of a copper-clad substrate). It is formed by a method of transferring a conductor layer.

  Further, the light emitting element 3 or the semiconductor element 4 and the conductor layer 23 are electrically and mechanically connected via bumps (energization terminals) 8 made of various solders, various brazing materials and the like.

  Examples of the solder and brazing material include, for example, conductive metals such as Au and Cu, Sn—Pb lead solder, Au—Sn, Sn—Ag—Cu, Sn—Zn—Bi, and Sn. -Cu-based, Sn-Ag-In-Bi-based, Sn-Zn-Al-based various lead-free solders, various low-temperature brazing materials defined in JIS, and the like.

  In addition, as the light emitting element 3 and the semiconductor element 4, for example, an element having a package specification such as a BGA (Ball Grid Array) type or an LGA (Land Grid Array) type is used. Preferably, the bumps 8 protrude from the lower surface of each element. Those arranged so as to be used are used.

  In addition, the electrical connection between the light emitting element 3 or the semiconductor element 4 and the conductor layer 23 is performed by wire bonding, anisotropic conductive film (ACF), anisotropic conductive paste (ACP), etc. in addition to the connection method described above. It may be carried out by a manufacturing method using

  The circuit board 2 and the optical waveguide 1 are bonded to each other with an adhesive layer 5. Examples of the adhesive constituting the adhesive layer 5 include an epoxy adhesive, an acrylic adhesive, and a urethane adhesive. In addition to silicone adhesives, various hot melt adhesives (polyester-based, modified olefin-based) and the like can be mentioned. Moreover, as a thing with especially high heat resistance, thermoplastic polyimide adhesive agents, such as a polyimide, a polyimide amide, a polyimide amide ether, a polyester imide, a polyimide ether, are mentioned.

  Note that the optical waveguide module 10 may have the circuit board 2 at the other end of the optical waveguide 1 or may have a connector or the like responsible for connection with other optical components.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another configuration example of the optical waveguide module shown in FIG.
In the optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 4A, the circuit board 2 is provided on the upper surfaces of both ends of the optical waveguide 1. A light receiving element 7 and a semiconductor element 4 are mounted on a circuit board 2 provided on the right side of FIG. A mirror 16 is formed in the optical waveguide 1 corresponding to the position of the light receiving portion 71 of the light receiving element 7.

  In such an optical waveguide module 10, when the signal light emitted from the optical waveguide 1 through the mirror 16 reaches the light receiving portion 71 of the light receiving element 7, the optical signal is converted into an electrical signal. In this way, optical communication in the optical waveguide 1 is performed.

  On the other hand, in the optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 4B, a connector 20 that is connected to other optical components is provided at the other end of the optical waveguide 1. Examples of the connector 20 include a PMT connector used for connection with an optical fiber. By connecting the optical waveguide module 10 to the optical fiber via the connector 20, optical communication over a longer distance becomes possible.

  In FIG. 4, the case where one-to-one optical communication is performed between one end and the other end of the optical waveguide 1 has been described. However, a plurality of optical paths are provided at the other end of the optical waveguide 1. An optical splitter that can be branched may be connected.

(Element mounting part)
As described above, the element mounting portion 6 includes the light transmitting portion 61 provided in the gap between the circuit board 2 and the light emitting element 3 and the contact portion 62 that contacts the outer edge of the main body of the light emitting element 3. These are integrally formed of the same material.

  Further, the element mounting portion 6 shown in FIG. 2 is further extended to the semiconductor element 4 side, and a filling portion 63 that fills a gap between the circuit board 2 and the semiconductor element 4, an outer edge of the main body of the semiconductor element 4, and Abutting portion 64 that abuts, and these are also integrally formed of the same material.

  According to such an element mounting portion 6, by providing the contact portion 62, the position of the light emitting element 3 can be reliably ensured by bringing the outer edge of the main body of the light emitting element 3 along the contact portion 62. Can be regulated. For this reason, by forming the contact portion 62 with high positional accuracy, the positional accuracy of the light emitting element 3 can be naturally increased, and consequently the optical axis of the light emitting portion 31 and the optical axis of the mirror 16 are highly advanced. Can be matched. As a result, the optical coupling efficiency can be reliably increased.

