JPH10268157A - Optical part assembly, optical module and optical module aligning method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical part assembly, an optical module and an optical module aligning method, substantially simplifying an assembly work. SOLUTION: This optical part assembly 17 connects an optical communication part 18 having at least two optical communication paths and another optical part 19 to each other via at least one aspherical lens 12 and an optical branching filter 16. In this case, a first spacer 13 and a second spacer 14 for restricting a distance to the optical parts 18 and 19 from the aspherical lens 12 are fixed to both sides of the aspherical lens 12 to form an optical unit 11. In addition, the optical branching filter 16 is fixed to the optical unit 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical component assembly used for an optical communication component and capable of easily adjusting a position, an optical module using the same, and an optical module centering method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical module has been used for multiplexing / demultiplexing optical communication. FIG. 6 schematically shows an optical module using the conventional optical component assembly. As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional optical module 01 is provided on a base 02,
A fiber collimator 05 composed of a two-core optical fiber array 03 having two optical paths and a first aspheric lens 04, and an optical multiplexer / demultiplexer (WDM: Wavelength Division)
Multiplexing) 06, a second aspheric lens 07, and a laser diode 08 as a light emitting element are coaxially arranged to constitute a multiplexing transmitter.

In the above-mentioned configuration, the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 06 has a λ2
(= 1.48 μm), and λ1 (=
(1.55 .mu.m), in the optical module 01, the light of .lambda.2 (1.48 .mu.m) emitted from the laser diode 08 is reflected by the second aspherical lens 07, the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 06 and the first The light sequentially passes through the spherical lens 04 and enters the first fiber P1. On the other hand, the second optical fiber P
The light of λ1 (= 1.55 μm) introduced from 2 is reflected by the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 06 and enters the first optical fiber P1. In this way, light of another wavelength can be combined with an optical fiber transmission line on which an optical signal of a certain wavelength is transmitted.

[0004]

However, in assembling the above-mentioned conventional optical module, since the two-core fiber collimator 05 is formed by the two-core optical fiber array 03 and the first aspherical lens 04, a mistake is made. When the optical axis is the Z axis, the alignment is performed by tilting the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 06 (rotation about the Y axis, which is a vertical axis in the figure), and tilting (rotation about the horizontal axis in the figure, about the X axis). Must be corrected by performing the two angle adjustments.

Further, it is necessary to adjust the distance between the fiber collimator 05 and the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer (WDM) 06 and the distance between the second aspheric lens 07 and the laser diode 08. For this reason, the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 06 is used for making the optical module.
It takes time to adjust the tilt and tilt of the camera, and there is a problem that the accuracy of the alignment is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical component assembly, an optical module, and a method of aligning an optical module in which an assembling operation is greatly simplified.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided:
An optical component assembly for connecting an optical communication component having at least two optical paths and another optical component through at least one aspheric lens and an optical multiplexer / demultiplexer, wherein the optical component assembly is provided on both sides of the aspheric lens. An optical unit is configured by fixing a first spacer and a second spacer that regulate a distance between the aspheric lens and the optical component, and one of the first and second spacers of the optical unit includes the optical coupling. An optical component assembly in which a wave device is fixed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, further another optical unit is fixed to the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer on the side opposite to the optical unit. It is in three dimensions. A third aspect of the present invention is a method according to the first or second aspect.
In the optical component assembly, the optical unit and the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer are fixed in a single cylindrical body.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical component assembly according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein an optical communication component having at least two optical paths is closely arranged on one end side of the optical component assembly, An optical module having a photodetector disposed on an end side. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, while an optical communication component having at least two optical paths is closely arranged on one end side of the optical component assembly according to any one of the first to third aspects, An optical module comprising a light emitting element.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical component assembly according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein optical communication components having at least two optical paths are closely arranged at both ends of the optical component assembly. An optical module characterized in that: A seventh aspect of the present invention is the optical module according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, wherein the optical communication component having the at least two optical paths is a two-core optical fiber array. .

