JPH0756044A - Optical waveguide-optical fiber connection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an optical waveguide-optical fiber connection device which connects an optical waveguide and an optical fiber ribbon without disalignment of all of cores. CONSTITUTION:The optical waveguide-optical fiber ribbon connection device consists of a plane waveguide fixing base 3 which fixes a plane optical waveguide chip 2, fiber front end position fine adjustment bases 6A and 6B which are placed on both sides of the plane waveguide fixing base 3 and support optical fiber ribbon 4A and 4B to be optically connected to the plane optical waveguide chip 2 and finely adjust the front end positions of optical fibers 4A and 4B, individual axis aligning devices 5A and 5B which align the core centers of respective optical fibers 13 of optical fiber ribbon 4A and 4B to the center of a core of the plane optical waveguide chip 2, a light source 19 connected to the rear end of one optical fiber ribbon 48, and an optical power measuring instrument 20 connected to the rear end of the other optical fiber ribbon 4A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device for manufacturing an optical waveguide used in an optical fiber transmission system and an optical coupling chip for a multi-core optical fiber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an optical waveguide, a thin film corresponding to a core or a clad of an optical fiber is formed on a substrate to guide light. An optical integrated circuit can be constructed by combining this optical waveguide with a semiconductor laser, an optical switch, or the like.

Recently, there is an increasing prospect that the introduction of optical fibers into the subscriber network will be in full swing. In this optical subscriber network, however, optical integrated circuits are used in a large number. Since the input / output of the optical integrated circuit is performed through the optical waveguide, it is necessary to connect the optical waveguide and the optical fiber in order to incorporate the optical integrated circuit in the optical communication network.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device. As shown in the figure, the planar optical waveguide chip 102 on which the optical waveguide core 101 is formed is fixed on the planar waveguide chip fixing base 103, arranged on both sides thereof, and the optical fiber tapes 104A and 104B are respectively provided. Integrated fiber optic blocks 105A and 10
5B are optical fiber block fine adjustment bases 106A, respectively.
And 106B. Further, the optical fiber block fine adjustment stages 106A and 106B respectively include x-axis coarse movement stages 107A and 107B, y-axis coarse movement stages 108A and 108B, x-axis fine movement stages 109A and 109B, y-axis fine movement stages 110A and 110B, and z. Fine axis movement stages 111A and 111
B, and xy plane rotation θ stage 112A and 1
12B. Here, the optical fiber block 1
05A and 105B are optical fiber tapes 1
04A and 104B are fixed by V-grooves and aligned. The optical fiber block fine adjustment tables 106A and 106B are the optical fiber blocks 105A and 10B.
Finely adjust the position of 5B to adjust the optical fiber block 105A.
And the core of the optical fiber in 105B and the center of the waveguide core 101 of the planar optical waveguide chip 102 are aligned.

A planar optical waveguide chip 1 is manufactured by using such a device.
A process of mounting the optical fiber blocks 105A and 105B on 02 is shown below. First, the optical fiber blocks 105A and 105B are created. First, the V-groove substrate for the optical fiber block is washed. Next, each fiber of the single mode optical fiber tapes 104A and 104B is arranged in the V groove, and the ultraviolet (UV) curing resin is dropped. Then, the resin is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays while pressing the optical fiber block V groove pressing plate (quartz, Pyrex) from above. After that, the optical fiber block 105 is polished by polishing the end face of the block.
The fabrication of A and 105B is completed. In addition, similarly, one optical fiber block 105C using the multimode optical fiber tape 104C is also prepared.

Next, single mode optical fiber blocks 105A and 10B are provided on both ends of the planar optical waveguide chip 102.
The process of mounting 5B is shown. First, as shown in FIG. 6, the planar optical waveguide chip 102 is fixed on the optical waveguide chip fixing base 103 in the center of the mounting apparatus. Then, the optical fiber block (single mode) 105B and the optical fiber block (multimode) 105C are fixed to the optical fiber block fine adjustment bases 106A and 106B on both sides, respectively. Thus, the optical fiber blocks 105B and 10
By fixing 5C to the optical fiber block fine adjustment bases 106A and 106B, respectively, the cores of the respective optical fibers and the cores of the optical waveguides are slightly displaced, but are substantially positioned. Next, the optical fiber block (single mode) 105B at the right end in the figure is positioned. Infrared light is made incident on the optical fibers at both ends in the width direction from the light source 113 on the optical fiber tape 104B side of the optical fiber block (single mode) 105B, and is received by the optical fiber tape 104C side of the optical fiber block (multimode) 105C.
The optical power measuring device 114 measures the optical power. Then, the optical fiber block fine adjustment bases 106A and 10
6B is used, and the block position is finely moved so that the received light power from the optical fiber core wires at both ends in the width direction of the optical fiber block 105C is maximized. First, the optical fiber block 105B is finely moved so that the optical power from the optical fiber at one end is maximized. Next, the optical fiber block 105B is finely moved so that the light receiving power from the optical fiber at the opposite end is maximized. This routine is repeated to converge the optical power from the optical fibers at both ends in the width direction to the maximum value. Then, the UV adhesive dropped between the planar optical waveguide chip 102 and the optical fiber block (single mode) 105B is cured to fix the optical fiber block (single mode) 105B at the right end in the figure.