  The contact portion 62 may be formed by any method, but the process of forming such a contact portion 62 is much easier than the active alignment, and its position accuracy is easy in principle. Can be high. For this reason, it is useful to align the light emitting element 3 using the contact portion 62. For example, stacking the sheet-shaped element mounting portion 6 and the circuit board 2 with high positional accuracy can be easily realized by a normal mass production technique, and it is easy to achieve mass production and cost reduction.

  In addition, since the light transmission part 61 is formed integrally with the contact part 62, foreign matter, moisture, or the like enters the gap between the circuit board 2 and the light emitting element 3, or the optical coupling efficiency due to the generation of voids. Is prevented, or the light emitting element 3 is prevented from falling off due to vibration or external force. Thereby, the optical waveguide module 10 can perform high-quality and stable optical communication.

  Such a function equivalent to that of the light transmitting portion 61 is conventionally realized by what is called an underfill. After a light emitting element is mounted on a circuit board, a liquid transparent resin is placed in the gap between the circuit board and the light emitting element. In many cases, it was formed by a method of filling. However, the operation of filling the gap with the transparent resin requires a lot of labor since it involves complicated mechanical alignment. In addition, since the gap has become smaller with the miniaturization of the optical waveguide module, the transparent resin sometimes cannot enter.

  On the other hand, according to the element mounting part 6 having the light transmitting part 61 and the contact part 62, the gap between the circuit board 2 and the light emitting element 3 is naturally formed by mounting the light emitting element 3 along the contact part 62. The light transmission part 61 can be arranged on the surface. As a result, the function provided by the underfill can be easily realized. Even when the gap between the circuit board 2 and the light emitting element 3 is small, it can be reliably filled with a light-transmitting material. Therefore, voids are prevented from being generated in the gap between the circuit board 2 and the light emitting element 3.

  Further, when selecting the constituent material of the element mounting portion 6, fluidity such as underfill is not required, and therefore various properties such as light transmittance, weather resistance, and mechanical properties are selected with the highest priority. be able to. For this reason, the element mounting part 6 which balances the light transmittance and weather resistance in the light transmission part 61, and the weather resistance and mechanical characteristics in the contact part 62 is obtained.

  As described above, according to the optical waveguide module 10 including the element mounting portion 6, the light emitting element 3 and the optical waveguide 1 can be easily and accurately coupled, and high quality and stable optical communication can be realized. Become.

  Further, the element mounting portion 6 further includes the filling portion 63 and the contact portion 64 described above. For this reason, the position accuracy of the semiconductor element 4 can be improved by the contact portion 64, and the filling portion 63 allows foreign matter, moisture, or the like to enter the gap between the circuit board 2 and the semiconductor element 4, or the semiconductor due to vibration or external force. It is possible to prevent the element 4 from falling off.

  The constituent material of the element mounting portion 6 is, for example, acrylic resin, methacrylic resin, polycarbonate, polystyrene, cyclic ether resin such as epoxy resin or oxetane resin, polyamide, polyimide, polybenzoxazole, polysilane. In addition to various resin materials such as polysilazane, cyclic olefin resin such as benzocyclobutene resin and norbornene resin, various glass materials such as quartz glass and borosilicate glass can be used. Among these, a resin material is preferably used from the viewpoint that it can be easily molded using a mold or the like and is easily cured using heat or light. According to the resin material, it is easy to form the element mounting portion 6 with high accuracy, so that the manufacturing process of the optical waveguide module 10 can be simplified. As the resin material, in particular, a curable flux disclosed in International Publication No. WO01 / 047660 is preferably used.

  Among these, a material having a light transmission property is particularly preferable because generation of light transmission loss can be suppressed in the element mounting portion 6.

  On the other hand, even if the material does not have optical transparency, if the small through hole is formed in accordance with the optical axis of the light emitting element 3, the element mounting portion 6 (light transmission portion 61) reduces the light transmission loss. The effect as described above is obtained while suppressing. In addition, this through-hole can be formed by laser processing, various machining, etc.

