JPH065839A - Optical circuit device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the fusion splice of an optical fiber and eliminate an additional fiber length and realize size reduction, process simplification and cost reduction by a method wherein the relative position between an optoelectric circuit board and a waveguide board is so fixed as to facilitate optical coupling without employing an optical fiber. CONSTITUTION:An optoelectric circuit board 10 in which a lens 18 which is an input end of an optical system, a lens 17 which is an output end of the optical system, a photodetector 12 which is an optoelectric transducer, a light emitting device 11 which is an electro-optic transducer, an amplifier 14 which is an electric circuit and a light emitting device driving circuit 13 are built and a waveguide board 1 containing a light branching device 2 and a light synthesizing and branching device 4 of which an optical system circuit is composed are mounted on one base board 60. The relative position between the optoelectric circuit board 10 and the waveguide board 1 are so fixed to the base board 60 as to be very close to each other and to realize optical coupling between themselves without employing an optical fiber 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is used in an optical communication device.
In particular, it relates to a technique for integrating an opto-electric circuit including an optical system and an electric system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The spread of optical communication today has been remarkable since the practical use of optical fibers as optical communication transmission lines. Under such circumstances, complex optical circuits are manufactured by combining optical devices prepared for each function.

Optical devices have various uses such as an optical branching / coupling device, an optical multiplexer / demultiplexer, an optical attenuator, and an optical isolator, and many optical devices such as optical connectors for connecting optical fibers have been developed. ing. A conventional optical circuit is configured by combining a plurality of these various functional optical devices by wiring of optical fibers. In recent years, opto-electric integrated circuits that integrate these functions have also been used.

A conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 1
1 is a block diagram of a conventional example device. This optical circuit 40 uses one semiconductor laser light having a wavelength λ1 to perform bidirectional communication on a single optical fiber transmission line, and also uses an independent semiconductor laser light having a wavelength λ2 on the same optical fiber transmission line. Provide a transmission system.

When the signal light from the light emitting element 11 is emitted to the optical fiber transmission line, the signal light from the light emitting element 11 is made to enter the input / output path 21 of the optical fiber fusion type branching device 20. The optical fiber fusion-type branching device 20 is a 2 × 2 star coupler and outputs the incident light from the input / output paths 21 and / or 21 ′ to two input / output paths 22 and 22 ′ on the opposite side in equal amounts. . In FIG. 11, nothing is connected to the entrance / exit path 22 '.

After passing through the optical fiber fusion type branching device 20, the signal light enters the optical fiber fusion type multiplexing / demultiplexing device 30 connected via the optical connector 25. This optical fiber fusion-type multiplexer / demultiplexer 30 multiplexes (λ1 + λ2) the light having the wavelength λ1 incident from the input / output path 31 and the light having the wavelength λ2 input from the input / output path 31 ', and outputs the combined light. The light is emitted from the path 32 to the optical fiber transmission path.

When the signal light from the optical fiber transmission line is made incident on the light receiving element 12, the optical fiber fusion type multiplexer / demultiplexer 3 is used.
When the signal light of wavelength λ1 and / or λ2 is incident on the input / output path 32 of 0, the signal light of wavelength λ1 is output from the input / output path 31 of the optical fiber fusion multiplexer / demultiplexer 30, and Signal light of wavelength λ2 is emitted from 31 '. Of these, the signal light of wavelength λ1 emitted from the input / output path 31 is input to the input / output path 22 of the optical fiber fusion-type branching device 20 via the optical connector 25, and is equal in amount from the input / output paths 21 and 21 '. Is emitted. The signal light from the input / output path 21 ′ is incident on the light receiving element 12.

The signal light of the wavelength λ2 is emitted from the input / output path 31 'of the optical fiber fusion type multiplexer / demultiplexer 30 and guided by the optical fiber 50 to the outside of the optical circuit 40. Figure 1
1, the loop in the middle of the optical fiber 50 indicates the extra length fiber 51.

[0009]

As described above, in the optical circuit using the conventional optical fiber fusion type optical device, the extra length fiber 51 is inevitably required. This is because, when manufacturing an optical circuit, the extra fiber is indispensable in the manufacturing process because it uses two optical fibers for fusion, and in addition to the workability, the extra fiber is indispensable. Is. In the configuration method of the optical circuit that is configured by combining the optical devices with individual functional units by the wiring of the optical fiber,
The more complicated the optical circuit, the more the number of surplus fibers is increased, resulting in difficulty in miniaturization required for the subscriber transmission system.

Even if the surplus length fiber can be sufficiently cut in the optical circuit manufacturing process, or even if it is configured as an optoelectronic integrated circuit, the fusion bond length of about 10 cm for connecting the optical circuit itself to another module is removed. can not help it. These extra-length fibers add complexity to the transmission device.

In the optoelectronic integrated circuit described above,
There is a problem that when a specification change occurs, it is impossible to respond promptly such as a partial circuit change.

The present invention has been made against such a background, and eliminates extra length fibers without using optical fiber fusion splicing, and achieves miniaturization and simplification of the manufacturing process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an optical circuit device that can realize further cost reduction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an optical circuit device which can promptly deal with a specification change in an optical circuit formed in an optoelectronic integrated circuit.