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, when assembling the optical module according to any one of the fourth to seventh aspects in a cylindrical member, at least one of the optical component assembly and the optical component connected thereto. On one outer circumference, a plurality of eccentric sleeves whose thickness is deviated in the circumferential direction are provided concentrically, and by rotating this eccentric sleeve with respect to the cylindrical member,
An alignment method for an optical module, comprising adjusting an optical axis between the optical component assembly and the optical component.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in assembling the optical module according to any one of the fourth to seventh aspects, at least one of the optical component assembly and the optical component connected thereto is provided with an eccentric rotating shaft. By placing on a pair of eccentric rollers each having, and by rotating these eccentric rollers,
An alignment method for an optical module, comprising adjusting an optical axis between the optical component assembly and the optical component.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an optical module according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view thereof. The optical module according to the first embodiment is an example of a splitting optical receiver that receives only a specific wavelength.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a structure in which a first spacer 13 and a second spacer 14 are fixed on both sides of an aspheric lens 12, and these are integrally fixed in a cylindrical body 15. An optical multiplexer / demultiplexer (WDM) 16 is fixed to the second spacer 14 side of the optical unit 11, thereby constituting an optical component assembly 17.

An optical fiber array 18 having a two-core fiber (P1, P2) 20, which is an optical communication component, is arranged on the end face side of the first spacer 13 of the optical component assembly 17 so as to be tightly fixed. Have been. On the other hand, the optical component assembly 1
At the end face of the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 7 on the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16 side, a photodiode 19 as a photodetector is arranged, thereby constituting an optical demultiplexer as an optical module.

The optical fiber array 18 has, for example, an outer diameter L1 of 2.5 mm and an interval L2 between the first fiber P1 and the first fiber P2 of the optical fiber 20 of 0.684.
mm. Note that this interval L2
Is known to be calculated from the focal length f of the aspherical lens and the optimum incident angle θ to the WDM by the following equation: L2 = ftanθ.

The first spacer 13 and the second spacer 14 regulate the distance between the aspheric lens 12 and the optical fiber array 18 and the photodetector 19, which are optical communication components, respectively. The connection end face of the array 18 and the light detecting portion of the light detector 19 are
Has a thickness such that it is arranged at the focal position of Accordingly, the axial alignment can be performed only by bringing the optical fiber array 18 and the photodiode 19 into close contact with both sides of the optical component assembly 17.

Thereafter, the optical axis is adjusted by the optical fiber array 1.
The optical axis alignment of 8 is completed by performing only the X axis and the Y axis orthogonal to the Z axis when the optical axis direction is the Z axis.
The optical axis is adjusted by adjusting the optical fiber array 18 along the end face of the first spacer 13 so that the light reflected from the second fiber P2 by the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16 and entering the first fiber P1 has the maximum light amount. It is done so that it becomes.

As described above, in this embodiment, the spacers 13 and 1 are provided on the aspherical lens 12 as the optical component assembly 17.
Since the lens 4 is integrally fixed, there is no need to position the aspherical lens itself as in the related art. The optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16
Is fixed to the end face of the second spacer 14 of the optical component assembly 17, and its inclination is fixed. Therefore, the inclination of the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16 is equivalent to the position in the surface direction by the aspheric lens 12. Has been converted to. Therefore, it is not necessary to independently adjust the tilt and tilt of the conventional optical multiplexer / demultiplexer, and the conventional tilt and tilt can be achieved by performing alignment along the surface direction with the connected optical component. Can be replaced by the adjustment.

FIG. 2 shows an example of optical axis alignment according to the first embodiment.
Shown in As shown in FIG.
8 at eccentric positions from the center.
The eccentric rollers 22A and 22B are placed on the eccentric rollers 22A and 22B having the first and second eccentric rollers 22A and 22B, respectively. Are moved along the X axis direction and the Y axis direction orthogonal to the optical axis Z axis. The optical axis can be aligned by this movement.