  Further, the element mounting portion 6 has a recess 65 inside the region surrounded by the contact portion 62, and the light emitting element 3 is fitted into the recess 65 to easily and accurately align the position. be able to. In addition, since the outer edge of the light emitting element 3 is surrounded by the contact portion 62, the light emitting element 3 is securely fixed and protected from external force. Note that the abutting portion 62 does not need to surround the entire outer edge of the light emitting element 3, and the above-described effects are not impaired even if a part of the abutting portion 62 is missing.

  Similarly, the element mounting portion 6 has a recess 66 inside a region surrounded by the contact portion 64, and can be easily fixed by fitting the semiconductor element 4 in the recess 66. Further, the semiconductor element 4 is reliably protected from external force by the contact portion 64.

  In addition, a through hole 651 is formed in the bottom portion (light transmitting portion 61) of the recess 65 in accordance with the position of the electrode 32 of the light emitting element 3. The electrode 32 and the conductor layer 23 are electrically and mechanically connected to each other through the bump 8 inserted into the through hole 651. Similarly, a through hole is formed in the bottom portion (filling portion 63) of the recess 66 in accordance with the position of the electrode 42 of the semiconductor element 4, and the electrode 42 and the conductor are interposed via the bumps 8 inserted into the through hole. The layer 23 is electrically and mechanically connected. Since the outer edge of the bump 8 contacts the inner surface of the through hole 651, this inner surface can also be a contact portion that regulates the position of the light emitting element 3. That is, in this embodiment, the light emitting element 3 can be aligned by bringing the outer edge of the main body of the light emitting element 3 and the outer edge of the bump 8 into contact with the contact portions at different positions.

  The average thickness of the light transmission part 61 (average depth of the through-hole 651) depends on the gap between the circuit board 2 and the light emitting element 3, but as an example, it is preferably about 5 to 1000 μm, and preferably about 10 to 200 μm. It is more preferable that Thereby, sufficient weather resistance is ensured without impairing light transmittance. Note that the average thickness of the filling portion 63 is also set in the same manner as the light transmitting portion 61.

  On the other hand, the average thickness of the contact portion 62 is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 0.2 to 2 when the distance from the upper surface of the circuit board 2 to the upper surface of the light emitting element 3 is 1. More preferably, it is about 3 to 1.5. Thereby, the light emitting element 3 can be reliably fixed and protected without hindering the thinning of the optical waveguide module 10.

Note that the element mounting portion 6 may also be provided on the light receiving element 7 side.
Further, in the present embodiment and FIG. 1, the optical waveguide module 10 in which one light emitting element 3 is optically coupled to the optical waveguide 1 having a single channel (one core portion 14) is described. The invention can also be applied to an optical waveguide module in which a plurality of light emitting elements 3 are optically coupled to a multichannel (a plurality of core portions 14) optical waveguides. That is, in the case of a multi-channel optical waveguide, the element mounting portions 6 are disposed so as to straddle between the channels, and a plurality of recesses 65 are formed on the element mounting portions 6, thereby simultaneously aligning the positions of the plurality of light emitting elements 3 with high accuracy. Can do. In particular, since the recess 65 can be formed with high accuracy in advance before mounting the light emitting element 3, the positional accuracy can be particularly improved. As a result, it is possible to ensure the uniformity of communication quality between channels.

<< Second Embodiment >>
Next, a second embodiment of the optical waveguide module of the present invention will be described.
5 and 6 are longitudinal sectional views showing a second embodiment of the optical waveguide module of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, although the second embodiment will be described, the description will focus on differences from the first embodiment, and the description of the same matters will be omitted. 5 and 6, 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 optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 5 is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the shape of the element mounting portion 6 is different.

  In the present embodiment, the light emitting element 3 having hemispherical bumps 8 provided so as to protrude from the lower surface is used. And the position of the light emitting element 3 can be reliably controlled by abutting the outer edge of the bump 8 against the abutting portion 62 provided in the element mounting portion 6 shown in FIG.

  Further, a recess 65 ′ is provided inside the region surrounded by the contact portion 62, and the bumps 8 are inserted into the recess 65 ′ so that the light emitting element 3 can be aligned easily and with high accuracy. it can.

  A through-hole 651 is formed at the bottom of the recess 65 ′ so as to match the position of the tip of the bump 8. The electrode 32 and the conductor layer 23 are electrically and mechanically connected to each other through the bump 8 inserted into the through hole 651.

