JPH09269436A - Array type interconnection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connection device which allows easy adjustment at the time of connection and high-density optical signal transmission. SOLUTION: This device includes an optical fiber array 10 including plural parallel optical fibers 1 and light emitting elements or light receiving elements coupled to the respective optical fibers 1. The device has a substrate 3 which has V-grooves 2 parallel with each other formed at the intervals equal to the diameter of the optical fibers 1, the first layer A of the optical fibers 1 which are positioned by these V-grooves, the optical fiber 1 of the second layer which come into tight contact with two adjacent pieces among the optical fibers 1 of the first layer A and the layers of the plural optical optical fibers 1 which are similarly and successively laminated. The centers of the respective optical fibers 1 in the section perpendicular to the propagation optical axis constitute a regular triangle together with the centers of the two adjacent optical fibers 1. The light emitting elements or the light receiving elements are packaged onto the substrate positioned relative to the substrate 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a parallel optical interconnection device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel configuration of an optical interconnection device that can be used in a system configured by connecting a plurality of circuits or devices by parallel optical fibers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of application of various information devices, which are rapidly expanding in use in recent years, particularly in systems for handling images or video, parallel computers, etc., it is necessary to transmit an extremely large amount of data as compared with the conventional one. I have to. In addition, in many large-scale systems used for such purposes, due to both manufacturing and maintenance circumstances, various devices that are individually manufactured by function or by manufacturing unit are connected by an interconnection device. Will be completed as.

An optical fiber capable of non-guided and high-density information transmission has a large capacity and is capable of high-speed information transmission by itself. However, there is no limit to the demand for increasing the transmission capacity of the information processing device, and a larger-scale interconnection device is required. Therefore, using an optical fiber array that bundles multiple optical fibers in parallel,
Attempts have been made to realize an optical interconnection device having a larger transmission capacity.

On the other hand, an important issue in the optical communication system is the optical alignment of the members involved in the optical signal transmission, especially in the connection portion of the signal transmission path. That is, in an electric signal transmission line using a metal transmission line, a signal is propagated if the signal transmission media are in contact with each other. However, in the case of an optical signal, significant signal deterioration will occur unless accurate alignment is performed especially at the connection between the optical fiber and the optical element. Therefore, in the optical interconnection device using the optical fiber array, the optical fiber array is disassembled at the connection portion with the optical element, and each optical fiber element wire is connected to the optical element. It goes without saying that such a method cannot be put to practical use at all.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention is a high density optical interconnection device using an optical fiber array, which is a completely novel array type optical interface which can be easily aligned with various optical elements. The problem is to provide a connection device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, an optical fiber array including a plurality of optical fiber strands parallel to each other,
In an array type optical interconnection device including a light emitting element or a light receiving element coupled to each of the optical fiber strands, the optical fiber arrays are formed at intervals equal to the diameter of the optical fiber strands. An optical fiber substrate having parallel V-grooves, a plurality of optical fiber strands of the first layer positioned by the V-grooves, and two adjacent optical fibers of the first layer The optical fiber element wire of the second layer arranged in parallel with the optical fiber element wire of the first layer and a plurality of optical fiber layers which are sequentially laminated in the same manner at least near the end of the optical fiber element wire. An array characterized in that, in a cross section perpendicular to the propagation optical axis of the fiber strand, the center of each optical fiber strand is configured to form an equilateral triangle with the centers of two adjacent optical fiber strands. Type optical interco Transfection apparatus is provided.

That is, in the array type optical interconnection device according to the present invention, the fact that the cross-sectional shape of the optical fiber element wires constituting the optical fiber array is circular is used to bundle the optical fibers at a high density. It constitutes a fiber array. Further, in the optical fiber array configured in this way, by utilizing that the propagation optical axis of each optical fiber strand is always arranged at a constant interval with the propagation optical axis of the adjacent optical fiber strand, A light emitting element for injecting an optical signal into the optical fiber array, a light receiving element for receiving an optical signal from the optical fiber array, or an optical element array in which optoelectronic integrated circuits are arranged at regular intervals is used. Therefore, when coupling the optical fiber array to the optical element array, the optical fiber substrate, which serves as a reference for positioning the optical fiber strands in the optical fiber array, and the reference for positioning each optical element or optical integrated circuit are used. The optical elements can be collectively positioned with respect to the respective photo-element lines by simply performing mutual positioning with the respective element substrates. Therefore, it is not necessary to align each optical fiber element with an optical element, and an optical interconnection device with extremely high density and easy connection is realized.

