JPH10227934A - Optical circuit component and its manufacture, and optical circuit aligning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease a wiring man-hour and the number of connection components and to suppress deterioration in optical circuit component performance by arranging input and output waveguides on the same end surface of a substrate by a bend provided halfway in an optical circuit and connecting optical input and output fibers on the end surface. SOLUTION: The optical circuit is an array waveguide diffraction grating 100 having the input optical waveguide 101, the output optical waveguide 102, an optical waveguide array 103, a slab waveguide 104, a 1st optical waveguide 106 for alignment, and an optical waveguide 107 for measurement formed on a substrate 108. The input and output waveguides are arranged on the same end surface of the substrate 108 by the bend provided halfway in the optical circuit and the optical input and output fibers are connected on the end surface. Therefore, the input and output optical fibers can be arranged in the same direction of optical circuit components and the input fiber and output fiber can be connected to optical circuit elements by optical fiber components put in one housing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, various countries have been studying optical communication systems aiming at practical use. As one of the optical circuit components used in these systems, a waveguide type optical circuit component formed of an optical waveguide is known. The waveguide type optical circuit component includes an optical circuit element having an optical circuit formed on a substrate by an optical waveguide, and an optical fiber connected to an input / output waveguide of the optical circuit. The optical fiber plays a role not only as an input / output of an optical circuit element, but also as an optical wiring connecting optical circuit components. In order to minimize the optical loss due to the optical wiring, the bending radius needs to be about 30 mm or more, and therefore, it is necessary to secure an optical wiring area of a predetermined value or more in the device. Therefore, reducing the optical wiring area in the device leads to downsizing of the device, in other words, increasing the mounting density of optical components.

[0002] The present invention relates to such an optical circuit component, and more particularly to an optical circuit component improved so that the wiring area of the input / output optical fiber can be reduced, a manufacturing method thereof, and a centering device therefor.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of multimedia in recent years, there has been a strong demand for the development of a communication system capable of transmitting various large-capacity data such as image information at high speed and in two directions. R & D is progressing rapidly in each country. Along with this, various optical components have been actively developed recently.

Optical components include a bulk type in which lenses and mirrors are combined, an optical fiber type formed by fusing optical fibers, and a waveguide type formed by an optical waveguide. The waveguide type is manufactured by combining thin film manufacturing technology and LSI processing technology, and optical circuit parameters can be set with high precision and arbitrarily. Therefore, compared to bulk type and optical fiber type, higher integration and advanced functions are achieved. It is suitable for mass production.

An optical fiber is used as a wiring for connection between optical components, and a waveguide type optical circuit element (hereinafter, referred to as an optical fiber element).
It is indispensable to use an optical fiber as an optical input / output of an optical circuit element).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional optical circuit device. The optical circuit shown in the figure is an optical circuit called an array waveguide diffraction grating. The array waveguide diffraction grating (optical circuit element) 1000 includes an input optical waveguide 1001, an output optical waveguide 1002, an optical waveguide array 1003, and a slab waveguide 10.
04 and is formed on a substrate 1005.
The input optical waveguide 1001 and the output optical waveguide 1002 are arranged on opposite end faces, respectively.

FIG. 11 shows an arrayed waveguide diffraction grating 1100.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an optical circuit component that is modularized by connecting input / output optical fibers and the like to the optical circuit. Array waveguide diffraction grating 1100
A glass plate 1106 is adhered on the input optical waveguide 1101 of the optical fiber part 1101, and an optical fiber component 110 composed of a multi-core optical fiber 1103 and a fiber fixing block 1104 on its end face.
5 was connected. Similarly, a glass plate 1110 was adhered on the output optical waveguide 1102, and an optical fiber component 1109 composed of a multi-core optical fiber 1107 and a fiber fixing block 1108 was connected to the end face.

In order to operate the array waveguide diffraction grating 1100 at a constant temperature, an optical circuit element is bonded and fixed to a Peltier element 1112 via a heat conductive substrate 1111. The temperature control is performed by measuring the temperature of the heat conductive substrate 1111 with the thermistor 1113 and adjusting the current of the Peltier element 1112.

FIG. 12 shows an optical circuit component 1200 in which an arrayed waveguide diffraction grating is modularized, which is mounted on a board 1205. The input optical fiber 1201 and the output optical fiber 1202 of the optical circuit component 1200 are connected to the optical connector 12.
03 was connected to an optical connector adapter 1204 serving as an optical interface of the board. Optical fiber 1201
Are largely bent on the board 1205 and guided to the optical fiber connector 1203. The bending radius in this case needs to be large enough to ignore the bending loss. The bending radius depends on the fiber used, but typically needs to be 30 nm or more.