  When the light emitting element 3 is mounted on the element mounting portion 6, the base end side of the bump 8 is fitted into the recess 65 ′, and the tip end side of the bump 8 is inserted into the through hole 651. That is, in the present embodiment, the light emitting element 3 can be aligned by bringing the outer edge on the base end side of the bump 8 and the outer edge on the front end side of the bump 8 into contact with the contact portions 62 at different positions. .

  As described above, the optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 5 is configured to regulate the position of the light emitting element 3 by bringing the outer edge of the bump 8 into contact with the contact portion 62 instead of the outer edge of the light emitting element 3. Yes. For this reason, as long as the arrangement of the bumps 8 is the same, alignment of different types of light-emitting elements 3 can be performed regardless of the outer shape of the light-emitting elements 3.

  The element mounting portion 6 may extend beyond the outer edge of the light emitting element 3 or the semiconductor element 4 as shown in FIG. 5, but the outer shape thereof is the same as that of the light emitting element 3 as shown in FIG. 6. You may be comprised so that it may become substantially the same. Thereby, the size of the element mounting part 6 can be minimized, which contributes to the miniaturization of the optical waveguide module 10.

«Third embodiment»
Next, a third embodiment of the optical waveguide module of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a third embodiment of the optical waveguide module of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, the third embodiment will be described, but the description will focus on the differences from the first and second embodiments, and the description of the same matters will be omitted. In FIG. 7, the same components as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals as those described above, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 7 is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the shape of the element mounting portion 6 is different.

  The element mounting portion 6 shown in FIG. 7 has a recess 65 for fitting the main body of the light emitting element 3, a recess 65 ′ for inserting the bump 8, and a through hole 651 penetrating the bottom of the recess 65 ′. doing. Therefore, the light emitting element 3 is aligned by bringing the outer edge of the light emitting element 3, the outer edge on the base end side of the bump 8, and the outer edge on the front end side of the bump 8 into contact with the contact portion 62. be able to.

  As described above, since the optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 7 is configured so that the three portions of the light emitting element 3 are brought into contact with the contact portion 62, the light emitting element 3 is reliably aligned and the light emitting element 3 emits light. The fixing function and the protection function of the element 3 can be further enhanced.

<Method for manufacturing optical waveguide module>
Next, an example of the method for manufacturing the optical waveguide module as described above (the method for manufacturing the optical waveguide module of the present invention) will be described.

  The optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 1 is manufactured by laminating the optical waveguide 1, the circuit board 2, the element mounting portion 6, and the like, and mounting the light emitting element 3, the semiconductor element 4, and the like.

  Among these, the circuit board 2 is formed by, for example, forming a conductor layer so as to cover both surfaces of the insulating substrate 21 and then removing (patterning) unnecessary portions to leave the conductor layers 22 and 23 including the wiring pattern. It is formed.

  Examples of the method for producing the conductor layer include chemical vapor deposition methods such as plasma CVD, thermal CVD, and laser CVD, physical vapor deposition methods such as vacuum vapor deposition, sputtering, and ion plating, plating methods such as electrolytic plating and electroless plating, Examples include a thermal spraying method, a sol-gel method, and a MOD method.

Moreover, as a patterning method of a conductor layer, the method which combined the photolithography method and the etching method is mentioned, for example.
In addition, it can be manufactured by a general circuit pattern forming method.

Next, an example of a method for manufacturing an optical waveguide will be described.
The optical waveguide 1 is formed by removing the support film 18, the clad layer 11, the core layer 13, the clad layer 12, and the cover film 19 from the bottom in this order, and removing a part of the laminate. Mirror 16.

  Of the laminated body, the clad layer 11, the core layer 13 and the clad layer 12 are formed by sequentially forming the clad layer 11, the core layer 13 and the clad layer 12, or the clad layer 11, the core layer. 13 and the clad layer 12 are formed on a base material in advance, and then manufactured by a method of peeling and bonding each of them from a substrate.

  On the other hand, the support film 18 and the cover film 19 are manufactured by a method of bonding to the three layers manufactured as described above.