[0014]

The present invention includes a photoelectric circuit board including an input end and / or an output end of an optical system, in which a photoelectric conversion element and / or an electro-optical conversion element and an electric circuit are incorporated, and an optical system circuit. And a waveguide substrate including a waveguide substrate are mounted on a single base substrate, and a mutual positional relationship between the photoelectric circuit substrate and the waveguide substrate is set so that optical coupling can be performed without interposing an optical fiber. And

It is desirable that the optoelectronic circuit board and the waveguide board be directly coupled by light or a lens system.

It is desirable that a coupling means with an optical fiber is formed on the waveguide substrate.

[0017]

The integrated substrate for the optical system and the integrated substrate for the electrical system are separately configured, and when these are coupled, they are optically coupled directly without using an optical fiber or through a lens system.
For this reason, positioning pins are provided on the bottom surface of the board, the insertion holes are provided on the board mounting base, and the board mounting position is set on the board mounting base so that the positioning can be performed accurately on the board. A structure is set such that a recess for determining is provided by etching.

When the specification is changed, only the substrate including the changed portion is changed depending on whether the changed portion is an optical system or an electric system.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the waveguide substrate. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the photoelectric circuit board.

The present invention is a lens 1 which is the input end of the optical system.
8 and a lens 17 which is an output end, a photoelectric circuit including a light receiving element 12 which is a photoelectric conversion element, a light emitting element 11 which is an electrooptic conversion element, an amplifier circuit 14 which is an electric circuit, and a light emitting element drive circuit 13. The substrate 10 and the waveguide substrate 1 including the optical branching device 2 and the optical multiplexing / demultiplexing device 4, which are optical system circuits, are mounted on a single base substrate 60, and the photoelectric circuit substrate 10 and the waveguide substrate 1 are mutually connected. It is characterized in that the waveguide substrate 1 and the photoelectric circuit substrate 10 are closely attached and set on the base substrate 60 so that the optical relationship can be achieved without the interposition of the optical fiber 50.

This structure will be described in more detail. Between the photoelectric circuit substrate 10 and the waveguide substrate 1, the lenses 7, 8 are provided.
It is connected by 17, 18. An optical fiber coupling section 9 that is a coupling means with the optical fiber 50 is formed on the waveguide substrate 1.

Next, the waveguide substrate 1 and the photoelectric circuit substrate 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the waveguide substrate 1 includes the waveguide 3 provided on the substrate 1 '.
And an optical branching element 2 and an optical multiplexing / demultiplexing element 4. Lenses 7 and 8 are provided on the end face of the waveguide 3 that is coupled to the photoelectric circuit substrate 10, an optical fiber coupling portion 9 is provided on the opposite side of this end face, and a base substrate 60 is provided on the bottom face of the substrate 1 '. Positioning pins 5 are provided for insertion into the holes provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the photoelectric circuit board 10 includes a light emitting element 11 and a light receiving element 1 provided on a substrate 10 '.
2, an amplifier circuit 14 for amplifying the electric signal after receiving light, a light emitting element drive circuit 13 for driving the light emitting element 11, and an electrical connection 15 for electrically connecting these. Further, on one end surface of the photoelectric circuit board 10, a lens 18 for incidence of a light receiving element 12 and a lens 17 for emission of a light emitting element 11 for transmitting and receiving signal light to and from the waveguide substrate 1 are provided.

Next, the mounting state of the waveguide substrate 1 and the photoelectric circuit substrate 10 on the base substrate 60 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing how the waveguide substrate 1 and the photoelectric circuit substrate 10 are attached to the base substrate 60. Base board 60
The photoelectric circuit board 10 and the waveguide substrate 1 are arranged on the upper side, and the lenses 17 and 18 of the photoelectric circuit board 10 and the lenses 7 and 8 of the waveguide substrate 1 are arranged to be optically coupled to each other.

Light emitted from the light branching element 2 is received by the light receiving element 12.
In order to couple light so that the light emitted from the light emitting element 11 is incident on the light branching element 2, the pre-packaged lenses 7, 8, 17, 18 are coupled to each other so as to maximize the coupling rate. It is necessary to dispose the pin 5 for accurate positioning for that purpose.
And a base substrate 60 provided on the bottom surface of the photoelectric circuit substrate 10.
The pin 5 is provided with an insertion hole.

Next, the connection between the waveguide substrate 1 and the optical fiber 50 in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the connection between the waveguide substrate 1 and the optical fiber 50. As shown in FIG. 2, the waveguide substrate 1 is provided with an optical fiber coupling section 9. Optical fiber coupling section 9
As shown in FIG. 5, is composed of a groove 54 and a pin insertion hole 53 provided on the waveguide substrate 1 by etching.

The optical fiber 50 having the lens 52 attached to the end is attached here, but the pin 55 is provided on the optical fiber 50 and the lens 52 for positioning.
Incidentally, such an "optical fiber with a lens" is generally called a "fiber collimator".