Next, the optical fiber block (multimode) 105C at the left end in the figure is replaced with an optical fiber block (single mode) 105A prepared separately, and the left end optical fiber block (single mode) 105A is subjected to the same procedure.
Position and fix.

Although FIG. 6 shows a connecting device between a four-core optical fiber tape and an optical waveguide chip having four cores at both ends, it is theoretically used for any number of cores such as eight cores and twelve cores. However, it can be made into a device in the same manner.

7 to 9 show an example of a conventional planar optical waveguide chip, FIG. 7 is a plan view, FIG. 8 is a front view, and FIG. 9 is a side view. The size of the chip 121 is 20 mm in height and 4 m in width.
At m, the core 122 is exposed on both end faces. Chip 12
1 is divided into three layers, the lower layer is a silicon substrate 123, the middle layer is an underclad 124, and the upper layer is an overclad 125.
And underclad 124 and overclad 1
Eight cores 122 are formed between the cores 22 and 25. Eight end faces of the core 122 are arranged on both end faces of the chip 121, and are connected to an 8-core single mode optical fiber tape (250 μm pitch, 125 μm diameter). The end face of the chip 121 is cut with an inclination of 8 degrees to prevent end face reflection during connection. Further, on the upper surface of the chip 121, a backing plate 126 for mounting on a fixed base is attached to the front and back.

[0010]

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus for coupling the optical waveguide and the optical fiber, the positioning is performed only by the cores at both ends of the optical waveguide and the optical fiber block in the width direction. Therefore, the cores at both ends are centered to some extent with accuracy, but the cores other than the both ends have a problem that an axial deviation occurs due to a dimensional error in the V groove of the optical fiber block and an eccentricity of the cores. there were.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device capable of connecting all the cores of an optical waveguide and an optical fiber tape without axial misalignment. .

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, an optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device according to the present invention comprises:
A planar waveguide fixing base for fixing the planar waveguide, and optical fiber tapes on both sides of the planar waveguide fixing base for optical connection to the planar waveguide are respectively supported, and the tip position of the optical fiber tape is finely adjusted. A fiber tip position fine adjustment base to be adjusted, and a core center of each core wire of the optical fiber tape installed on the fiber tip position fine adjustment base is set to a center of a flat waveguide fixed to the flat waveguide fixing base. Individual axis aligning device for alignment, a light source connected to the rear end of the optical fiber tape supported by one of the fiber tip position fine adjustment bases, and light supported by the other of the fiber tip position fine adjustment bases And an optical power measuring device connected to the rear end of the fiber tape.

[0013]

In the optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device of the present invention, since a plurality of optical fibers are individually aligned by the individual axis aligning device and connected to the core of the optical waveguide, the optical waveguide and the optical fiber with extremely low loss are provided. Can be connected to the tape core wire.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device of the present invention. The connection device of the present embodiment is provided with flat waveguide chip fixing bases 3 for fixing the flat optical waveguide chip 2 on which the optical waveguide core 1 is formed, and arranged on both sides thereof, and optical fiber tapes 4A and 4B are respectively placed thereon. The individual axis aligning mechanisms 5A and 5B, and the optical fiber tip position fine adjustment tables 6A and 6B supporting the individual axis aligning mechanisms 5A and 5B, respectively. Here, the optical fiber tip position fine adjustment tables 6A and 6B are respectively
Axial coarse movement stages 7A and 7B, y-axis coarse movement stage 8A
And 8B, x-axis fine movement stages 9A and 9B, y-axis fine movement stages 10A and 10B, z-axis fine movement stage 11
A and 11B, and xy plane rotation θ stage 12
It is composed of A and 12B.