  Each of the clad layer 11, the core layer 13 and the clad layer 12 is formed by applying a composition for formation on a substrate to form a liquid film, and then homogenizing the liquid film and removing volatile components. It is formed.

  Examples of the coating method include a doctor blade method, a spin coating method, a dipping method, a table coating method, a spray method, an applicator method, a curtain coating method, and a die coating method.

  In order to remove volatile components in the liquid film, a method of heating the liquid film, placing the liquid film under reduced pressure, or spraying a dry gas is used.

  In addition, as a composition for formation of each layer, the solution (dispersion liquid) formed by melt | dissolving or disperse | distributing the constituent material of the clad layer 11, the core layer 13, or the clad layer 12 in various solvents is mentioned, for example.

  Here, examples of a method for forming the core portion 14 and the side clad portion 15 in the core layer 13 include a photobleaching method, a photolithography method, a direct exposure method, a nanoimprinting method, and a monomer diffusion method. It is done. In any of these methods, the refractive index of the core layer 13 is relatively different from that of the core portion 14 having a relatively high refractive index by changing the refractive index of the partial region of the core layer 13 or changing the composition of the partial region. A side cladding portion 15 having a low height can be formed. The laminated body is obtained as described above.

  Next, a digging process for removing a part of the laminated body from the lower surface side of the support film 18 is performed. The inner wall surface of the space (cavity) thus obtained becomes the mirror 16.

The digging process on the stacked body can be performed by, for example, a laser processing method, a dicing method using a dicing saw, or the like.
The optical waveguide 1 is obtained as described above.

≪First manufacturing method≫
8 and 9 are views (longitudinal sectional views) for explaining a first method for manufacturing the optical waveguide module shown in FIG.

  A first method of manufacturing the optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes: [1] a step of forming an uncured or semi-cured resin layer 60 on one surface side of the circuit board 2, and [2] uncured. Alternatively, the step of forming the recesses 65 and 66 in the semi-cured resin layer 60 and [3] pressing the bumps 8 provided so as to protrude from the lower surfaces of the light emitting element 3 and the semiconductor element 4 against the bottom surfaces of the recesses 65 and 66. A step of mounting the light emitting element 3 and the semiconductor element 4 so that the bump 8 and the circuit board 2 are brought into contact with each other through the bottom, and [4] a step of fully curing the uncured or semi-cured resin layer 60. Have. Hereinafter, each process will be described sequentially.

  [1] First, the circuit board 2 is prepared. In the circuit board 2, a conductor layer 22 and a conductor layer 23 are formed on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 (FIG. 8A).

  Next, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, a resin layer 60 is formed on the circuit board 2. The resin layer 60 is composed of an uncured material or a semi-cured material of the constituent material of the element mounting portion 6 described above. This is formed on the circuit board 2 by various coating methods. Although it does not specifically limit as a coating method, For example, a doctor blade method, a bar coating method, a die coating method etc. are mentioned. Note that a curing agent is added to the resin layer 60 as necessary. Thereby, with application of light, heat, or the like, the resin layer 60 can be quickly cured, and manufacturing efficiency can be increased.

  In addition to the method of forming the resin layer 60, the resin layer 60 is formed on a separately prepared release substrate, and the resin layer 60 peeled from the release substrate is bonded to the circuit board 2. Also good.

  [2] Next, a mold 600 corresponding to the shape of the recesses 65 and 66 is prepared and pressed against the resin layer 60 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the shape of the mold 600 is transferred to the resin layer 60, and the recesses 65 and 66 are formed in the resin layer 60. In this molding, the temperature of the resin layer 60 may be raised to soften the resin layer 60 and improve the moldability ”. Thereafter, if necessary, a semi-curing treatment such as lowering the temperature of the resin layer 60 may be performed, and the resin layer 60 may be cured to such an extent that it does not fully cure. Thereby, even if the resin layer 60 is released from the mold 600, the transferred shape can be maintained. Note that the hardness of the resin layer 60 at this time is set to such an extent that the bottoms of the recesses 65 and 66 are penetrated by the pressing of the bumps 8 in a process described later while maintaining the transferred shape.