FIG. 6 shows a fiber collimator. Figure 6
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a fiber collimator. FIG. 6A shows
It is the figure which showed the fiber collimator which radiate | emits a parallel light, but when parallel light is made to inject on the contrary, the light couple | bonds with an optical fiber in the best state. Further, as shown in FIG. 6 (b) or FIG. 6 (c), by using a fiber collimator in which the lens pitch is changed, it is possible to obtain the optimum light coupling state according to the mounting state.

Next, the connection of the first embodiment device of the present invention to the optical fiber transmission line will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 7
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a connection of the device of the first embodiment of the present invention to an optical fiber transmission line. The optical fiber 50 attached to the optical fiber coupling portion 9 of the waveguide substrate 1 has an optical connector 2 at its end.
No. 5 receptacle is attached to the outside of the apparatus. The plug of the optical connector 25 attached to the optical fiber 50 'from the optical fiber transmission line is connected here, and the device of the first embodiment of the present invention and the optical fiber transmission line are connected. As described above, no fusion splicing is used to connect the optical fibers 50.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the connection of the device of the second embodiment of the present invention to the optical fiber transmission line. A feature of the second embodiment device of the present invention is that the ferrule 27 of the optical connector 25 is directly coupled to the optical fiber coupling portion 9 of the waveguide substrate 1. The portion composed of the optical fiber 50 and the lens 52 shown in FIG. 5 is replaced with the ferrule 27 as it is, and the pin 55 is also provided on the ferrule 27 as in FIG. In the device of the second embodiment of the present invention, as in the device of the first embodiment of the present invention, no fusion splicing is used for connecting the optical fiber 50.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the connection of the device of the third embodiment of the present invention to an optical fiber transmission line. The feature of the third embodiment device of the present invention is that the extension of the waveguide 3 is extended without using the optical fiber coupling portion 9 of the waveguide substrate 1 used in the first and second embodiment devices of the present invention. As a result, the ferrule 27 is extended from the waveguide substrate 1 to the outside by a few cm, and the ferrule 27 is directly formed on the waveguide substrate 1 to form a receptacle for the optical connector 25. That is, the receptacle of the optical connector 25 is directly formed on the waveguide substrate 1.

An advantage of the third embodiment of the present invention is that since the optical fiber coupling section 9 is omitted, there is no coupling loss between the waveguide substrate 1 and the optical fiber 50.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the optical fiber coupling section 9 of the fourth embodiment device of the present invention. The device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the groove 54 of the optical fiber coupling portion 9 of the device of the first embodiment of the present invention and the device of the second embodiment of the present invention is not processed, and is flat. The fiber collimator is fixed by the insertion hole of the positioning pin 55.

An advantage of the fourth embodiment of the present invention is that the man-hours for processing the optical fiber coupling portion 9 can be simplified.

In the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the positioning pin 55 may be omitted.

Although the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention have been described as an optical circuit device including a pair of light emitting element 11 and light receiving element 12, a plurality of light emitting elements 11 and light receiving elements 12 may be used. it can.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the excess fiber, reduce the size, simplify the manufacturing process, and further reduce the cost.

Further, in the optical circuit formed in the optoelectronic integrated circuit, it is possible to promptly deal with the design change.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a waveguide substrate.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a photoelectric circuit board.

FIG. 4 is a view showing how the waveguide substrate and the photoelectric circuit substrate are attached to the base substrate.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an optical fiber coupling section.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a fiber collimator.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the connection of the device of the first embodiment of the present invention to an optical transmission line.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the connection of the device of the second embodiment of the present invention to an optical transmission line.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the connection of the device of the third embodiment of the present invention to an optical transmission line.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the connection of the device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention to an optical transmission line.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Waveguide substrate 2 Optical branching element 3 Waveguide 4 Optical multiplexing / demultiplexing element 5, 55 pins 9 Optical fiber coupling part 10 Photoelectric circuit board 11 Light emitting element 12 Light receiving element 13 Light emitting element drive circuit 14 Amplifying circuit 15 Electrical connection 7, 8 , 17, 18, 52 lens 20 optical fiber fusion type branching device 21, 21 ', 22, 22', 31, 31 ', 32 input / output path 25 optical connector 27 ferrule 30 optical fiber fusion type multiplexer / demultiplexer 40 Optical circuit 50, 50 'Optical fiber 51 Extra length fiber 53 Pin insertion hole 54 Groove 60 boards

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location H01S 3/18 H04B 10/02

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A photoelectric circuit board including an input end and / or an output end of an optical system, in which a photoelectric conversion element and / or an electro-optical conversion element and an electric circuit are incorporated, and a waveguide substrate including the optical system circuit. An optical circuit device, which is mounted on one base substrate, and the mutual positional relationship between the optoelectronic circuit substrate and the waveguide substrate is set so that they can be optically coupled without interposing an optical fiber. 2. The optical circuit device according to claim 1, wherein the photoelectric circuit substrate and the waveguide substrate are directly coupled by light. 3. The optical circuit device according to claim 1, wherein the photoelectric circuit substrate and the waveguide substrate are coupled by a lens system. 4. The optical circuit device according to claim 1, wherein said waveguide substrate is provided with a coupling means for coupling with an optical fiber.