The individual axial centering mechanisms 5A and 5B are mechanisms capable of individually centering the optical fibers (cores) of the optical fiber tapes 4A and 4B, respectively, and details thereof are shown in FIG. 2 in this embodiment. Adopt mechanism (Japanese Patent Application No. 3-2
05763). This individual axial centering mechanism 5A and 5B
Has a base 14 that supports the tip portions of the optical fiber tapes 4A and 4B, respectively, and four support mechanisms 15 that support the tip portions of the optical fibers 13 of the optical fiber tapes 4A and 4B in a positionable manner. Each support mechanism 15 has a pair of lifting members 16 and
Are fixed to the base 14, respectively. Lifting member 16
Is a horizontal arm portion 16a whose base end portion is rotatably supported by a vertical portion 14a of a U-shaped base 14 when viewed from the side, and which directly supports the optical fiber 13 at the tip of this horizontal arm portion 16a. It is composed of a support portion 16b and has an L shape when viewed from the side. In addition, the upper surface of the support portion 16b is 2
The slanted surface 16c is slanted toward the inside downward of the set of about 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane. Further, each lifting member 16 has a supporting portion 16b at the tip thereof supported by eight piezoelectric elements 17 provided on the lower side of the horizontal arm portion 16a. More specifically, the eight piezoelectric elements 17 are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the horizontal arm portions 16a, while the protrusions (not shown) protruding downward at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the lower surface of each horizontal arm portion 16a. Is provided. As a result, each horizontal arm portion 16a is
Each piezoelectric element 17 is supported by each of the piezoelectric elements 17.
It is possible to move up and down by driving. In the figure, 14b is a V-shaped groove portion that supports a portion of the upper end of the base 14 that supports the optical fiber tapes 4A and 4B and that is apart from the end portion of each optical fiber 13.

The axis alignment by the individual axis alignment mechanisms 5A and 5B is performed as follows. That is, the tip of each optical fiber 13 is supported by the V groove formed by the facing inclined surfaces 16c of the pair of elevating members 16, and each piezoelectric element 17 is energized to drive it. By raising and lowering the raising and lowering member 16 and adjusting the raising and lowering operations of the two raising and lowering members 16 of each set, as shown in FIG. 2, each optical fiber 13 is moved in the vertical and horizontal directions (arrows a, b, c, d). (Shown) to perform alignment.

The planar optical waveguide chip 2 of this embodiment is also used.
Has an optical fiber support portion 18 on the end face on which the end face of the core 1 is arranged. The optical fiber support 18 has a substrate slightly below the core 1 protruding in the optical axis direction of the core 1, and is for increasing the connection strength between the optical waveguide chip 2 and the optical fiber 13. That is, the area of the connection portion can be wide in the case of the connection between the optical fiber block fixing the optical fiber and the end face of the optical waveguide chip as in the conventional case, but in the case of performing the individual axis alignment like the present invention, Since the fiber core itself of the fiber tape and the end face of the optical waveguide chip must be connected, the connection area is small, and the connection strength is very small with the structure as it is. The above-mentioned optical fiber support portion 18 eliminates such inconvenience. The optical fiber support portion 18 is formed by mechanical or chemical treatment.

Next, an example of a specific structure of the planar waveguide chip used in the present invention is shown in FIGS. Here, FIG. 3 is a plan view, FIG. 4 is a front view, and FIG. 5 is a side view. Although this example shows an 8-core type, it is needless to say that various types such as 12-core type may be applied as well as 12-core type as described above.

As shown in the figure, the size of the chip 21 is 22 mm in length and 4 mm in width, and the core 22 is exposed on both end faces. The chip 21 is divided into three layers, and the lower layer is the silicon substrate 2
3, the middle layer is the underclad 24, the upper layer is the overclad 25, and eight cores 22 are formed between the underclad 24 and the overclad 25. Eight end faces of the core 22 are arranged on both end faces of the chip 21, and are connected to an 8-core single mode optical fiber tape (250 μm pitch, 125 μm diameter). The core 22 is attached to the end face of the chip 21.
An optical fiber support portion 26 is formed so as to project from the end face of the optical fiber in the optical axis direction. The optical fiber support 26 is formed by projecting the silicon substrate 23 in the optical axis direction and mechanically or chemically removing the upper portion of the silicon substrate 23, the underclad 24, the core 22 and the overclad 25. It was done. At this time, in order to prevent end face reflection at the time of connection, the end face of the chip is cut with an inclination of about 8 degrees. Further, the distance between the upper surface of the optical fiber support portion 18 and the lower surface of the underclad 24 is set to about 100 to 200 μm so that the centering operation of the fiber is not disturbed at the time of axial centering. Note that the chip 21 has front and rear mounting plates 27 for mounting on a fixed base.