  Such recesses 65 and 66 can be formed by using a molding die 600 in which a die is formed with high dimensional accuracy in advance, and positioning can be performed with the end face of the circuit board 2 as a reference point. It can be performed with high position accuracy. In addition, when the optical waveguide 1 is multi-channel, it is necessary to form a plurality of recesses 65 in the resin layer 60 formed so as to straddle between channels, from the viewpoint of ensuring uniformity of communication quality and the like. The positional accuracy of these recesses 65 is also important. In this case, the positional accuracy between the recesses 65 can be made extremely high by using the mold 600 in which high dimensional accuracy is maintained in advance. As a result, the positional accuracy of the light emitting element 3 fitted in the recess 65 can be improved. Furthermore, even when the number of channels is large and a large number of recesses 65 and 66 must be formed, the forming die 600 can be used to form in a short time by a single molding process.

  Moreover, you may make it form the recessed parts 65 and 66 by methods other than pressing the shaping | molding die 600. FIG. As this method, for example, the molding die 600 is held on the circuit board 2, the gap between the circuit board 2 and the molding die 600 is filled with the uncured product or semi-cured product, the hardness is slightly increased, and then molding is performed. For example, a method of releasing the mold 600 may be used. Furthermore, a method of forming the recesses 65 and 66 by removing a part of the resin layer 60 by various processing methods such as machining, laser processing, electron beam processing, water jet processing, sand blast processing, and shot blast processing is also used. It is done.

  [3] Next, the light emitting element 3 provided with the bumps 8 fixed to the electrodes 32 and the semiconductor element 4 provided with the bumps 8 fixed to the electrodes 42 are prepared. Then, the light emitting element 3 is fitted into the recess 65 formed in the resin layer 60 (FIG. 9D), and the bumps 8 are pressed against the bottom surface (FIG. 9E). Similarly, the semiconductor element 4 is fitted into the recess 66 and the bumps 8 are pressed against the bottom surface. By this pressing, the bump 8 penetrates the bottoms of the recesses 65 and 66 so as to push away the resin layer 60, and comes into contact with the upper surface of the circuit board 2 (FIG. 9F). As a result, through holes 651 and 661 are formed at the bottoms of the recesses 65 and 66. Also in this case, the temperature of the resin layer 60 may be increased as described above. Further, the pressing of the bumps 8 may use the weight of the light emitting element 3.

  Here, since the mounting of the light emitting element 3 is performed in a state where the light emitting element 3 is fitted in the recess 65, the circuit only needs to be aligned along the contact portion 62 positioned so as to surround the recess 65. The positional deviation in the surface direction of the substrate 2 hardly occurs. For this reason, the light emitting element 3 can be easily mounted with high positional accuracy. As described above, this is because the formation of the recess 65 using the mold 600 can be performed with high positional accuracy in principle.

  On the other hand, the bottom of the recess 65 is filled in the gap between the light emitting element 3 and the circuit board 2 by this pressing. As a result, the light transmission part 61 shown in FIG. 2 is formed. Since the light transmission part 61 is formed so as to fill the gap by pressing the resin layer 60, it has the same function as a conventional underfill. That is, the light coupling efficiency between the light emitting element 3 and the circuit board 2 is increased, and the light emitting element 3 is fixed and protected.

  In addition, since the element mounting portion 6 formed in this way has low hygroscopicity and high weather resistance compared to the conventional underfill, an optical waveguide module capable of realizing high-quality and stable optical communication. 10 is obtained. Furthermore, since the operation | work which fills resin with a clearance gap is unnecessary, there also exists an advantage that a void residue does not generate | occur | produce easily.

  Note that the method of forming the through holes 651 and 661 is not limited to the above-described method. For example, prior to mounting the light emitting element 3 or the semiconductor element 4, a method of removing part of the bottoms of the recesses 65 and 66 by various processing methods. Etc. are also used. According to such a method, for example, even if the bump 8 is not fixed to the lower surface of the light emitting element 3, it can be mounted on the element mounting portion 6.

  [4] Next, the uncured or semi-cured resin layer 60 is fully cured. Thereby, the light emitting element 3 and the semiconductor element 4 are fixed reliably. Accordingly, the light emitting element 3 and the joint are protected, and the light emission intensity of the light emitting element 3 (the optical coupling efficiency between the light emitting element 3 and the circuit board 2) is ensured.

