JP6098142B2 - Manufacturing method of optical waveguide - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the production how the optical waveguide.

  An optical communication technique for transferring data using an optical carrier wave has been developed. In recent years, an optical waveguide has been widely used 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 transmitted (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.

  When optically coupling such an optical waveguide with a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element, the optical path of the core part is converted via a mirror formed in the middle of the core part of the optical waveguide, and in a direction perpendicular to the main surface of the optical waveguide. A structure for optical coupling by guiding an optical path has been studied. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an optical module having a build-up substrate, an optical waveguide provided on the build-up substrate, and a light emitting element disposed on the optical waveguide. And a core in the optical waveguide are optically connected via a mirror formed in the optical waveguide.

  There is a strong demand for downsizing the optical module having such a structure, and therefore, attempts have been made to reduce the interval between a plurality of cores arranged in parallel in the optical waveguide. As a result, the transmission capacity per unit area of the optical module is increased. However, when the interval between the cores is narrowed, the light emitting elements may interfere with each other when the light emitting elements are arranged in accordance with the cores. Such a steric hindrance is one of the factors that hinder the miniaturization of the optical module. It has become. Further, since the distance between the mirrors is narrowed, the light emitted from the light emitting element is incident on a mirror different from the mirror provided corresponding to the light emitting element, or the optical signal emitted from the mirror is changed. There is a possibility that a phenomenon (crosstalk) in which the light is incident on a light receiving element different from the light receiving element provided corresponding to the mirror occurs, and the communication quality is deteriorated.

  Therefore, in Patent Document 2, in a plurality of core portions arranged in parallel, the positions of the light incident / exit portions are shifted from each other in the extending direction between adjacent core portions, thereby ensuring the interval between the light incident / exit portions. Has been proposed.

  However, in an optical waveguide having such a structure, it is necessary to form mirrors (light incident / exit portions) at different positions in each core portion, and thus the manufacturing process must be very complicated. For this reason, it is difficult to make uniform the characteristics such as the reflection angle and reflectance of light for each mirror, and the overall communication quality is likely to be deteriorated. In addition, the manufacturing yield is deteriorated and the manufacturing cost is inevitably increased.

JP 2006-145789 A JP 2004-198579 A

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing efficiently manufacturable optical waveguide having a high communication quality optical waveguides.

Such an object is achieved by the present inventions (1) to (6) below.
(1) The first core portion and the second core portion that are linearly arranged in parallel, and provided in each of the core portions, the position of which is long between the first core portion and the second core portion. A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide having mirrors that are offset from each other in a direction,
A curable resin layer composed of a curable resin material before curing, and a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface which are provided so as to cross each of the curable resin layers obliquely and form a linear shape in plan view; Preparing a core part forming layer comprising:
A first region which is a linear region extending from a part of the first inclined surface and a direction intersecting with a longitudinal direction of the first inclined surface, and the first core portion is to be formed; About a part of the second inclined surface and a second region which is a linear region extending in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the second inclined surface and is to form the second core portion, The curable resin is cured so that the curable resin material before curing is cured, and the curable resin material before curing is not cured at a portion where the second region and the first inclined surface overlap each other. Applying a curing treatment to the layer;
And a step of removing the uncured curable resin material that has not been cured in the curable resin layer.

(2) The first core portion and the second core portion that are linearly arranged in parallel, and provided in each of the core portions, the position of which is long between the first core portion and the second core portion. A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide having mirrors that are offset from each other in a direction,
A curable resin layer composed of a curable resin material before curing is prepared, of which a first region where the first core part is to be formed and a second region where the second core part is to be formed; For the curable resin layer, the curable resin material before curing is cured, and the curable resin material before curing is not cured for a part of the second region. A step of applying a curing treatment;
An inclined surface provided obliquely across the curable resin layer and extending in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the first region in a plan view, and one of the intermediate portions of the second region. Forming a first inclined surface provided at a position corresponding to the portion, and a second inclined surface that is linear in a plan view extending in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the second region;
And a step of removing the uncured curable resin material that has not been cured in the curable resin layer.