[0010]

However, when the optical input and output are arranged on the same end surface of the board 1205 as shown in FIG. 12, the input optical fiber 1201 and output optical fiber An area for wiring the wires 1202 in the same direction was required. Therefore, even in a small optical circuit component, it is difficult to reduce the size of the board or mount the component at a high density due to the optical fiber wiring area, that is, there is a problem that the device cannot be miniaturized. . In addition, when connecting the optical circuit element and the optical fiber, the input side and the output side are performed separately, and the wiring inside the board is also performed separately for the input side and the output side. Had increased. further,
When connecting an optical fiber to an optical circuit element, the optical axis of the input / output waveguide and the input / output optical fiber may be slightly displaced, and a part of the optical signal incident from the input side optical fiber may be stray light.
After propagating in the optical circuit element, it may be coupled to another output optical fiber to cause crosstalk, which may degrade the performance of the optical circuit component and lower the yield. In particular, 40 dB
This has been caused by an optical circuit element having the above-described high crosstalk and an optical circuit element in which input / output waveguides are arranged at opposing positions on the same straight line.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce an optical fiber wiring area in a board of an optical circuit component and the number of wiring steps, reduce the number of optical fiber connecting parts to an optical circuit element, reduce the number of steps, and achieve modularization. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical circuit component capable of realizing suppression of performance degradation of the optical circuit component due to the above and a method of manufacturing the same. Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical circuit aligning apparatus for aligning an optical circuit of an optical circuit component of the present invention.

[0012]

In order to solve the above problems, an optical circuit component according to a first aspect of the present invention is directed to an optical circuit constituted by an optical waveguide on a flat substrate and light entering the optical circuit. And an input / output fiber for output, wherein the input / output waveguide is arranged on the same end face of the substrate by bending provided in the middle of the optical circuit, and the optical input / output is formed on the end face. The fiber is connected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical circuit component according to the first aspect, wherein a relative refractive index difference of the optical waveguide is set higher than a relative refractive index difference of the input / output fiber. Features.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical circuit component according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the input / output optical waveguide is connected to the input / output fiber on the flat substrate. An optical waveguide is arranged, at least one end of the centering optical waveguide is arranged on an end face to which the input / output fiber is connected, and the other end is arranged on an end face to which the optical fiber is not connected. I do.

The optical circuit component according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the optical circuit component according to the third aspect, wherein a part of the optical circuit formed by the optical waveguide on the flat substrate also serves as the alignment optical waveguide. It is characterized by having.

The optical circuit component according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the optical circuit component according to the third aspect, wherein the alignment optical waveguide includes a branch portion, and the terminal branched from the branch portion is the input / output fiber. Are arranged on the end face to be connected.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing an optical circuit component, comprising the steps of:
In the method of manufacturing an optical circuit component for connecting an optical input / output fiber for inputting / outputting light to / from the optical circuit, light is guided to a centering optical waveguide provided on the substrate using the input / output fiber to be connected. And the step of aligning between the input / output fiber and the alignment optical waveguide; the step of moving the input / output fiber to the input / output terminal position of the optical component; and Connecting the input / output fiber and the input / output terminal of the optical circuit after guiding the light again to align the optical circuit and the input / output fiber.

Further, in the optical circuit centering apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, at least one single-core or multi-core first optical fiber which emits light, and a second optical fiber holding the first optical fiber. One optical fiber holding jig, a first optical fiber moving device for moving the first optical fiber holding jig to an arbitrary position, and a single-core or multi-core second An optical fiber, a second optical fiber holding jig for holding the second optical fiber, a second optical fiber moving device for moving the second optical fiber holding jig to an arbitrary position, In an optical circuit centering device comprising an optical circuit element holding table for holding a circuit element, the first optical fiber moving device and the second optical fiber moving device are arranged on one side of the optical circuit holding table. It is characterized by being.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is characterized mainly by the use of the following optical circuit element configuration, component configuration, measuring device configuration, and component manufacturing method.

(I) In the configuration of the optical circuit element, the input optical waveguide and the output optical waveguide of the optical circuit are arranged on the same end face.

(Ii) The relative refractive index difference of the optical waveguide constituting the optical circuit is set to be larger than that of the input / output optical fiber.

