JPH0843641A - Optical parts for connection and production thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide optical parts for connection which can be easily and accurately fixed with a solder without requiring a metal plating treatment. CONSTITUTION:An aligning substrate 3 having V-shaped grooves 4 to arrange optical fiber 2 in a specified position and a fixing substrate 8 mounted on the aligning substrate 3 to hold the optical fibers arranged in the V-shaped grooves 4 are treated by dipping the end face in a molten solder 9 in a solder pot. Ultrasonic vibration is applied so that, into the space between the substrate 3 and the fixing substrate 8, the solder 9 infiltrates by a capillary effect to fix the optical part for connection.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connecting optical component in which at least one or more optical fibers are arranged and sandwiched and fixed by a holding substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional optical component for connection by soldering, a metal film for improving wettability is formed in a guide groove of an alignment substrate for aligning optical fibers or on a clad surface of the aligned optical fibers. It is generally soldered and fixed.

FIG. 3 shows a connecting optical component 1 fixed by soldering, in which four V-grooves which are parallel to each other at desired intervals are formed on the surface of an aligning substrate 3 for aligning optical fibers 2 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape. 4 is formed, and a metal film 5 is formed in the vicinity of the V groove and inside the V groove by plating with a desired metal in order to improve wettability. Further, a metal film 5 is also formed on the clad surface at the tip of the optical fiber 2 by plating with a desired metal in order to improve the wettability. Each of the metal-plated optical fibers 2 is placed in each V groove 4 of the alignment substrate 3, and the metal film 5 near the V groove and the metal film 5 on the clad surface of the optical fiber 2 are fixed with solder 6. There is.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned connecting optical component by solder fixing, the metal film 5 formed to improve the wettability of the connecting optical component 1 is accurate.
Depends on the precision of. There is a problem that it is difficult to form the metal film 5 uniformly and it is difficult to manufacture the connecting optical component 1 with high accuracy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connecting optical component which can be easily and highly accurately manufactured by solder fixing.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and has an alignment substrate having a guide groove for installing an optical fiber, and an alignment substrate provided in the alignment groove of the alignment substrate. In the connecting optical component that consists of the optical fiber and the fixing board that is installed to hold the optical fiber, place the fixing board on the alignment board with the optical fiber installed in the guide groove. The solder melted by ultrasonic vibration is infiltrated into the gap between the substrates to fix the optical fiber held in the guide groove with solder.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical component for connection according to the present invention. As shown in the figure,
Six V-grooves 4 parallel to each other are formed at desired intervals on the surface of the rectangular parallelepiped aligning substrate 3. Dummy fibers 7 having the same shape as the optical fiber 2 are installed in the V-grooves 4 at both ends, and each V-groove is formed. Four
The optical fibers 2 are installed in the respective insides, and a fixing substrate 8 having the same rectangular parallelepiped shape and made of the same material as that of the aligning substrate 3 is placed and held from the upper side in order to match the thermal expansion coefficient. The aligning substrate 3 and the fixing substrate 8 are mainly made of silicon, glass, ceramics or the like. While maintaining this state, by inserting the tip (optical fiber tip side) of the connecting optical component 1 while applying ultrasonic vibration to the molten solder 9 in the solder pot provided on the ultrasonic vibrator, the fixing is performed. The solder 9 is filled in the gap between the substrate 8 for alignment and the substrate 3 for alignment by a capillary phenomenon. Thereafter, the connecting optical component 1 is pulled up from the solder pot, the solder 9 is solidified, and the fixing substrate 8, the arranging substrate 3, the dummy fiber 7, and the optical fiber 2 are fixed.
Finally, the end face of the connecting optical component 1 is polished at a desired angle with respect to the bottom surface to complete the connecting optical component 1. FIG. 1B is a front view of the tip of the connecting optical component 1 manufactured according to the present embodiment. By arranging the dummy fibers 7, the side surfaces of the optical fibers 2 on both sides and the dummy fiber 7 are separated from each other. The capillarity phenomenon is likely to occur due to the closure, and not only the inner optical fibers 2 but also all the optical fibers 2 are sufficiently filled with solder, and it is possible to firmly fix the optical fibers 2.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention, in which a convex portion 10 is provided on the upper surface of the aligning substrate 3. When the gap between the upper surface of the aligning substrate 3 and the lower surface of the fixing substrate 8 is too wide on both side surfaces of the connecting optical component 1, the convex portion 10 is less likely to cause a capillary phenomenon and the solder 9 is not sufficiently infiltrated. As a result, the optical fibers on both sides are prevented from being insufficiently soldered. Therefore, in the connecting optical component 1 shown in FIG. 2, the gaps between the substrates 3 and 8 are narrowed on both side surfaces by the convex portion 10 so that the solder 9 is evenly distributed between the alignment substrate 3 and the fixing substrate 8. I try to infiltrate. In this embodiment, a convex portion 10 is provided on the alignment substrate 5 instead of the dermy fiber shown in FIG. The convex portion 10 may be formed so as to completely close the gap between the substrates 3 and 8 on both side surfaces, or may be provided not only on the alignment substrate 3 but also on the fixing substrate 8.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and the following modifications can be made.

