JPH0682656A - Multi-fiber optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form the multi-fiber optical connector, required to make a batch connection of multiple optical fibers for an optical communication, with high precision. CONSTITUTION:An optical fiber coupling part which couples the optical fibers while the optical fibers are positioned and held on a guide substrate wherein optical fiber guide grooves are formed and covered with a cover plate, is positioned and coupled with a U-shaped guide rail 1; and the groove 7 for the guide rail 1 is formed in the optical fiber guide substrate, and those grooves, i.e., the groove 7 for the guide rail and optical fiber guide grooves 6 are obtained by anisotropically etching a single-crystal substrate of silicon, etc., as the optical fiber guide substrate 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multicore optical connector which realizes a collective connection of multicore optical fibers in optical communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 10 is an external view of an example of a conventional optical connector. A cover plate made of a hard and brittle material with a thin film adhesive layer on a groove substrate 4 made of a hard and brittle material such as a silicon material or glass in which an optical fiber guide groove 6 and a guide pin groove 21 are formed by grinding or the like. 2 are joined to form an optical fiber guide member. The coupling is realized by inserting the guide pin 22 into the guide pin groove.

[0003]

In order to eliminate misalignment in the optical connector as shown in FIG. 10 described above, which realizes the positioning coupling by inserting the guide pin into the already formed guide pin hole. The clearance between the guide pin hole diameter and the guide pin diameter must be as small as possible. Furthermore, the guide pin diameter should be thin (0.5 to 1 m) in order to make the optical connector as small as possible.
m). When actually inserting such a guide pin into the guide pin hole, it is difficult to make a good connection unless the guide pin is inserted very carefully. Furthermore, since the guide pin diameter is thin and the guide pin hole is thin, the strength against bending is weak. Moreover, the core diameter is 6 to 10.
The allowable dimensional error of the connection of the single mode fiber of μm is required to be ± 1 μm or less, but there is a defect that it is very difficult to process the diameter of the cylindrical guide pin to an accuracy of ± 1 μm or less.

[0004]

The basic structure of the optical connector of the present invention is shown in FIG. The positioning is performed by a U-shaped guide rail 1 as shown in FIG. 2, and the guide rail grooves 7 are formed on both sides of the optical fiber guide substrate 4 in an L shape by anisotropic etching. The side surfaces 7a and 7b of the groove 7 for the guide rail are properly housed inside the U-shaped guide rail to eliminate the left-right deviation of the optical fiber fixing substrate. Then, the upper surface of the cover plate 2 is aligned with the bottom surface of the U-shaped guide rail so as to eliminate the positional deviation in the vertical direction. Side 7a of groove 7 for guide rail
The clearance between the width from 7 to 7b and the inner width t of the U-shaped guide rail 1 leads to a positional deviation between the left and right,
The groove 7 for the guide rail is formed in the Si (110) substrate by anisotropic etching, which uses the technology of semiconductor photolithography and the natural property of single crystal to form a groove with very high precision. The accuracy can be suppressed to ± 1 μm or less. Further, the vertical positional deviation depends on the dimensional accuracy of the thickness of the cover plate 2, but the dimensional accuracy of the thickness of the silicon wafer used for the cover plate can be suppressed to an accuracy of ± 1 μm due to recent progress in polishing technology.

Further, since the connecting operation is carried out by a guide rail which is structurally simple, unlike the positioning by a thin guide pin as shown in FIG. 10, the connecting operation can be carried out relatively roughly. Further, since the guide rail is structurally strong, there is an advantage that it is strong against bending.

[0006]