[0008]

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an optical fiber array used in an array type optical interconnection device according to the present invention.

As shown in the figure, this optical fiber array
In 10, the optical fiber strands 1 are arranged in close contact with each other. This is the densest arrangement when an optical fiber having a constant diameter is converged.

When actually manufacturing the optical fiber array as described above, the positioning of the optical fiber wires is not accurate by simply bundling the plurality of optical fiber wires. Therefore, in the optical interconnection device according to the present invention, by using the optical fiber substrate 3 having the plurality of V-grooves 2 formed at intervals equal to the diameter d of the optical fiber strand, a high-density optical fiber can be obtained. The array is realized.

That is, the groove 2 formed on the optical fiber substrate 3 is formed so that the distance d between the centers thereof exactly matches the diameter (for example, 250 μm) of the optical fiber element wire 1. Therefore, the optical fiber elemental wires 1 positioned by the groove 2 and fixed on the optical fiber substrate 3 are arranged in parallel while being in close contact with the adjacent optical fiber elemental wires, and the optical fiber is directly above the optical fiber substrate 3. A first layer A of strands is formed. Next, the second layer B of the optical fiber element wire is formed by stacking the optical fiber element wires so as to be in close contact with the two adjacent optical fiber element wires 1 forming the first layer A, respectively. Here, the central axis of one of the optical fibers of the first layer A and the second layer B that is in close contact with the optical fiber
The central axes of the two optical fiber strands are a regular triangle on an arbitrary cross section perpendicular to the propagation optical axis of the optical fiber strand 1.
Hereinafter, a high-density two-dimensional optical fiber array can be constructed by sequentially loading the optical fiber wires on the layers of the optical fiber wires.

In the optical fiber array as described above,
The groove 2 can be formed in the substrate 3 with extremely high precision by processing a silicon substrate by a photolithography technique, for example. Further, the fixing of the optical fiber element wire 1 to the substrate 3 and the mutual fixing of the optical fiber element wire 1 can be performed by using an epoxy resin or the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of a light emitting element array which is coupled to the optical fiber array shown in FIG. 1 and is used for injecting an optical signal into each optical fiber strand.

As shown in the figure, this light emitting element array 20
Is composed of a plurality of light emitting elements 4 arranged on a substrate 5. Here, the light emitting element 4 is arranged so that the center of the light emitting portion 4a thereof has the same interval as the propagation optical axis in the optical fiber array 10 shown in FIG. That is, the centers of the light emitting portions 4a are all arranged at equal intervals with the light emitting portions of the adjacent light emitting elements, and this distance is equal to the diameter d of the optical fiber element wires 1 forming the optical fiber array 10.

Further, the substrate 5 has two steps 5a and 5b.
Are formed. That is, the area surrounded by the step 5a on which the light emitting element is mounted is lower than the reference surface of the substrate 5, and the surface of the light emitting element 4 and the reference surface of the substrate 5 are arranged on the same plane. Is configured. On the other hand, step 5
The outside of b (the shaded area in the figure) is higher than the reference plane of the substrate 5. The step 5a is formed by the optical fiber substrate 3 in the optical fiber array 10 described above.
Has a shape complementary to the cross-sectional shape of. Therefore, by coupling the step 5a and the optical fiber substrate 3 so as to be in close contact with each other, each optical fiber element wire 1 of the optical fiber array 10 is
And the light emitting section 4a of each light emitting element 4 of the light emitting element array 20 are collectively aligned and coupled.

The light emitting element array as described above can be manufactured by mounting a plurality of light emitting elements on a Si substrate or the like. Further, by integrating a plurality of light emitting elements on the GaAs or InP substrate, it is possible to realize a light emitting element array integrated according to the arrangement of the incident end face of the optical fiber array. The former method is disadvantageous in terms of accuracy because a positioning error inevitably occurs when mounting the light emitting element. On the other hand, in the latter method, since the light emitting element is formed by the photolithography technique, extremely precise positioning is possible.