(3) The optical waveguide has a clad portion provided so as to cover a side surface of each core portion,
The manufacturing method of the said optical waveguide is a manufacturing method of the optical waveguide as described in said (1) or (2) which further has the process of providing the said clad part.

  (4) The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide according to (3), wherein the cladding portion is configured to fill a portion where the second core portion is interrupted.

(5) The curable resin material has photocurability,
5. The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the curing process is a process of irradiating light to a region to be cured or an inverted region of the region.

(6) The mirror includes a surface that traverses each of the core portions, and a reflective film formed thereon.
The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide according to any one of (1) to (5), further including a step of forming the reflective film.

According to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a highly communication quality optical waveguides efficiently.

It is sectional drawing corresponding to the AA line of the top view which shows embodiment of the optical waveguide of this invention, and a top view. It is sectional drawing corresponding to the AA line of each top view for demonstrating 1st Embodiment of the manufacturing method of the optical waveguide of this invention. It is sectional drawing corresponding to the AA line of each top view for demonstrating 1st Embodiment of the manufacturing method of the optical waveguide of this invention. It is sectional drawing corresponding to the AA line of each top view for demonstrating 1st Embodiment of the manufacturing method of the optical waveguide of this invention. It is sectional drawing corresponding to the AA line of the top view which shows the state in the middle of manufacture of other embodiment of the optical waveguide of this invention, and a top view. It is sectional drawing corresponding to the AA line of each top view for demonstrating 2nd Embodiment of the manufacturing method of the optical waveguide of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of an optical waveguide and an optical waveguide of the present invention are explained in detail based on a suitable embodiment shown in an accompanying drawing.

<Optical waveguide>
First, an embodiment of the optical waveguide of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of an optical waveguide of the present invention and a cross-sectional view corresponding to the line AA in the plan view. 1, only the right end portion and the left end portion of the optical waveguide extending in the left-right direction in FIG. 1 are shown, and the illustration between them is omitted (the chain line portion in FIG. 1). Further, the plan view of FIG. 1 shows a view through the upper clad portion 12.

  The optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a layered lower clad part 11, a core part 13 that is linearly provided on the lower clad part 11, and a core part 13 on the lower clad part 11. And an upper clad portion 12 provided.

  The optical waveguide 1 includes two core portions 13, and of these, the one located on the upper side in the plan view of FIG. 1 is the core portion (first core portion) 131 and located on the lower side. The core portion (second core portion) 132 is used. These are linear in a plan view and are parallel to each other.

  Further, both end portions of the core portions 131 and 132 are inclined surfaces 21 and 22, and a reflective film (mirror) 14 is provided on each of the inclined surfaces 21 and 22. With this reflective film 14, the optical paths of the core portions 131 and 132 can be converted, and other optical components and the optical waveguide 1 can be optically connected. In FIG. 1, coarse dots are attached to the core portions 131 and 132, and denser dots are attached to the reflective film 14.

  In addition, the core part 131 is shifted to the left with respect to the core part 132 as a whole. As a result, the reflective film 14 provided in the core part 131 is also shifted to the left with respect to the reflective film 14 provided in the core part 132. Since the reflective film 14 is displaced in the longitudinal direction as described above, when another optical component is placed corresponding to the position of the reflective film 14, the adjacent reflective films 14 are compared with each other as compared with the case where they are not displaced. A sufficient separation distance, that is, a separation distance between other optical components can be ensured. As a result, interference between other optical components can be avoided and occurrence of crosstalk can be suppressed. In addition, since the distance between the core portion 131 and the core portion 132 can be further reduced, the optical waveguide 1 can be increased in density, and the capacity of optical communication can be increased.

  The core portion 131 is interrupted in the middle of the longitudinal direction, and the interrupted portion 23 is filled with the upper cladding portion 12. The portion 23 where the core 131 is interrupted corresponds to the position of the reflective film 14 provided on the core 132. Similarly, the core portion 132 is also interrupted in the middle of the longitudinal direction, and the upper cladding portion 12 is filled in the interrupted portion 24. The portion 24 where the core portion 132 is interrupted corresponds to the position of the reflective film 14 provided on the core portion 131.