  After mounting the light emitting element 3 and the semiconductor element 4 as described above, the optical waveguide 1 is bonded to the lower surface of the circuit board 2 via the adhesive layer 5. Thereby, the optical waveguide module 10 is manufactured.

  The optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 can be manufactured in the same manner as the first manufacturing method.

  Alternatively, the element mounting portion 6 may be formed after the optical waveguide 1 is bonded to the circuit board 2 in advance.

≪Second manufacturing method≫
Hereinafter, the second method for manufacturing the optical waveguide module shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The description will focus on differences from the first manufacturing method, and description of similar matters will be omitted.

  FIG. 10 is a view (longitudinal sectional view) for explaining a second method of manufacturing the optical waveguide module shown in FIG.

  The second method of manufacturing the optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes [1] a step of forming an uncured or semi-cured resin layer 60 on the peeling substrate 100, and [2] a recess 65 in the resin layer 60. , 66, [3] a step of pressing the bumps 8 protruding from the lower surfaces of the light emitting element 3 and the semiconductor element 4 against the bottom surfaces of the recesses 65, 66, and penetrating the bottom, and [4] forming the resin layer 60. There are a step of peeling from the peeling substrate 100 and attaching it to the circuit board 2, and a step of [5] permanently curing the uncured or semi-cured resin layer 60. Hereinafter, each process will be described sequentially.

  [1] First, the peeling substrate 100 is prepared. The upper surface of the peeling substrate 100 is subjected to peeling treatment as necessary. Thereby, the resin layer 60 formed on the upper surface of the peeling substrate 100 can be easily peeled off.

As a peeling process, the process which forms a peeling layer on a base material is mentioned, for example. Examples of the constituent material of the release layer include fluorine resin, olefin resin, styrene resin, acrylic resin, silicone resin, polyimide, polycarbonate, polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl alcohol, ABS resin, polyphenylene. Various resin materials such as sulfide resin can be used.
Subsequently, the resin layer 60 is formed on the peeling base material 100 (FIG. 10A).

  [2] Next, in the same manner as in the first manufacturing method, recesses 65 and 66 are formed in the resin layer 60 (FIG. 10B).

[3] Next, the light-emitting element 3 in the recess 65, seen write fitted semiconductor element 4, respectively in the recess 66, to press the bumps 8 on the bottom. As a result, the bottoms of the recesses 65 and 66 are penetrated by the bumps 8 (FIG. 10C).

[4] Next, the light-emitting element 3 in the recess 65 and 66, the resin layer 60 was peeled from the release substrate 100 in a state of fitting the semiconductor element 4, that adhered to the upper surface of the circuit board 2 (FIG. 10 ( d)).

  [5] Next, the uncured or semi-cured resin layer 60 is fully cured. Thereafter, the optical waveguide 1 is bonded to the lower surface of the circuit board 2 to obtain the optical waveguide module 10.

  According to such a second manufacturing method, the position of the light emitting element 3 can be accurately aligned with the resin layer 60. Therefore, as long as the alignment between the resin layer 60 and the circuit board 2 is performed, the positional deviation in the surface direction of the circuit board 2 hardly occurs. For this reason, the light emitting element 3 can be easily mounted, and its positional accuracy is high. As described above, this is because the formation of the recess 65 formed in the resin layer 60 can be performed with high positional accuracy in principle.

  The optical waveguide module 10 shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 can be manufactured in the same manner as the second manufacturing method.

<Electronic equipment>
The electronic device (the electronic device of the present invention) including the optical waveguide module of the present invention can be applied to any electronic device that performs signal processing of both an optical signal and an electric signal. For example, a router device, a WDM device, Application to electronic devices such as mobile phones, game machines, personal computers, televisions, home servers, etc. is preferred. 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, since such an electronic device includes the optical waveguide module of the present invention, problems such as noise and signal degradation peculiar to the electric wiring are 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. Therefore, the degree of integration in the substrate can be increased to reduce the size, the power required for cooling can be reduced, and the power consumption of the entire electronic device can be reduced.

  The optical waveguide module, the method for manufacturing the optical waveguide module, and the embodiment of the electronic device according to the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the components constituting the optical waveguide module are the same. It can be replaced with any structure that can exhibit the above function. Moreover, arbitrary components may be added, and a plurality of embodiments may be combined.