In the above embodiment, the dummy fibers 7 are set and fixed or the convex portions 10 are provided at both ends of the V groove 4, but the connection is made at least when the tip of the connecting optical component 1 is inserted into the solder pot. It suffices if the optical fiber 2 cannot be seen between the alignment substrate 3 and the fixing substrate 8 when viewed from the side surface of the optical component 1 for use. Alternatively, as in the above embodiment, convex portions may be formed near the V-grooves 4 on both ends of the alignment substrate 3 where the optical fibers 2 are arranged.

In the above embodiment, one embodiment of the connecting optical component 1 composed of the fixing substrate 8 and the aligning substrate 3 is shown, but the optical fiber 2 is not limited to the rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the optical fiber 2 is sandwiched by two members. Any optical component 1 for connection having the configuration may be used.

In the above embodiment, the connecting optical component 1 has four optical fibers 2. However, the number of the optical fibers 2 may be any desired number, and may be one.

[0013]

As described in detail above, the present invention has the following excellent effects.

A highly precise optical component for connection can be manufactured without depending on the precision of the metal film.

It is not necessary to form a metal film and can be easily manufactured in a short time.

It is possible to fill both sides of all the optical fibers held between the alignment substrate and the fixing substrate with solder.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show an embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view of a connection optical component before solder fixing.
(B) is a front view of the tip of the connecting optical component fixed by soldering.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the tip of a connecting optical component according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the tip of a conventional connecting optical component.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: optical component for connection, 2: optical fiber, 3: substrate for alignment,
4: V groove, 5: metal film, 6, 9: solder, 7: dummy fiber, 8: fixing substrate, 10: convex portion

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An aligning substrate having a guide groove formed on an upper surface thereof, an optical fiber installed in the guide groove, and a fixing substrate mounted on the aligning substrate to hold the optical fiber in the guide groove. Are fixed to the gap between the substrates with solder infiltrated by ultrasonic vibration. 2. An alignment substrate having a plurality of guide grooves formed in parallel on its upper surface, an optical fiber installed in a guide groove between the guide grooves, leaving at least two guide grooves on both sides, A pseudo optical fiber installed in the two guide grooves on both sides and a fixing substrate placed on the alignment substrate and holding the optical fiber and the pseudo optical fiber in the guide groove are superposed in the gap between the substrates. An optical component for connection, characterized in that it is fixed by solder soaked by sonic vibration. 3. An aligning substrate having a guide groove formed on an upper surface, an optical fiber installed in the guide groove, and a fixing substrate mounted on the aligning substrate to hold the optical fiber in the guide groove. And, in the connecting optical component fixed to the gap between the substrates by solder soaked by ultrasonic vibration, a step of installing an optical fiber in the guide groove of the aligning substrate, and on the aligning substrate. A step of placing a fixing substrate and holding the optical fiber in the guide groove, and a state in which the optical fiber is held in the guide groove between the substrates while the optical fiber tip side is melted in the pot and ultrasonically vibrated. A step of immersing the solder in the gap between the substrates by immersing it in the added solder, a step of solidifying the solder in the gap, and a step of polishing the end faces of the substrates including the tip side of the optical fiber. Consisting of Method for producing a connecting optical component, characterized in that.