EXAMPLE FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a manufacturing process of a multi-core optical connector manufactured by the method of the present invention. The surface orientation of the double-sided mirror as the optical fiber guide substrate and the cover plate is (11
A single crystal silicon substrate 10 of 0) is prepared. SiO ₂ which becomes a mask of silicon etching by subjecting them to thermal oxidation
The film 11 was formed. Next, a photomask 14 having a shape as shown in FIG. 4 was used for the optical fiber guide substrate and the silicon substrate for the cover plate, and a resist pattern having a sectional shape as shown in FIG. 3a was formed by photolithography. This photomask used this time is for four cores, and the shape of this photomask matches the top view of the optical fiber guide substrate and the cover plate. Next, the SiO ₂ film was etched using buffered hydrofluoric acid to form a SiO ₂ mask pattern (FIG. 3B). Thereafter, anisotropic etching of silicon was performed using an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution, and the temperature and time were controlled to form a rectangular groove having a shape as shown in FIG. The cover plate silicon substrate was also subjected to the same steps to prepare a cover plate having a shape as shown in 2 of FIG. 3e. Next, an appropriate amount of the adhesive 8 is poured into the optical fiber guide groove 6 of the manufactured optical fiber guide substrate 4, and the optical fiber 5 with the tip coating removed beforehand is fitted into the groove. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3d, the optical fiber 5 is placed on the optical fiber guide groove 6 because the width of the optical fiber guide groove 6 is shorter than the diameter of the optical fiber. It will completely subside. Therefore,
The optical fiber guide groove width and groove depth must be set so that when the bare wire contacts the bottom surface of the bare fiber guide groove, the optical fiber must be placed on the optical fiber guide groove without bending. Must be adjusted to the fiber dimensions. Next, in a state where the optical fiber is properly settled in the optical fiber guide groove 6 and the bare wire guide groove, an appropriate amount of adhesive is attached onto the optical fiber guide groove 6, and the cover plate 2 is covered and the adhesive is applied while applying an appropriate weight. Harden and fix 4
A core ferrule was prepared (Fig. 3e). At this time, it is necessary to suppress the amount of the adhesive so that it does not adhere to the guide rail groove 7 on the side surface of the ferrule and remains in the adhesive escape groove. After that, the end face was polished to complete the ferrule. The guide rail was made of ceramic and was manufactured by grinding. Next, the upper surface of the cover plate of the ferrule was brought into contact with the bottom surface of the guide rail, and the two ferrules were butted against each other on the guide rail, and the ferrule and the guide rail were fixed with a tightening band made of an elastic material as shown in FIG. Then, two ferrules were pressed by a leaf spring as shown in 17 of FIG. 5 to make connection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of the basic structure of a multi-core optical connector manufactured by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a U-shaped guide rail necessary for positioning the multi-core optical connector of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a manufacturing process of a multi-core optical connector manufactured by the method of the present invention, where a is a resist pattern formation and b is S
Pattern formation of an iO ₂ film, c is an optical fiber guide substrate formed by anisotropic etching of silicon, d is a state in which an adhesive is poured into the optical fiber guide substrate and the optical fiber is fixed in the optical fiber guide groove, e is a cover plate It shows the state where the ferrule is completed by covering with.

FIG. 4 is a photomask necessary for producing an optical fiber guide substrate and a cover plate of the multi-core optical connector of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which the multi-core optical connector of the present invention is connected.

FIG. 10 is an external view of an example of a conventional multi-core optical connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Guide Rail 2 Cover Plate 3 Adhesive Escape Groove 4 Optical Fiber Guide Substrate 5 Optical Fiber 6 Optical Fiber Guide Groove 7 Guide Rail Groove 8 Adhesive 9 Optical Fiber Element Guide Groove 10 Si (110) Substrate 11 SiO ₂ Film 12 Resist 13 Optical fiber wire 14 Photomask 16 Tightening band 17 Leaf spring 18 Optical fiber cable 19 Ferrule 21 Guide pin hole 22 Guide pin 25 Adhesive escape groove 26 Optical fiber guide groove 27 Optical fiber wire guide groove

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 19, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Brief description of the drawing

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of the basic structure of a multi-core optical connector manufactured by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a U-shaped guide rail necessary for positioning the multi-core optical connector of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a manufacturing process of a multi-core optical connector manufactured by the method of the present invention, where a is a resist pattern formation and b is S
Pattern formation of the iO2 film, c is an optical fiber guide substrate formed by anisotropic etching of silicon, d is a state in which an adhesive is poured into the optical fiber guide substrate to fix the optical fiber in the optical fiber guide groove, and e is a cover plate. It shows the state where the ferrule is completed by covering.

FIG. 4 is a photomask necessary for producing an optical fiber guide substrate and a cover plate of the multi-core optical connector of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which the multi-core optical connector of the present invention is connected.

FIG. 6 is an external view of an example of a conventional multi-core optical connector.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 guide rail 2 cover plate 3 adhesive escape groove 4 optical fiber guide substrate 5 optical fiber 6 optical fiber guide groove 7 guide rail groove 8 adhesive 9 optical fiber bare wire guide groove 10 Si (110) substrate 11 SiO2 film 12 Resist 13 Optical fiber wire 14 Photomask 16 Tightening band 17 Leaf spring 18 Optical fiber cable 21 Guide pin hole 22 Guide pin 25 Adhesive escape groove 26 Optical fiber guide groove 27 Optical fiber wire guide groove

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 6]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber coupling member for positioning and holding an optical fiber on a guide substrate having an optical fiber guide groove formed thereon and covering it with a cover plate to realize coupling, wherein the optical fiber coupling member is a U-shape. Is positioned and coupled by the guide rail 1 and the guide rail groove 7 is formed on the guide substrate 4, and the guide rail groove and the optical fiber guide groove are obtained by anisotropic etching of a single crystal substrate such as silicon. A multi-core optical connector characterized by a groove designed for crystal engineering.