JPH1184181A - Optical coupler - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate fixing of an optical fiber and to ensure the fail-proof coupling of an optical element and the optical fiber by fitting specific plural ridges to each other, thereby positioning the optical element and the optical fiber. SOLUTION: The first ridge 2 and second ridge 2 which are the ridges for alignment arrayed in an X direction and the third ridge 4 which is the ridge for mounting an LD (semiconductor laser) are formed by anisotropic etching of the (111) face of Si on a packaging substrate 1 for the LD cut out at the (100) face. On the other hand, the fourth ridge 12 and fifth ridge 13 which are the ridges for alignment and the sixth ridge 14 which is the ridge for mounting the optical fiber and a V-groove 15 for the optical fiber are formed by anisotropic etching of the (111) face of the Si on a packaging substrate 11 for the optical fiber cut out at the (100) face. The substrates 1 and 11 are coupled by fitting the ridges 2, 3 to 12, 13 and 14. As a result, an electrode 5 is formed on the ridge 4 and the alignment of the active layer of the LD 6 bonded thereon and the core of the optical fiber 16 inserted into the groove 15 is made possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical coupler.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of prior art, there is one disclosed in, for example, "Literature: Proceedings of the 1995 IEICE General Conference Proceedings, Electronics 1, p. 185". FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of such a conventional optical element module.

[0003] As shown in FIG.
An LD (semiconductor laser) 103 and an optical fiber 104 are mounted on a mounting substrate 101 in which a groove 102 is formed, and a holding substrate 10 having a concave portion 106 and a V groove 107 covering an optical coupling portion.
5 holds the optical fiber 104 therebetween.
Reference numeral 108 denotes a fixing groove, and 109 denotes an adhesive fixing portion.

[0004]

However, in the structure of the above-mentioned conventional optical element module, in order to make the height of the active layer of the LD 103 and the core of the optical fiber 104 coincide with each other, the optical fiber 104 and the mounting substrate 101 must be connected. There is a problem that it is necessary to support the V-grooves 102 and 107 at both points of the holding substrate 105 at four points, and it is necessary to manufacture both the V-grooves 102 and 107 with high accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical coupler which eliminates the above problems, facilitates fixing of an optical fiber, and can accurately couple an optical element and an optical fiber.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides: [1] An optical coupler manufactured by anisotropic etching using the (111) plane of silicon of an optical device mounting substrate. A plurality of ridges, and a plurality of ridges manufactured by anisotropic etching using the silicon (111) plane of the optical fiber mounting substrate. Is positioned.

[2] In an optical coupler, a first ridge and a second ridge manufactured by anisotropic etching using a silicon (111) plane of a mounting substrate for an optical element, and the first ridge and the second ridge. Silicon (111) between the second ridges
A third ridge for mounting an optical element formed by anisotropic etching using a surface, a fourth ridge manufactured by anisotropic etching using a silicon (111) plane of an optical fiber mounting substrate, and A fifth ridge, and a sixth ridge for mounting an optical element formed by anisotropic etching using a (111) plane of silicon between the fourth ridge and the fifth ridge.
Ridge and the silicon ridge (111)
An optical fiber alignment V-groove formed by anisotropic etching using a surface; and an optical fiber pressing plate for fixing an optical fiber in the optical fiber alignment V-groove.
Is fitted between the fourth ridge and the sixth ridge, and the second ridge is fitted between the fifth ridge and the sixth ridge to position the optical element and the optical fiber. It was made.

[3] In the optical coupler according to the above [2], the third ridge for mounting the optical element has a trapezoidal shape, and an end surface type optical element is mounted on the upper surface of the trapezoidal shape. The tip of the optical fiber fixed to the V-groove for aligning optical fibers is fixed at a position corresponding to the active layer of the end face type optical element. [4] In the optical coupler according to the above [1], [2] or [3], the optical element is a light emitting element.

[5] In the optical coupler according to the above [1], [2] or [3], the optical element is a light receiving element.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an optical coupler showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the optical coupler, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2, and FIG. It is a top view. As shown in these figures,
A first ridge 2 and a second ridge 3 as alignment ridges arranged in the X direction by anisotropic etching of the (111) plane of Si on the LD mounting substrate 1 cut out at the (100) plane; A third ridge 4, which is an LD mounting ridge, is formed.