  The optical waveguide 1 having such a configuration has an advantage that the inclined surfaces 21 and 22 for providing the respective reflection films 14 can be easily formed. That is, when the inclined surfaces 21 and 22 are formed, it is only necessary to process the plurality of core parts 131 and 132 collectively without processing the core parts 131 and 132 with high accuracy. It is possible to easily form the inclined surface without much consideration of the positional accuracy. This is because the above-mentioned discontinuous portions 23 and 24 are provided for the core portions 131 and 132 so that the adjacent core portions can be processed together. And the increase in transmission loss can be suppressed by filling the upper clad part 12 in the discontinuous portions 23 and 24. Such advantages will be described in detail later.

  From the above, the optical waveguide 1 can be easily mounted with other optical components, and can suppress crosstalk generated between the plurality of core portions 131 and 132. Further, as described above, since the inclined surfaces 21 and 22 can be collectively formed with respect to the plurality of core portions 131 and 132, the reflection angle and reflection of the reflective film 14 based on the processing accuracy of the inclined surfaces 21 and 22 are reflected. The optical characteristics such as the rate can be improved and uniformization is easy. Therefore, the optical waveguide 1 can reliably suppress a decrease in communication quality.

<Optical waveguide manufacturing method>
Next, the manufacturing method of the optical waveguide of this invention is demonstrated.
<< First Embodiment >>
First, a first embodiment of the optical waveguide manufacturing method of the present invention will be described.

  2 to 4 are a plan view for explaining the first embodiment of the optical waveguide manufacturing method of the present invention and a cross-sectional view corresponding to the line AA of each plan view. 2 to 4 show the vicinity of the right end portion of the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG.

  In the method of manufacturing the optical waveguide 1 according to the present embodiment, [1] the first groove 210 and the second groove that are linear in a plan view are formed on the curable resin layer 100 made of the curable resin material before curing. The step of forming the groove 220, and [2] curing the curable resin material in the first region 1310 excluding the portion overlapping the second groove 220 and the second region 1320 excluding the portion overlapping the first groove 210. A step, [3] a step of removing the curable resin material that has not been cured, and [4] a part of the first groove 210 (inclined surface 21) and a part of the second groove 220 (inclined surface 22). And (5) a step of providing the upper clad portion 12 so as to cover the cured curable resin layer 100. Hereinafter, each process will be described sequentially.

[1]
[1-1] First, a curable resin layer 100 made of a curable resin material before curing is prepared on the lower clad portion 11 in a layered form (see FIG. 2A). The curable resin material before curing is a material that generates a curing reaction by applying energy such as heat or light, and is in a state before being fully cured, that is, an uncured or semi-cured state (unsolidified or semi-cured It also refers to the curable resin material (including the solidified resin material) in the solidified state.

  The curable resin layer 100 is for finally forming an optical waveguide, and its planar view shape is not particularly limited, but is generally formed in a long shape. And a core part is formed along the longitudinal direction, and will be used as an optical wiring. In the present embodiment, a curable resin layer 100 having a longitudinal direction in the left-right direction in FIG. In the following description, a case where two parallel core portions extending in the longitudinal direction are formed will be described. In addition, the number of core parts to form is not specifically limited, Three or more may be sufficient.

  Examples of such curable resin materials include acrylic resins, methacrylic resins, polycarbonate, polystyrene, cyclic ether resins such as epoxy resins and oxetane resins, polyamides, polyimides, polybenzoxazoles, polysilanes, polysilazanes. , Silicone resin, fluorine resin, polyurethane, polyolefin resin, polybutadiene, polyisoprene, polychloroprene, polyester such as PET and PBT, polyethylene succinate, polysulfone, polyether, benzocyclobutene resin and norbornene Various resin materials such as a cyclic olefin resin such as a resin can be used. Note that the resin material may be a composite material in which materials having different compositions are combined.