(Iii) In the configuration of the optical circuit element, a centering optical waveguide used for connecting the optical circuit and the optical fiber component is provided, and one of the input / output end faces thereof is connected to at least one of the input / output waveguides of the optical circuit. Place on the same end face and the other on another end face.

(Iv) In the configuration of the optical circuit element, an optical waveguide for alignment is provided in advance in the circuit, and the input waveguide and the output waveguide are arranged on different end faces.

(V) In the configuration of the measuring apparatus, an apparatus for individually holding and moving an optical fiber for inputting light to an optical circuit and an optical fiber for receiving light output from an optical circuit element is provided by an optical circuit. The elements are arranged on substantially the same end face side with the input / output optical waveguide.

(Vi) An optical circuit component in which an optical fiber component is connected to the optical circuit element in the component configuration.

(Vii) The method of manufacturing parts is as follows:
The light is guided to the connection optical circuit to perform alignment with the optical fiber component, and if necessary, the light is guided to the first optical circuit to perform alignment.

According to the present invention, the input and output optical fibers of the optical circuit can be arranged in the same direction of the optical circuit component by arranging the input and output optical waveguides of the optical circuit on the same end face. The area can be reduced, and the size of the device can be reduced. In addition, when the input optical waveguide and the output optical waveguide are arranged adjacent to the same end face, the input fiber and the output fiber can be connected to the optical circuit element by the optical fiber components housed in one housing, and the number of components and the man-hour thereof can be reduced. , About half that of the past. Further, since the input optical fiber and the output optical fiber do not face each other, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the performance of the optical circuit components due to the optical axis shift between the input / output optical fiber and the input / output optical waveguide at the time of connection, thereby increasing the yield. Further, if the refractive index difference of the optical waveguide portion is increased, the bending radius can be reduced, so that the optical path can be changed in a narrow area in the optical circuit.

In order to efficiently evaluate and manufacture this optical component, intensive studies have been made. In addition to the configuration of the optical circuit element of the present invention, an optical waveguide configuration for alignment, an optical circuit configuration for connection, and an optical circuit measuring device The structure and connection method of optical fiber parts were found. These have the following effects.

In the connection of an optical fiber component to an optical circuit element according to the present invention, a method of directly guiding light to an optical circuit to be connected and aligning the optical circuit as in the related art is possible.
By arranging the alignment optical circuit used for the connection of the present invention,
Alignment and connection can be performed using the conventional connection procedure, and the connection efficiency per connection point can be made approximately the same as the conventional one. In particular, a configuration in which the input and output optical waveguides make an angle of 0 degree and the input and output waveguides are arranged on the same end face has an advantage that the input and output can be connected collectively by the same optical fiber component, but the alignment operation is not performed. While the input and output move at the same time, the configuration of the present invention enables efficient centering connection.

In the aligning waveguide of the present invention, the input waveguide and the output waveguide are arranged on different end faces. Can be used as an alignment waveguide.

The element evaluation using the optical waveguide for alignment is suitable for easily grasping the performance, and is suitable for extracting defective products at the element stage. However, like a splitter,
When it is difficult to provide the alignment optical waveguide, or when the optical circuit element is severely used and the performance cannot be determined only by the alignment optical waveguide, it is necessary to measure the characteristics at all inputs and outputs.
Conventional optical circuit elements with optical input and output cannot be measured by the measuring device, but can be measured by the measuring device configuration of the present invention, and the same evaluation can be performed as in the past.

As described above, with these configurations, it is possible to provide an optical circuit component for manufacturing a device that is smaller and less expensive than the conventional one, which is the subject of the present invention.

[0033]

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

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of an optical circuit element (optical circuit component) of the present invention. The optical circuit includes an input optical waveguide 101, an output optical waveguide 102, an optical waveguide array 103, a slab waveguide 104, and a first alignment optical waveguide 1.
05, an arrayed waveguide grating 100 in which a second alignment optical waveguide 106 and a measurement auxiliary optical waveguide 107 are formed on a substrate 108. This optical circuit component is the same as that shown in FIG.
In this configuration, the input optical waveguide 1001 and the output optical waveguide 1002 of the conventional array waveguide diffraction grating 1000 shown in FIG. As a part of the array waveguide diffraction grating is used as the alignment optical waveguide,
One end is arranged on an end face adjacent to the end face on which the input / output waveguide is arranged. In addition, since the array waveguide diffraction grating 100 has a steep wavelength selectivity, depending on the wavelength of the light source at the time of alignment, only weak light is output, and alignment may be difficult. Therefore, the measurement-assisting optical waveguide 107 is provided at a position adjacent to the input optical waveguide 101.