Next, a process of mounting the optical fiber tape (single mode) on both ends of the planar optical waveguide chip by using the connecting device of this embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the planar optical waveguide chip 2 is fixed to the planar waveguide chip fixing base 3 in the center of the mounting apparatus. And optical fiber tape (multimode) 4C and optical fiber tape (single mode)
4B are fixed to the left and right individual axis aligning mechanisms 5A and 5B, respectively. By fixing to this device, the core rows of the optical fibers 13 of the optical fiber tapes 4C and 4B and the core rows of the optical waveguide 2 are slightly displaced, but are almost positioned. Next, each optical fiber 13 of the optical fiber tape (single mode) 4B on the right side of the drawing is positioned. Infrared light is made incident from the light source 19 connected to the rear end of the optical fiber tape (single mode) 4B, received at the optical fiber tape (multimode) 4C side, and the power is measured by the optical power measuring device 20. Then, by using the optical fiber individual axis aligning mechanisms 5A and 5B, the elevating member 16 supporting each optical fiber 13 is finely moved so that the light receiving power from each optical fiber 13 is maximized. Here, first, one elevating member 16 that forms the V groove of the supporting member 15
Is slightly moved to maximize the optical power from the optical fiber 13. Next, the other elevating member 16 is finely moved so that the optical power from the optical fiber 13 is maximized. This routine is repeated to converge the optical power from each optical fiber 13 to the maximum value. Then, the UV adhesive dropped between the optical waveguide 1 and each optical fiber 13 (single mode) of the optical fiber tape 4B is cured, and the right end optical fiber tape (single mode) 4B is fixed.

Next, the leftmost optical fiber tape (multimode) 4C is replaced with a separately prepared optical fiber tape (single mode) 4A, and each optical fiber 13 of the leftmost optical fiber tape (single mode) 4A is subjected to the same procedure. Position and fix.

As described above, the present invention is mainly characterized in that the optical fiber (core) is individually provided with the individual axis aligning mechanism, but the structure of the individual axis aligning mechanism is provided. Are not limited to those described above. In addition to the fact that the optical waveguide and the plurality of cores of the optical fiber ribbon can be individually aligned, the optical fiber block need not be prepared, and the connecting portion can be made compact.
Further, in the present invention, when the fiber supporting portion for supporting the tip of the optical fiber is provided below the core end surface of the optical waveguide chip, the mechanical strength of the connecting portion between the optical waveguide chip and the optical fiber tape is improved.

[0024]

As described above, since the optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device of the present invention is provided with the individual axis aligning device so that the plurality of cores can be individually aligned, the loss is very low. It is possible to connect various optical waveguides and optical fiber ribbons. Further, according to the device of the present invention, there is an effect that the labor for producing the optical fiber block can be saved and the connecting portion can be made compact.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical waveguide-optical fiber connection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a side view of the individual axis alignment mechanism of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an example of a planar optical waveguide chip used in the connection device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an example of a planar optical waveguide chip used in the connection device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an example of a planar optical waveguide chip used in the connection device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional planar optical waveguide chip.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing an example of a conventional planar optical waveguide chip.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing an example of a conventional planar optical waveguide chip.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 core 2 planar optical waveguide chip 3 planar waveguide chip fixing base 4A, 4B optical fiber tape (single mode) 4C optical fiber tape (multimode) 5A, 5B individual axis alignment mechanism 6A, 6B optical fiber tip position fine adjustment base 7A, 7B x-axis coarse movement stage 8A, 8B y-axis coarse movement stage 9A, 9B x-axis fine movement stage 10A, 10B y-axis fine movement stage 11A, 11B z-axis fine movement stage 12A, 12B xy plane rotation θ stage 13 optical fiber 14 base 15 Support member 16 Elevating member 16a Horizontal arm portion 16b Support portion 16c Inclined surface 17 Piezoelectric element 16 Optical fiber support portion 19 Light source 20 Optical power measuring device 21 Planar optical waveguide chip 22 Planar optical waveguide chip core 23 Silicon substrate 24 Underclad 25 Overclad 26 Optical fiber Bar support 27 Plate

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuro Yabuta 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A flat waveguide fixing base for fixing a flat waveguide, and optical fiber tapes on both sides of the flat waveguide fixing base for optically connecting to the flat waveguide and supporting the flat optical waveguides. A fiber tip position fine-adjusting table for finely adjusting the tip position of the optical fiber tape, and a flat conductor installed on the fiber tip position fine-adjusting table for fixing the core center of each core of the optical fiber tape to the planar waveguide fixing table. An individual axis aligning device for aligning with the core center of the waveguide, a light source connected to the rear end of the optical fiber tape supported by one of the fiber tip position fine adjustment bases, and the other of the fiber tip position fine adjustment bases. And an optical power measuring device connected to the rear end of the optical fiber tape supported by the optical waveguide-optical fiber connecting device.