In the optical module thus configured, it is assumed that the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16 transmits light of λ2 (= 1.48 μm) and reflects light of λ1 (= 1.55 μm). Here, the optical fiber 2 of the optical fiber array 18
When light of λ2 (= 1.48 μm) and λ1 (= 1.55 μm) is introduced from the first fiber P1 of 0, λ2 (=
The light of 1.48 .mu.m) passes through the aspheric lens 12 and the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16, and is received by the photodiode 19. The light from the first fiber P1 is .lambda.1 (= 1.55 .mu.m).
Is reflected by the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 18 and the second optical fiber P
2 and the photodiode 19 has a specific wavelength (λ2).
Only light is received.

Next, another embodiment of the optical axis alignment is shown in FIG.
Shown in As shown in FIG. 3, in this case, the optical component assembly 1
It is necessary that the central axis of the optical fiber array 18 and the optical axis of the aspherical lens coincide with each other over the outer periphery of 7 in the circumferential direction.
Accordingly, the double eccentric sleeves, each of which has the eccentric sleeves 31 and 32 eccentric in thickness in the circumferential direction, are rotatably fitted inside the cylindrical body 33 while the outer circumference of the optical fiber array 18 is fitted. , A sleeve 34 having an even thickness is fixed, and this is fixed inside the cylindrical body 33. Therefore, by rotating the eccentric sleeves 31 and 32 with respect to the cylindrical body 33, the optical component assembly 17 can be moved in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis, thereby adjusting the optical axis position. it can.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
1 shows a schematic diagram of an optical module according to the embodiment. This second embodiment shows an example of a multiplexing transmitter that combines light from a laser diode of another wavelength into an optical fiber transmission line on which an optical signal of a certain wavelength is transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 4, an optical component assembly 40 according to the present embodiment includes a first spacer 13 and a second spacer 14 on both sides of an aspheric lens 12 similar to that shown in FIG.
The optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16 is fixed on the second spacer 14 side of the first optical unit 11 to which the optical unit 41 is fixed.
Are fixed, and these are integrally stored and held in the cylindrical body 45.

The optical unit 41 has a third spacer 43 and a fourth spacer 44 fixed on both sides of a second aspheric lens 42. Here, the third spacer 43 and the fourth spacer 44 are connected to the aspheric lens 42 and the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 1.
6 and a distance from the light emitting element 46 as an optical component.

The optical component assembly 40 of this embodiment can be configured as an optical module by disposing the optical fiber array 18 and the light emitting element 46 on both sides in close contact with each other. In this embodiment, a laser diode is used as the light emitting element 46 provided on the end face side of the fourth spacer 44 to emit specific light. Further, since the fourth spacer 44 is provided with a laser diode 46 as a light emitting element on an end face thereof,
The thickness is set so that the second aspheric lens 42 is focused on the light emitting portion. Also in this embodiment, the optical fiber array 18 is provided at both ends of the optical component assembly 40.
In addition, just by tightly fixing the laser diode 46, positioning in the axial direction can be performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above. The position adjustment in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis can be performed in the same manner as in the above-described first embodiment.

In the optical module thus configured, λ 2 (= 1.48 μm) from the laser diode 46 is used.
m) oscillates, λ2 (=
The light of 1.48 μm) sequentially passes through the second aspheric lens 42, the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16, and the first aspheric lens 12, and is introduced into the first fiber P1. On the other hand, the light of λ1 (= 1.55 μm) incident from the second fiber P2 is reflected by the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16 and enters the first optical fiber P1, and is combined with the light of λ2 from the laser diode 46. Is done. [Third Embodiment] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an optical module assembly according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment shows an example of an optical multiplexer that combines light of another wavelength into an optical fiber transmission line through which an optical signal of a certain wavelength is transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the optical module according to the present embodiment is provided on both sides of the optical component assembly 40 shown in FIG.
A two-core fiber array 18A, 1 similar to that shown in FIG.
8B is closely arranged. The thickness of the fourth spacer 44 of the present embodiment is set such that the focal point of the aspherical lens 42 is located on the end face of the fourth spacer 44 because it is closely attached to the optical fiber array 18B. The alignment in such an optical module is the same as in the above-described embodiment.