The array waveguide diffraction grating 100 is
A silicon substrate was used for No. 8, and a quartz optical waveguide was formed on the silicon substrate. The silica-based optical waveguide is formed by forming a silica-based optical waveguide film consisting of a lower cladding layer and a core layer on a silicon substrate using a flame deposition method, and processing the core layer using LSI photolithography technology and reactive ion etching technology. Then, after forming a ridge-shaped core, a quartz glass layer serving as an upper clad layer was formed again by using a flame deposition method, thereby producing a core. The relative refractive index difference between the core and the clad is 0.75%
The core system of the optical waveguide excluding the slab waveguide 104 is a 6 μm × 6 μm rectangular single mode optical waveguide.
In the waveguide having the relative refractive index difference, the allowable bending radius where the loss can be ignored is 5 mm, and the area required for bending is small. That is, a large area is not required to align the input and output waveguides on the same end face.

Prior to the connection of the input and output fibers, the optical circuit element was inspected for good and bad characteristics. The alignment optical waveguides 105 and 106 described above can be used for this purpose.

The characteristics of the optical circuit element 100 are measured by measuring the distance between the first centering optical waveguide 105 and the second centering optical waveguide 106 with a conventional measuring device, and then measuring in more detail. The input / output optical fiber and the input / output optical waveguide having the configuration of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 are butted (butted).
The measurement was performed with a measuring device. The present apparatus includes a first optical fiber 201
And a first optical fiber holding jig 202 for holding the same.
A first optical fiber moving device 203 for moving them to desired positions, a second optical fiber 204, a second optical fiber holding jig 205 for holding them, and moving them to desired positions. Second optical fiber moving device 206
And an optical circuit element holding table 208 for holding the optical circuit element 207, and the light source 2 connected to the first optical fiber 201.
09 and the photodetector 2 connected to the second optical fiber 204
10 and a control device 211 that controls the first optical fiber moving device 203 and the second optical fiber moving device 206 based on the light intensity of the photodetector 210.

With this configuration, the optical fiber can be abutted against the optical waveguide, but the third optical fiber is used for easier and quicker operation and for measuring the optical circuit element having the conventional input / output configuration. 212, a third optical fiber holding jig 213, and a third optical fiber moving device 214
And the second photodetector 215 is incorporated. The third optical fiber moving device 214 is controlled by the control device 211 based on the light intensity of the second photodetector 215. The first single mode optical fiber 201 converts the optical signal from the light source 209 into the input optical waveguide 216 of the arrayed waveguide diffraction grating 207.
Incident on. The second single mode optical fiber 204 comprises
This is for inputting an output signal from the output optical waveguide 217 of the array waveguide diffraction grating 207 to the photodetector 210. The optical circuit element holding table 208 of the present apparatus includes a Peltier element or the like, and has a configuration capable of controlling the temperature of the optical circuit element.

The optical circuit element holding table 208 has a stepped portion with a height of about 0.5 mm indicated by oblique lines, and it is necessary to fix the optical circuit element 207 on a supporting table so that an orthogonal edge of the optical circuit element 207 is applied to the stepped section. Thus, the position of the waveguide can be determined with an accuracy of about several μm. Therefore, the optical fiber can be moved to the desired optical waveguide end with an accuracy of about several μm.

Although not included in this configuration, the light source 209 and the first photodetector 21 are connected via a multi-channel optical switch.
0, the first optical fiber 201, the second optical fiber 20
By switching the connection with the fourth and third optical fibers 212, the respective optical fibers can be appropriately switched between input and output.

In this embodiment, the optical waveguide and the optical fiber were butted in the following procedure.

Procedure 1. The first optical fiber 201 and the third optical fiber 212 are butted against the measurement-assisting optical waveguide 218.

Procedure 2. The first optical fiber 201 and the third optical fiber 212 are aligned.

Procedure 3. It moves to the input optical waveguide 216 where the first optical fiber 201 abuts.

Procedure 4. It moves to the output optical waveguide 217 where the second optical fiber 204 abuts.

Procedure 5 The first optical fiber 201 and the second optical fiber 204 are aligned.

Procedure 6 After the characteristics are measured, steps 3 to 5 are repeated.