  In addition, such a curable resin material is a material that causes a curing reaction by applying energy such as heat and light, but may be a positive type material or a negative type material. In the following description, as an example, a case where a negative material that causes a curing reaction in a curable resin material in a region irradiated with light is used will be described.

  The curable resin layer 100 is formed by applying a curable resin material before curing onto the lower clad portion 11 and drying it.

  The coating method is not particularly limited, and examples thereof 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, a die coating method, and an ink jet method.

  Also, the method for drying the liquid film formed by such a method is not particularly limited. For example, a method of heating the liquid film, placing it under reduced pressure, or spraying a dry gas is used.

  [1-2] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, the first groove 210 and the second groove 220 that are linear in a plan view are formed in the curable resin layer 100. The first groove 210 and the second groove 220 are arranged in parallel at a predetermined separation distance, and the extending directions may be non-parallel to each other, but are preferably parallel to each other.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the first groove 210 and the second groove 220 have a substantially V-shaped cross section. As a result, each of the first groove 210 and the second groove 220 is formed with two inclined surfaces that obliquely cross the curable resin layer 100. That is, in the first groove 210, inclined surfaces are respectively formed on the left side and the right side from the deepest portion in FIG. In the present embodiment, among these, the left inclined surface is referred to as a “first inclined surface 211”. Similarly, in the second groove 220, inclined surfaces are formed on the left side and the right side of the deepest portion in FIG. 2B, respectively, but in this embodiment, the left inclined surface is referred to as “the second inclined surface”. The inclined surface 221 ". The first inclined surface 211 and the second inclined surface 221 function as mirrors (optical path conversion units) that convert the optical path of the core part by forming a reflective film thereon. The curable resin layer 100 on which the first inclined surface 211 and the second inclined surface 221 are formed is referred to as a “core portion forming layer 10”.

  A method for forming the first groove 210 and the second groove 220 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a dicing method, an imprint method, a laser processing method, and an electron beam processing method.

  Moreover, even if the deepest part of the 1st groove | channel 210 and the 2nd groove | channel 220 stops in the middle of the curable resin layer 100, has reached the lower side cladding part 11, and also the lower side cladding part 11 May be penetrated.

  Further, the number of grooves is appropriately set according to the number of core portions 13, the separation distance required between the reflective films 14, and the like.

  In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the 1st groove | channel 210 and the 2nd groove | channel 220 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. For example, the inclination angle of the first inclined surface 211 and the second inclined surface 221 (the angle with the upper surface of the lower cladding portion 11) is appropriately selected from the range of about 10 to 85 °, preferably 45 °. It is said. On the other hand, the inclined surface on the right side from the deepest part is appropriately selected from the range of an inclination angle of 1 to 179 ° while avoiding interference with the first inclined surface 211 and the second inclined surface 221, but preferably 30. ˜90 °.

[2]
In the core portion forming layer 10 shown in FIG. 3C, a region where the core portion (first core portion) 131 is to be formed is referred to as a “first region 1310”, and the core portion (second core portion). A region in which 132 is to be formed is referred to as a “second region 1320”. Specifically, each of the first region 1310 and the second region 1320 is a belt-like region extending in the left-right direction in FIG. 3C and parallel to each other. Among these, the first region 1310 is It extends toward the left side from the first inclined surface 211. Further, the second region 1320 extends from the second inclined surface 221 toward the left side. Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, the first region 1310 and the second region 1320 are set so as to intersect the first groove 210 and the second groove 220 in plan view.

  The first region 1310 and the second region 1320 are each irradiated with light. As a result, a curing reaction occurs in the curable resin material of the irradiated portion, and the first region 1310 and the second region 1320 are cured. On the other hand, in this curing process, the portion where the second region 1320 and the first groove 210 overlap is not irradiated with light. Thereby, about this part, curable resin material does not harden | cure. In FIG. 3, dots are attached to the light irradiation areas. In FIG. 3, the first region 1310 and the second region 1320 are indicated by two-dot chain lines.