In such an optical module, λ is input from the first optical fiber P1 in the optical fiber 20A.
The light of 1 (= 1.55 μm) is reflected by the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16 and transmitted to the second fiber P2. Optical fiber 2
Λ3 (=
(1.55 μm) is reflected by the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16 and transmitted to the fourth fiber P4. Also, the first optical fiber P
The light of .lambda.2 (= 1.48 .mu.m) incident from 1 is transmitted through the first aspheric lens 12, the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16, and the second aspheric lens 42 in order, and is introduced into the fourth fiber P4. Further, λ4 incident from the second optical fiber P2
The light of (= 1.48 μm) passes through the aspheric lens 12, the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer 16, and the second aspheric lens 42 and is introduced into the third optical fiber P3.

In each of the embodiments described above, an optical fiber has been described as an example of an optical communication component having two optical paths. However, any optical waveguide such as an optical waveguide may be used. However, the present invention is not limited to optical fibers. In addition, although a photodiode is exemplified as the photodetector, any other detector that detects light may be used.
It is not limited to photodiodes. In addition, although a laser diode is exemplified as the light emitting element, any other light emitting element may be used, and the light emitting element is not limited to the laser diode.

[0031]

As described above, in the present invention, the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer is fixed to the aspherical lens via the spacer to constitute the optical component assembly. The thickness can be regulated, and the inclination of the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer is replaced by the alignment in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis by the aspherical lens, so that the alignment at the time of assembling the optical module becomes very easy. To play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an optical module according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the optical module according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another optical module centering method according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of an optical module according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of an optical module according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of an optical module according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 optical unit 12 aspheric lens 13 first spacer 14 second spacer 16 optical multiplexer / demultiplexer (WDM) 17 optical component assembly 18 optical fiber array 19 photodetector (photodiode) 20 optical fiber (P1, P2, P3, P4) 21 Eccentric rotation shaft 22 Eccentric roller 31, 32 Eccentric sleeve 40 Optical component assembly 41 Optical unit 42 Second aspheric lens 43 Third spacer 44 Fourth spacer 45 Cylindrical body 46 Light emitting element

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Shinji Nagaoka 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Japan Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Bunka Ohira 3-19, Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An optical component assembly for connecting an optical communication component having at least two optical paths and another optical component via at least one aspheric lens and an optical multiplexer / demultiplexer, wherein: An optical unit is configured by fixing a first spacer and a second spacer that regulate the distance between the aspheric lens and the optical component on both sides of the spherical lens, and one of the first and second spacers of the optical unit is configured. An optical component assembly, wherein the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer is fixed. 2. The optical component assembly according to claim 1, wherein another optical unit is fixed to the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer on a side opposite to the optical unit. 3. The optical component assembly according to claim 1, wherein the optical unit and the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer are fixed in a single cylinder. 4. An optical component assembly according to claim 1, wherein an optical communication component having at least two optical paths is closely arranged on one end side, and a photodetector is arranged on the other end side. An optical module, comprising: 5. An optical component assembly according to claim 1, wherein an optical communication component having at least two optical paths is closely arranged on one end side, and a light emitting element is arranged on the other end side. An optical module, comprising: 6. An optical module, wherein optical communication components having at least two optical paths are closely arranged on both ends of the optical component assembly according to claim 1. 7. The optical module according to claim 4, wherein the optical communication component having at least two optical paths is a two-core optical fiber array. 8. When the optical module according to any one of claims 4 to 7 is disposed in a cylindrical member and assembled, a thickness of at least one of the outer periphery of the optical component assembly and the optical component connected thereto is thick. A plurality of eccentric sleeves deviated in the circumferential direction are provided concentrically, and the eccentric sleeve is rotated with respect to the cylindrical member to adjust the optical axis between the optical component assembly and the optical component. A method for aligning an optical module, comprising: 9. When assembling the optical module according to claim 4, at least one of said optical component assembly and an optical component connected thereto is mounted on a pair of eccentric rollers each having an eccentric rotation axis. And an optical axis between the optical component assembly and the optical component is adjusted by rotating these eccentric rollers.