In the procedures 1 and 4, the position of the optical waveguide is accurately determined by fixing the optical circuit element 207 to the optical circuit element holding table 208 as described above. The deviation is several μm or less.

In the procedure 2, the position and the light intensity of the optical fiber are measured by the controller 211 using the light source 209 and the second photodetector 215, and the optical fiber is automatically moved to the position where the light intensity becomes maximum. Go to Thus, the optical waveguide and the optical fiber abut each other with a positional shift of about 0.1 μm or less. Since this precision is mainly determined by the mechanical precision of the optical fiber moving device, the higher the mechanical precision, the more accurate the adjustment.

In the procedure 3, since the position of the waveguide in the procedure 2 can be used as a reference, the displacement between the optical waveguide and the optical fiber is 1
μm or less.

In the procedure 4, the displacement between the optical waveguide and the optical fiber is several μm or less. In this state, the misalignment loss between the first optical fiber 201 and the input waveguide 216 and the second
The total displacement loss between the optical fiber 204 and the output waveguide 217 is about 1 dB. Therefore, the light source 209
Is adjusted so that the light intensity at the first photodetector 210 is maximized.

Next, in step 5, similarly to step 2, the displacement between the optical waveguide and the optical fiber can be reduced to approximately 0.1 μm or less. Thereafter, the characteristics of the arrayed waveguide diffraction grating 200 are changed by sweeping the light wavelength of the light source 209 while the first light detector 21
At 0, the light intensity was measured. The above measurement was repeated for all input / output pairs, and the optical characteristics of the optical circuit element 207 at all input / output were measured. The fabricated optical circuit element 207 had good characteristics in that the loss in the transmission region was 2.5 dB or less and the adjacent channel crosstalk was 30 dB or more. With this device configuration, the optical characteristics of the optical circuit element of the present invention, which were not possible with the conventional device configuration, could be measured with high accuracy.

After confirming the characteristics of the optical circuit element 207, an optical fiber was connected. The optical fiber has a relative refractive index difference of 0.3
% 1.3 μm zero-dispersion fiber was used.

FIG. 3 shows an arrayed waveguide diffraction grating 300 including:
An optical circuit component to which an optical fiber component is connected. An input waveguide composed of a multi-core optical fiber 306 and a fiber fixing block 307 with a glass plate 305 adhered to the upper surface of the optical circuit element 300 on the input / output waveguide side. Optical fiber parts 30
8 to the input waveguide 301 and the multi-core optical fiber 309
And an output waveguide optical fiber component 311 composed of a fiber fixing block 310 and an output waveguide 302. In this embodiment, the multi-core fiber array has 8
Heart ribbon fiber was used. In order to manufacture this optical component, first, a glass plate 305 was attached to the optical circuit element 300, and then the input / output waveguide end face was polished. Next, in order to connect the optical fiber component 308 to the input optical waveguide 301, the light for alignment is converted to the second light by a single optical fiber.
Of the optical waveguide 304 for alignment. Optical fiber and second
The alignment with the alignment optical waveguide 304 was performed using the first alignment waveguide 303. Next, the input optical waveguide optical fiber component 308 is parallel to the substrate of the optical circuit element 300,
Alignment was performed in three directions, vertical and rotational. The alignment was performed such that the light intensity from the input waveguide 301 was maximized. After connecting and fixing the optical fiber component 308, light is input from the optical fiber of the optical fiber component 308 to connect the output waveguide 302 and the optical fiber component 311, and the output optical waveguide 302 and the optical fiber component 311 are connected. After the centering, the connection was fixed.

Although omitted in FIG. 3, similarly to the conventional module configuration of FIG. 11, in order to operate the optical circuit element 300 at a constant temperature, the optical circuit element is made of a heat conductive substrate and the Peltier element is made of a heat conductive substrate. The thermistor was fixed to the heat conductive substrate by bonding with a paste.

FIG. 4 shows an optical circuit component 400 in which an arrayed waveguide diffraction grating is modularized, which is mounted on a board 404. The board size is the same as the board 1205 in FIG. The optical fiber 401 of the optical circuit component 400 was connected via an optical connector 402 to an optical connector adapter 403 serving as an optical interface of the board. In the conventional optical circuit component of FIG. 12, one could not be mounted on the board, but in the present embodiment, two can be mounted. According to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the wiring area of the optical fiber.