Further, in this embodiment, the light emitting element substrate 5 is used.
In addition, although a step corresponding to the shape itself of the optical fiber substrate 3 is formed, for example, a protrusion having a shape complementary to each substrate,
Holes or steps may be formed. Further, when coupling each optical element array and the optical fiber array, light is actually injected into the optical fiber array, and the three-dimensional is observed while monitoring the optical power at the other end of the optical fiber array and the output of the light receiving element. It is possible to perform more efficient and highly accurate positioning by performing the positional alignment.

Further, the structure of the light emitting element array 20 as described above can be applied as it is to the structure of the light receiving element array and the optoelectronic integrated circuit array used in the optical interconnection device. That is, a light receiving element array or an optoelectronic integrated circuit array can be constructed by physically replacing the light emitting element 4 with a light receiving element, an optoelectronic integrated circuit, or the like, with the same structure as the light emitting element array 20 shown in FIG.

[0019]

As described in detail above, the array type optical interconnection device according to the present invention has an extremely high density by using the optical fiber array composed of the optical fiber wires arranged in the highest density. Optical signal connection is realized.

Further, because of the unique structure, the optical fiber arrays can be coupled to various optical elements at once, so that a multi-channel optical interconnection device can be easily constructed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an optical fiber array used in an array type optical interconnection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a light emitting element array used in an array type optical interconnection device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Optical fiber strand, 2 ... Groove, 3 ...
・ Optical fiber substrate, 4 ・ ・ ・ Light emitting element, 5 ・ ・
・ Light emitting element substrate, 5a, 5b ... Step, 10
... Optical fiber array, 20 ... Light emitting element array

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An array type optical interconnection device including an optical fiber array including a plurality of optical fiber strands parallel to each other, and a light emitting element or a light receiving element coupled to each of the optical fiber strands. The optical fiber array has an optical fiber substrate having parallel V grooves formed at intervals equal to the diameter of the optical fiber wires, and a plurality of optical fiber wires of the first layer positioned by the V grooves. And an optical fiber element wire of the second layer which is placed in close contact with two adjacent ones of the optical fiber element wires of the first layer and arranged in parallel to the optical fiber element wire of the first layer. A plurality of optical fiber layers sequentially laminated on at least the end portion thereof, and in the cross section perpendicular to the propagation optical axis of the optical fiber element wire, the center of each optical fiber element wire is two adjacent optical fibers. With the center of the wire Array optical interconnection apparatus characterized by being configured so as to form an equilateral triangle on. 2. The array-type optical interconnection device according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting element substrate and the all-optical fiber element wires on one end face of the optical fiber array are used for the light-emitting element. A light emitting element array including a plurality of light emitting elements arranged on a substrate and two-dimensionally arranged so that radiant light can be injected into each optical fiber element wire, and the centers of the respective light emitting portions of the light emitting elements are adjacent to each other. Are formed so as to form an equilateral triangle with the centers of the light emitting portions of the two light emitting elements, and a portion having a complementary shape is formed so that the light emitting element substrate can be positioned relative to the optical fiber substrate. An array type optical interconnection device having. 3. The array type optical interconnection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the array type optical interconnection device corresponds to the substrate for the light receiving element and the all-optical fiber strands on the other end face of the optical fiber array. A light receiving element array including a plurality of light receiving elements arranged on the light receiving element substrate and two-dimensionally arranged so as to be able to receive light emitted from each optical fiber element wire, each of the light receiving elements being provided. The center of the light receiving portion is configured to form an equilateral triangle with the centers of the light receiving portions of two adjacent light receiving elements, and the light receiving element substrate is complementary to the optical fiber substrate so that they can be positioned relative to each other. An array-type optical interconnection device, which is characterized in that the optical interconnection device has a portion having a uniform shape. 4. The array-type optical interconnection device according to claim 1, wherein the optical-electronic integrated circuit substrate and all of the other end faces of the optical fiber array are provided. An optoelectronic integrated circuit including a plurality of optoelectronic integrated circuits which are arranged on the optoelectronic integrated circuit substrate corresponding to the optical fiber wires and are two-dimensionally arranged so as to be able to receive the light emitted from each of the optical fiber wires. A substrate for an optoelectronic integrated circuit, comprising a circuit array, wherein the centers of the photoreceptive portions of the optoelectronic integrated circuits form an equilateral triangle with the centers of the photoreceptive portions of two adjacent optoelectronic integrated circuits. An array type optical interconnection device having complementary shaped portions so as to be mutually positioned with respect to the optical fiber substrate.