  Although the wavelength of the light to irradiate is suitably selected according to the photosensitivity which curable resin material has, it is set as about 10-1000 nm, for example. Irradiation is not limited to light, and may be an electron beam, an ion beam, a particle beam, or the like.

  On the other hand, in the case of a thermosetting resin material, a region corresponding to the light irradiation region may be selectively heated. Examples of the heating method include infrared irradiation and heater heating.

  When a positive material is used as the curable resin material, the light irradiation region and the heating region may be reversed.

  Moreover, the 1st area | region 1310 and the 2nd area | region 1320 should just cross | intersect the 1st groove | channel 210 and the 2nd groove | channel 220 in planar view, Although the crossing angle is not specifically limited, Preferably 60- It is set to about 120 °, and more preferably substantially right angle.

[3]
Next, the curable resin material before curing that has not been cured in the core portion forming layer 10 is removed. Thereby, only the cured curable resin material remains, and the first core portion 131 and the second core portion 132 shown in FIG. 3D are formed. The intersection between the first inclined surface 211 and the first region 1310 becomes the inclined surface 21 provided in the core portion 131. Similarly, the intersection of the second inclined surface 221 and the second region 1320 becomes the inclined surface 22 provided in the core portion 132.

  Further, by removing a portion where the second region 1320 that has not been cured in the above-described curing process and the first inclined surface 211 are removed, the core portions 131 and 132 are interrupted in the middle, as shown in FIG. Discontinuous portions 23 and 24 are obtained.

  In addition, as a result of forming the discontinuous portions 23 and 24 by such a process, the inclination angle (lower cladding portion) of the end surfaces 231 and 241 (see FIG. 1) of the core portions 131 and 132 facing the discontinuous portions 23 and 24 is formed. 11) is approximately 90 °. This is because light is irradiated (or heat is applied) along a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the lower clad portion 11 in the above-described curing process, so that the interface between the irradiated region and the non-irradiated region is naturally This is because it is perpendicular to the upper surface of the lower clad portion 11. In such end faces 231 and 241, it is possible to minimize a loss due to reflection and scattering when light propagating through the core parts 131 and 132 passes. As a result, the optical waveguide 1 with a small transmission loss is obtained.

  The inclination angle of the end faces 231 and 241 is best approximately 90 °, but is preferably about 90 ± 5 °.

  On the other hand, as will be described later, when the interrupted portions 23 and 24 are filled with other members (the upper clad portion 12 and the like), reflection and scattering at the end surfaces 231 and 241 are greatly suppressed. The inclination angles of the end surfaces 231 and 241 are not limited to the above range.

In order to remove the curable resin material that has not been cured, for example, a method using a treatment liquid for dissolving the curable resin material, various wet etching methods, various dry etching methods, and the like can be given. Among these, from the viewpoint of simplicity and removal accuracy, a method using a treatment liquid is preferably used. By contacting such a treatment liquid, the curable resin material that has not been cured is dissolved in the treatment liquid and removed together with the treatment liquid. On the other hand, since such a treatment liquid does not act on the cured curable resin material, only these can be selectively left.
As such a processing solution, for example, a developing solution such as an alkali developing solution is used.

  Examples of the method for bringing the treatment liquid into contact with the core portion forming layer 10 include a spray method and a dipping method.

  As described above, the first core portion 131 and the second core portion 132 including the inclined surfaces (mirrors) 21 and 22 are formed. In the optical waveguide provided with the first core portion 131 and the second core portion 132, the optical path is converted at the inclined surfaces 21 and 22. Therefore, although it functions as an optical wiring at this point, the following steps [4] and [5] are further performed in this embodiment.

  The width and height of the first core part 131 and the second core part 132 are not particularly limited, but are preferably about 1 to 200 μm, more preferably about 5 to 100 μm, and more preferably 10 to 70 μm. More preferably, it is about.

  The distance between the first core portion 131 and the second core portion 132 is preferably about 5 to 250 μm, more preferably about 10 to 200 μm, and further preferably about 10 to 120 μm. .