Conventionally, even in an optical frequency region where the crosstalk of the optical circuit element 100 of FIG. 1 is 45 dB or more,
In the optical circuit component to which the optical fiber component of FIG.
However, in this example, the performance was substantially the same as that of the optical circuit element. According to the configuration of the present invention, the influence of stray light due to the displacement between the optical fiber and the optical waveguide can be avoided, and the yield of optical circuit components can be improved.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a 1 × 16 optical switch 50 is used as an optical circuit element.
0 is used. The 1 × 16 optical switch has a configuration in which one input optical waveguide 501, 16 output optical waveguides 502, 15 optical switch elements 503, and optical switch elements are connected by an optical waveguide 504. In this embodiment, a 1 × 2 splitter type alignment optical waveguide 505 is provided so as to sandwich a 1 × 16 optical switch so as to sandwich the input / output optical fiber, and two branch ends are used. The output optical waveguide 502 is disposed at an intermediate position between adjacent optical waveguides. The distance between adjacent optical waveguides of the input / output optical waveguide is 25
It was set to 0 μm, and the two-branch-side optical waveguide of the alignment optical waveguide 505 was arranged at a position 125 μm from the adjacent output optical waveguide 502 on the end surface of the optical circuit element.

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the optical switch element 600. Two directional couplers 602 using two optical waveguides 601 and having a distance between the two optical waveguides close to 3 μm.
And a Mach-Zehnder interferometer type optical switch having a heater 603 loaded on one of the optical waveguides therebetween. FIG.
In the 1 × 16 optical switch 500, an optical waveguide was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, and then the heater 603 in FIG. 6 was formed by vapor deposition and processing of TaN. As in Example 1, the relative refractive index difference between the core and the clad was 0.75%, and the core diameter was 6 μm × 6 μm.
m is a single mode optical waveguide.

In this embodiment, the inspection of the optical circuit element was performed by using a configuration in which an optical circuit element holder moving device 702 for moving the optical circuit element holder 208 in the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 was added. The optical circuit element holding table moving device 702 was connected to the control device 211 in FIG.

The optical circuit element 703 includes a 1 × 16 optical switch 704 arranged in a two-circuit array, and cuts after measuring.
We used each circuit. The measurement was performed in the same procedure as in Example 1. An alignment optical waveguide 705 shown in FIG. 7 was used in place of the measurement auxiliary optical waveguide 218 in FIG. After the measurement of one circuit, the optical circuit element chip 703 was moved by the optical circuit element holder moving device 702, and the measurement of the second circuit was performed.
Both circuits had good characteristics with a loss of 2 dB or less and an extinction ratio of 30 dB or more.

After confirming the characteristics of the optical circuit element, an optical fiber was connected. FIG. 8 shows a 1 × 16 optical switch 800.
Is an optical circuit component to which an optical switch component is connected.
And an optical fiber component 80 composed of a 17-core multi-core optical fiber 804 and a fiber fixing block 805.
6 is connected to the input / output waveguide 802. To manufacture this optical component, first, the optical circuit element 800
After attaching the glass plate 803, the end face of the input / output waveguide 802 was polished. Next, the optical fiber component 806 is aligned with the substrate of the optical circuit element 800 in three directions, parallel, perpendicular, and rotational, using the alignment optical waveguide 801. The alignment was performed so that the light intensity in the alignment optical waveguide 801 was maximized. After that, the optical fiber component 806 is
I moved and fixed the connection. Since the optical circuit element 800 is fixed so as to be parallel to the horizontal movement direction of the optical fiber component 806, the input / output optical waveguide 802 and the optical fiber component need not be aligned with the optical circuit itself before connection. There is almost no displacement between the optical fiber 806 and the optical fiber. The loss increase due to the connection was 0.1 dB or less.

By arranging the alignment optical waveguide between the input and output waveguides of the optical circuit as described above, the connection can be performed with low loss without realignment in the optical circuit, and the time of the optical fiber component connecting step can be shortened. . However, in an optical circuit component in which a loss of 0.1 dB must be considered, it is not desirable that the alignment optical waveguide intersects with the optical circuit as in the present embodiment. Is desirable. In this case, the configuration of the optical circuit and the method of connecting the optical fiber parts may be the same as those in the third embodiment. The crosstalk after the connection of the optical fiber components was the same as that of the optical circuit element, and no crosstalk degradation was observed due to stray light that might have been generated in the configuration in which the input and output optical fibers faced each other.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 11, the step of fixing the input / output optical fiber was required at least twice or more. In this embodiment, however, only one connection is possible, and the optical fiber component, And the manufacturing process was reduced by half.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In the optical circuit component of this embodiment, three 1 × 8 splitters 901 are arranged in an array form for three circuits.
The glass plate 903 is adhered to the 1 × 8 splitter array 900 provided with “02” and the multi-core optical fiber 904 having 27 cores and the fiber fixing block 905 as in the first and second embodiments.
And an optical fiber component 906 constituted by the above.