  1 illustrates an optical waveguide having one channel (core part), the number of channels of the optical waveguide provided in the optical waveguide module of the present invention may be two or more. In this case, the number of mirrors, lenses, light emitting elements, light receiving elements, etc. may be set according to the number of channels, and the number of recesses, through holes, etc. formed in the element mounting portion is also set according to the number of channels. Therefore, for example, when the number of channels is two, it is preferable that the element mounting portion 6 has two recesses 65 and two recesses 66 respectively.

  As for the light emitting element and the light receiving element, one element having a plurality of light emitting units or a plurality of light receiving units may be used. In this case, three or more through holes 651 are formed for one recess 65.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical waveguide 10 Optical waveguide module 11, 12 Clad layer 13 Core layer 14 Core part 15 Side surface clad part 16 Mirror 18 Support film 19 Cover film 2 Circuit board 20 Connector 21 Insulating board 22, 23 Conductor layer 3 Light emitting element 31 Light emitting part 32 Electrode 4 Semiconductor element 42 Electrode 5 Adhesive layer 6 Element mounting part 60 Resin layer 600 Mold 61 Light transmission part 62 Contact part 63 Filling part 64 Contact part 65, 66 Concave part 65 'Concave part 651,661 Through-hole 7 Light receiving element 71 Light-receiving part 8 Bump 100 Base material

Claims (7)

An optical waveguide;
An optical element main body, a light emitting / receiving unit provided in the optical element main body, and an energizing terminal provided so as to protrude from the outer surface of the optical element main body in an extending direction of an optical path originating from the light receiving / emitting unit An optical element comprising:
A substrate provided between the optical waveguide and the optical element;
A contact portion including a recess that regulates the position of the optical element by bringing the outer surface of the energization terminal into contact with an inner wall surface, and a gap between the light emitting / receiving unit and the substrate provided on the optical path of the optical element A light-transmitting part filled in the element mounting part, wherein the contact part and the light-transmitting part are integrally formed of the same material;
Have
The optical waveguide module, wherein the energization terminal penetrates through the bottom of the recess and is electrically connected to the substrate.   The optical waveguide module according to claim 1, wherein the concave portion is further configured such that the inner wall surface is in contact with an outer surface of the optical element body. An optical waveguide;
An optical element main body, a light emitting / receiving section provided in the optical element main body, and an energizing terminal provided so as to protrude from the outer surface of the optical element main body in an extending direction of an optical path originating from the light receiving / emitting section. An optical element comprising:
A substrate provided between the optical waveguide and the optical element;
An optical waveguide module manufacturing method comprising:
Forming an uncured or semi-cured resin layer on one side of the substrate;
Forming a recess in the uncured or semi-cured resin layer;
Placing the energization terminal in the recess, and aligning the energization terminal with the inner surface of the recess; and
Mounting the optical element so as to penetrate the bottom of the recess and bring the energizing terminal and the substrate into contact with each other;
A step of fully curing the uncured or semi-cured resin layer;
A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module, comprising: An optical waveguide;
An optical element main body, a light emitting / receiving section provided in the optical element main body, and an energizing terminal provided so as to protrude from the outer surface of the optical element main body in an extending direction of an optical path originating from the light receiving / emitting section. An optical element comprising:
A substrate provided between the optical waveguide and the optical element;
An optical waveguide module manufacturing method comprising:
Forming an uncured or semi-cured resin layer on the release substrate;
Forming a recess in the uncured or semi-cured resin layer;
Placing the energization terminal in the recess, and aligning the energization terminal with the inner surface of the recess; and
Pressing the optical element so as to pass through the bottom of the recess and bring the energizing terminal and the release substrate into contact with each other;
Laminating the uncured or semi-cured resin layer peeled from the release substrate on one surface side of the substrate ;
A step of curing the resin layer before Symbol uncured or semi-cured,
A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module, comprising:   The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the recess is further configured to be able to insert the optical element body.   The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to claim 3, wherein the concave portion is formed by a molding method using a molding die.   An electronic apparatus comprising the optical waveguide module according to claim 1.

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