[4]
Next, the reflective film 14 is formed on each of the formed inclined surfaces 21 and 22 (see FIG. 4E).

  Examples of the reflective film 14 include a metal film, a carbon film, a resin film, a ceramic film, and a silicon film. Among these, a metal film is preferably used. According to the metal film, it is possible to obtain the reflective film 14 having a high reflectance due to the gloss unique to the metal. Examples of the constituent material of the metal film include aluminum, iron, chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, silver, platinum, gold, lead and the like.

  The average thickness of the reflective film 14 is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 0.1 to 500 μm, and more preferably about 0.5 to 300 μm. Thereby, the reflective film 14 having sufficient reflectivity and hardly peeled off is obtained.

  Examples of the method for forming the reflective film 14 include a vacuum evaporation method, a physical vapor deposition method such as a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method such as a CVD method, a plating method, a thermal transfer method, a metal foil transfer method, a printing method, and a coating method. Etc. Among these, in the vapor deposition method, the reflective film 14 can be selectively formed on the inclined surfaces 21 and 22 by vapor deposition through a mask. In addition, in a method such as a thermal transfer method, a metal foil transfer method, a printing method, or a coating method, it is necessary to bring the processing device or member into contact with the inclined surfaces 21 and 22, but the first groove 210 as in this embodiment. Further, the presence of the second groove 220 makes it easy to bring these processing devices and members into contact with the inclined surfaces 21 and 22. For this reason, the reflective film 14 can be formed efficiently.

[5]
Next, the upper cladding portion 12 is formed so as to cover the cured curable resin layer, that is, to cover the first core portion 131 and the second core portion 132. Thereby, the lower surface of the first core portion 131 and the second core portion 132 is covered with the lower cladding portion 11, and both side surfaces and the upper surface are covered with the upper cladding portion 12. As a result, other than the incident / exit surface is surrounded by the clad portion. Further, the upper clad portion 12 is also filled in the interrupted portions 23 and 24. Thereby, the optical waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 4F is obtained.

  The upper clad portion 12 is formed by applying a liquid raw material, drying and curing. Although it does not specifically limit as this raw material, For example, what dilutes various polymers, various monomers, various polymerization initiators, various additives, etc. with a solvent as needed is mentioned.

  Similarly, the lower clad portion 11 described above can be formed in the same manner as the upper clad portion 12.

  Although the refractive index of the core part 13 should just be larger than the refractive index of the lower side cladding part 11 and the upper side cladding part 12, it is preferable that the difference is 0.3% or more, and it is 0.5% or more. More preferred. On the other hand, the upper limit value is not particularly set, but is preferably about 5.5%. If the difference in refractive index is less than the lower limit value, the effect of propagating light may be reduced. On the other hand, if the difference in refractive index exceeds the upper limit value, further improvement in light transmission efficiency cannot be expected.

  The difference in refractive index is expressed by the following equation, where A is the refractive index of the core 13 and B is the refractive index of the cladding.

Refractive index difference (%) = | A / B-1 | × 100
According to the above method, when manufacturing the optical waveguide 1 in which the positions of the inclined surfaces 21 and 22 are shifted in the longitudinal direction of the core portion in the adjacent core portions 131 and 132, the core portions 131 and 132 are crossed respectively. As long as the first groove 210 and the second groove 220 are formed as described above, it is easier to process than when the inclined surfaces 21 and 22 are processed at different positions with respect to the core portions 131 and 132, respectively. Increase dramatically. Thereby, the highly accurate inclined surfaces 21 and 22 can be formed in a short time. As a result, an optical waveguide that can be connected to other optical components with high coupling efficiency is obtained.

  Moreover, since the 1st groove | channel 210 and the 2nd groove | channel 220 are formed by processing the curable resin layer 100 before a hardening process, processing variation can be suppressed. Thereby, a highly accurate process can be performed.

  Such an effect becomes more remarkable as the number of core portions 13 provided in the optical waveguide 1 is larger.

  FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in the middle of manufacturing of another embodiment of the optical waveguide of the present invention and a cross-sectional view corresponding to line AA in the plan view. In FIG. 5, only a part of the core portion forming layer is illustrated, and the other portions are not illustrated.

  The core portion forming layer 10 shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the core portion forming layer 10 shown in FIG. 3C except that the number of grooves formed in the core portion forming layer 10 and the number of core portions to be formed in the core portion forming layer 10 are different. It is.

  In the core portion forming layer 10 shown in FIG. 5, three grooves 230, 240, and 250 that are linear in a plan view are formed. These grooves 230 to 250 are arranged in parallel at a predetermined separation distance, and the extending directions thereof are parallel to each other.

  Moreover, the cross-sectional shape of these grooves 230 to 250 is substantially V-shaped as shown in FIG. 5 like the first groove 210 and the second groove 220 described above.

  On the other hand, the core part forming layer 10 has six regions where the core part is to be formed. These regions 1330, 1340, 1350, 1360, 1370, and 1380 extend in the left-right direction in FIG. 5 and are parallel to each other, like the first region 1310 and the second region 1320 described above. These regions 1330 to 1380 are respectively irradiated with light. Thereby, hardening reaction arises in curable resin material of an irradiation part, and field 1330-1380 hardens. On the other hand, in this curing process, light is not irradiated to the portion where the region 1340 and the groove 230 overlap. Thereby, about this part, curable resin material does not harden | cure. Similarly, light is not applied to a portion where the region 1350 and the grooves 230 and 240 overlap, a portion where the region 1370 and the groove 230 overlap, and a portion where the region 1380 and the grooves 230 and 240 overlap each other. . Thereby, also about this part, curable resin material does not harden | cure. In FIG. 5, dots are attached to the light irradiation areas.

  After this curing process, an optical waveguide in which the positions of the inclined surfaces (reflective films) are shifted in the longitudinal direction between the adjacent core portions is obtained through the above-described steps. In order to manufacture such an optical waveguide, it has been conventionally necessary to process the concave portion for each core portion, and much work is required for the processing operation, whereas in FIG. In forming the inclined surface, it is easy to form an optical waveguide in which the position of the inclined surface is shifted in the longitudinal direction only by forming three grooves 230 to 250 and appropriately setting the exposure region according to the grooves 230 to 250. Can be manufactured.

  In the case of FIG. 5, the grooves 230 to 250 contribute to the formation of inclined surfaces with respect to the two core portions, respectively. Since these two inclined surfaces consist of a part of the wall surface of one common groove | channel, a mutual positional accuracy becomes very high. And there is also an advantage that the processing accuracy of the grooves 230 to 250 can be easily improved as compared with the processing of forming the recesses. From these viewpoints, according to the present invention, it is possible to form inclined surfaces with high positional accuracy and high surface accuracy, and as a result, an optical waveguide that can be connected to other optical components with high coupling efficiency. can get.

<< Second Embodiment >>
Next, a second embodiment of the optical waveguide manufacturing method of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining the second embodiment of the optical waveguide manufacturing method of the present invention and a cross-sectional view corresponding to the line AA of each plan view.

  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 the second embodiment, the order of the step of performing a curing process on the curable resin layer 100 and the step of forming the first inclined surface 211 and the second inclined surface 221 on the curable resin layer 100 are as follows. It is the same as that of 1st Embodiment except having replaced with respect to 1st Embodiment.

  First, in the curable resin layer 100 shown in FIG. 6A, a region where the core portion (first core portion) 131 is to be formed is referred to as a “first region 1310”, and the core portion (second core) is formed. Part) 132 is to be formed as a “second region 1320”.

  The first region 1310 and the second region 1320 are each irradiated with light. As a result, a curing reaction occurs in the curable resin material of the irradiated portion, and the first region 1310 and the second region 1320 are cured. In this curing process, the portion of the second region 1320 that overlaps the first groove 210 described later is not irradiated with light. In FIG. 6, dots are attached to the light irradiation areas. In FIG. 6, the first region 1310 and the second region 1320 are indicated by two-dot chain lines.