The measurement of the optical characteristics of the optical circuit element 900 is shown in FIG.
The measurement was performed using the apparatus described above. The loss was a good value of 10.2 dB or less. After confirming the characteristics of the optical circuit element, an optical fiber was connected. As in the first and second embodiments, in order to manufacture the optical circuit component shown in FIG.
After the glass plate 903 is attached to the end surface 0, the end surface is polished. Next, using the alignment optical waveguide 902, the optical fiber component 906 is parallel, perpendicular, or perpendicular to the substrate of the optical circuit element 900.
Align in three directions of rotation. The alignment was performed so that the light intensity in the alignment optical waveguide 902 was maximized. After that, the optical fiber component 906 is added to the 1 × 8 splitter 901.
Was moved, the alignment was performed again by the optical circuit, and the connection was fixed. The increase in loss due to the connection was 0.05 dB or less.

In the above-described embodiment, the input / output optical waveguides are arranged on one side of the rectangular optical circuit element. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the optical circuit element may have an arc shape, a polygonal shape, or the like. And the angle between each input and output fiber is 9
If it is 0 degrees or less, a similar effect can be obtained.

Although a quartz-based optical waveguide is used for the optical waveguide, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a multi-component glass optical waveguide, a LiNbO ₃ optical waveguide, a semiconductor optical waveguide,
A plastic optical waveguide or the like can be applied.

The input optical waveguide and the output optical waveguide have been specified and described. However, this is for the purpose of explanation. Depending on how the optical circuit is used, the input waveguide is the output waveguide and the output waveguide is the input waveguide. It becomes a wave. The same applies to the name of the optical fiber connected to the optical circuit element.

In the apparatus for aligning (batting) the input / output optical fiber and the input / output optical waveguide shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the input is arranged on the upper optical fiber and the output is arranged on the lower optical fiber. However, the arrangement is not limited to this, and the arrangement can be reversed in accordance with the convenience of the measurement of the optical circuit element.

Although the input and output optical fibers in FIGS. 6 and 7 are single-core, the present invention is not limited to this, and an optical fiber of a multi-core array can be used.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention, there are provided: 1. It is possible to realize an optical circuit component with high mounting efficiency that can reduce the size of the device, and The effects of reducing the number of manufacturing steps of the optical circuit component and suppressing the performance degradation of the optical circuit element can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical circuit element according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an alignment device for an optical fiber and an optical waveguide of the measuring device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the optical circuit component according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the board according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of an optical circuit component according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an optical switch element according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram near an optical circuit element holding base according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top view of an optical circuit component according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a top view of an optical circuit component according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional optical circuit element.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a conventional optical circuit component.