  Next, the 1st groove | channel 210 and the 2nd groove | channel 220 which make a linear shape by planar view are formed with respect to the curable resin layer 100 shown in FIG.6 (b). As a result, two inclined surfaces that obliquely cross the curable resin layer 100 are formed in each of the first groove 210 and the second groove 220. As a result, the first inclined surface 211 and the second inclined surface 221 are formed. In this way, the core portion forming layer 10 is obtained.

Thereafter, the optical waveguide 1 is obtained through the same steps as in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment as well, the same operations and effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

<Electronic equipment>
As described above, the optical waveguide of the present invention as described above has high coupling efficiency with other optical components via a mirror, and is easy to manufacture. For this reason, a highly reliable electronic device is obtained by providing the optical waveguide of the present invention.

  Examples of the electronic device provided with the optical waveguide of the present invention include electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a game machine, a router device, a WDM device, a television, a home server, a personal computer, and a supercomputer. 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 waveguide of the present invention, problems such as noise and signal degradation peculiar to electrical 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. 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 manufacturing method and optical waveguide of the optical waveguide of this invention were demonstrated based on embodiment of illustration, this invention is not limited to these.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical waveguide 10 Core part formation layer 100 Curable resin layer 11 Lower clad part 12 Upper clad part 13,131,132 Core part 1310 1st area | region 1320 2nd area | region 1330-1380 area | region 14 Reflecting film 21,22 Inclination Surface 210 1st groove 220 2nd groove 230-250 Groove 211 1st inclined surface 221 2nd inclined surface 23, 24 The part 231,241 where it interrupted End surface

Claims (6)

The first core portion and the second core portion, which are linearly arranged in parallel, are provided in each of the core portions, respectively, and the positions thereof are mutually in the longitudinal direction between the first core portion and the second core portion. A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide having a mirror that is displaced,
A curable resin layer composed of a curable resin material before curing, and a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface which are provided so as to cross each of the curable resin layers obliquely and form a linear shape in plan view; Preparing a core part forming layer comprising:
A first region which is a linear region extending from a part of the first inclined surface and a direction intersecting with a longitudinal direction of the first inclined surface, and the first core portion is to be formed; About a part of the second inclined surface and a second region which is a linear region extending in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the second inclined surface and is to form the second core portion, The curable resin is cured so that the curable resin material before curing is cured, and the curable resin material before curing is not cured at a portion where the second region and the first inclined surface overlap each other. Applying a curing treatment to the layer;
And a step of removing the uncured curable resin material that has not been cured in the curable resin layer. The first core portion and the second core portion, which are linearly arranged in parallel, are provided in each of the core portions, respectively, and the positions thereof are mutually in the longitudinal direction between the first core portion and the second core portion. A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide having a mirror that is displaced,
A curable resin layer composed of a curable resin material before curing is prepared, of which a first region where the first core part is to be formed and a second region where the second core part is to be formed; For the curable resin layer, the curable resin material before curing is cured, and the curable resin material before curing is not cured for a part of the second region. A step of applying a curing treatment;
An inclined surface provided obliquely across the curable resin layer and extending in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the first region in a plan view, and one of the intermediate portions of the second region. Forming a first inclined surface provided at a position corresponding to the portion, and a second inclined surface that is linear in a plan view extending in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the second region;
And a step of removing the uncured curable resin material that has not been cured in the curable resin layer. The optical waveguide has a clad portion provided so as to cover a side surface of each core portion,
The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide according to claim 1, further comprising a step of providing the clad portion.   The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide according to claim 3, wherein the cladding portion is configured to fill a portion where the second core portion is interrupted. The curable resin material has photocurability,
5. The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide according to claim 1, wherein the curing process is a process of irradiating light to a region to be cured or an inverted region of the region. The mirror includes a surface that traverses each of the core parts, and a reflective film formed thereon.
6. The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide according to claim 1, further comprising a step of forming the reflective film.

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