FIG. 12 is a top view of a conventional board.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Array waveguide diffraction grating (optical circuit element) 101 Input optical waveguide 102 Output optical waveguide 103 Optical waveguide array 104 Slab waveguide 105 First alignment optical waveguide 106 Second alignment optical waveguide 107 Measurement auxiliary optical waveguide Waveguide 108 Substrate 201 First optical fiber 202 First optical fiber holder 203 First optical fiber moving device 204 Second optical fiber 205 Second optical fiber holding device 206 Second optical fiber moving device 207 Array guide Wave path diffraction grating (optical circuit element) 208 Optical circuit element holding base 209 Light source 210 Photodetector 211 Controller 212 Third optical fiber 213 Third optical fiber holding jig 214 Third optical fiber moving device 215 Second Photodetector 216 Input optical waveguide 217 Output optical waveguide 218 Measurement auxiliary optical waveguide 300 A Ray waveguide diffraction grating (optical circuit element) 301 Input optical waveguide 302 Output optical waveguide 303 First alignment optical waveguide 304 Second alignment optical waveguide 305 Glass plate 306 Multi-core optical fiber 307 Fiber fixing block 308 Input optical waveguide optical fiber component 309 Multi-core optical fiber 310 Fiber fixing block 311 Output optical waveguide optical fiber component 400 Optical circuit component 401 Optical fiber 402 Optical fiber connector 403 Optical fiber adapter 404 Board 500 1 × 16 optical switch (optical Circuit element) 501 Input optical waveguide 502 Output optical waveguide 503 Optical switch element 504 Optical waveguide 600 Optical switch element 601 Optical waveguide 602 Directional coupler 603 Heater 701 Optical circuit element holder 702 Optical circuit element holder moving device 7 Reference Signs List 3 optical circuit element chip 704 1 × 16 optical switch 705 alignment optical waveguide 800 1 × 16 optical switch (optical circuit element) 801 alignment optical waveguide 802 input / output optical waveguide 803 glass plate 804 multi-core optical fiber 805 light Fiber fixing block 806 Optical fiber component 900 1 × 8 splitter array (optical circuit element) 901 1 × 8 splitter 902 Alignment optical waveguide 903 Glass plate 904 Multi-core optical fiber 905 Fiber fixing block 906 Optical fiber component 1000 Array guide Waveguide grating (optical circuit element) 1001 input optical waveguide 1002 output optical waveguide 1003 optical waveguide array 1004 slab waveguide 1005 substrate 1100 array waveguide diffraction grating (optical circuit element) 1101 input optical waveguide 1102 output optical waveguide 1103 multi-core optical fiber1104 Fiber fixing block 1105 Optical fiber component 1106 Glass plate 1107 Multi-core optical fiber 1108 Fiber fixing block 1109 Optical fiber component 1110 Glass plate 1111 Thermal conductive substrate 1112 Peltier element 1113 Thermistor 1200 Optical circuit component 1201 Input optical fiber 1202 Output light Fiber 1203 Optical fiber connector 1204 Optical connector adapter 1205 Board

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Kuniharu Kato 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Japan Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Fumiaki Hanawa 3-9-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co., Ltd. (72) Oota Suzuki, inventor 3--19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co., Ltd. No. 2 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Tsutomu Kito 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Japan Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Hiroshi Takahashi 3-19 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Nakagome 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An optical circuit component comprising an optical circuit formed of an optical waveguide and an input / output fiber for inputting / outputting light to / from the optical circuit formed on a plane substrate, wherein the optical circuit component is provided in the optical circuit. An optical circuit component, wherein the input / output waveguide is arranged on the same end face of the substrate by bending, and the optical input / output fiber is connected at the end face. 2. The optical circuit component according to claim 1, wherein a relative refractive index difference of said optical waveguide is set higher than a relative refractive index difference of said input / output fiber. 3. An alignment optical waveguide used for connecting the input / output optical waveguide and the input / output fiber is disposed on the flat substrate, and at least one end of the alignment optical waveguide is connected to the input / output fiber. 2. The optical circuit component according to claim 1, wherein the optical circuit component is disposed on an end face to which the optical fiber is connected, and the other end is disposed on an end face to which the optical fiber is not connected. 4. The optical circuit component according to claim 3, wherein a part of the optical circuit formed by the optical waveguide on the flat substrate also serves as the alignment optical waveguide. 5. The alignment optical waveguide according to claim 3, wherein the alignment optical waveguide includes a branch portion, and a terminal branched from the branch portion is disposed on an end face to which the input / output fiber is connected. Optical circuit components. 6. A method of manufacturing an optical circuit component for connecting an optical input / output fiber for inputting / outputting light to / from an optical circuit formed by an optical waveguide on a plane substrate, wherein the input / output fiber to be connected is used. Guiding the light to the alignment optical waveguide provided on the substrate, and aligning the input / output fiber and the alignment optical waveguide, and connecting the input / output fiber to the optical component. Moving the optical circuit to the input / output terminal position and, if necessary, guiding the light again to the optical circuit and aligning the optical circuit with the input / output fiber, and then inputting the input / output fiber and the optical circuit. Connecting an output terminal; and a method for producing an optical circuit component. 7. A single-core or multi-core first optical fiber for emitting at least one light, a first optical fiber holding jig for holding the first optical fiber, and the first light A first optical fiber moving device for moving a fiber holding jig to an arbitrary position, a single-core or multi-core second optical fiber into which at least one light is incident, and holding the second optical fiber Light comprising a second optical fiber holding jig, a second optical fiber moving device for moving the second optical fiber holding jig to an arbitrary position, and an optical circuit element holder for holding an optical circuit element An optical circuit centering device, wherein the first optical fiber moving device and the second optical fiber moving device are arranged on one side of the optical circuit holding base.