An LD mounting ridge (third ridge)
An electrode 5 is formed on 4, on which an LD 6 is bonded and wire-bonded. Here, the LD mounting ridge (third ridge) 4 has a trapezoidal shape, and is formed so as to be shifted from the sixth ridge described later in the Y direction during assembly. In addition, LD6
This is an edge emitting type LD, which is positioned with the tip of an optical fiber described later.

On the other hand, the optical fiber mounting substrate 11 cut out from the (100) plane is anisotropically etched on the (111) plane of Si, and the fourth ridge 12 and the fifth ridge 13 serving as alignment ridges and the optical ridge are separated from each other. A sixth ridge 14, which is a fiber mounting ridge, and an optical fiber V-groove 15 are formed.
Here, the optical fiber mounting ridge (sixth ridge) 14
Is Y with the LD mounting ridge (third ridge) 4 during assembly.
It is formed so as to be shifted in the direction (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

The optical fiber 16 is inserted into the optical fiber V-groove 15 and is fixed by an optical fiber pressing plate 17. An alignment ridge (first ridge) 2 is provided between an alignment ridge (fourth ridge) 12 and an optical fiber mounting ridge (sixth ridge) 14, and an alignment ridge (fifth ridge).
An alignment ridge (second ridge) 3 is fixed between the optical fiber mounting ridge 13 and the optical fiber mounting ridge (sixth ridge) 14 so as to fit each other.

By fitting the LD mounting substrate 1 and the optical fiber mounting substrate 11 to the alignment ridges 2, 3, 12, and 13 and the optical fiber mounting ridge 14, the active layer of the LD 6 and the optical fiber 16 are connected. The alignment of the core can be performed (see FIG. 3). Thus, according to this embodiment,
Since the alignment ridges 2, 3, 12, 13 and the optical fiber mounting ridge 14 are fitted to each other to perform the alignment, the LD 6 and the optical fiber 16 can be mounted on another substrate. Optical fiber 16 that could not be used conventionally
The three-point support by the optical fiber V-groove 15 and the optical fiber holding plate 17 becomes possible, and only the optical fiber V-groove 15 requires high accuracy.

Regarding the alignment ridges 2, 3, 12, and 13 and the optical fiber mounting ridge 14, since fitting is performed on the slope of each ridge, a certain degree of width accuracy is required.
The accuracy does not matter as long as the height is more than a certain level. Also, S
For the deviation of the anisotropic etching width of the (111) plane of i,
Conventionally, the deviation of the etching depth due to the deviation of the width is LD6
Of the core of the optical fiber 16 with the active layer of
In this embodiment, the center of the fitting portion between the alignment ridges 2 and 12 and the optical fiber mounting ridge 14 and the fitting portion between the alignment ridges 3 and 13 and the optical fiber mounting ridge 14 where the displacement in the height direction occurs. Since there is a coupling portion between the LD 6 and the optical fiber 16 in a close place, if one of them is shifted, it is １ ／ of the conventional one.
In this case, the accuracy of manufacturing is reduced, such that the two are offset in the opposite direction, and the two are offset in the same direction to achieve the same offset as in the prior art.

In this embodiment, the LD 6 and the optical fiber 16
The ridges made by anisotropic etching using the (111) plane of silicon were used for alignment for bonding, but it can also be used for other alignment where high precision is required. It is. In the above embodiment, an LD as a light emitting element has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a light receiving element instead.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (A) According to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the optical fiber can be easily fixed and the optical element and the optical fiber can be accurately coupled.

(B) According to the third aspect of the present invention, the alignment between the optical element and the optical fiber is accurately performed by fitting the plurality of ridges of the optical element mounting substrate and the optical fiber mounting substrate to each other. Can be done. (C) According to the fourth aspect of the invention, it is possible to accurately position the light emitting element and the optical fiber.

(D) According to the fifth aspect of the invention, it is possible to accurately position the light receiving element and the optical fiber.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an optical coupler showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an optical coupler showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an optical coupler showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional optical element module.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 LD mounting substrate cut out on (100) plane 2 Alignment ridge (first ridge) 3 Alignment ridge (second ridge) 4 LD mounting ridge (third ridge) 5 Electrode 6 LD 11 (100 ) Surface of optical fiber mounting substrate 12 Alignment ridge (fourth ridge) 13 Alignment ridge (fifth ridge) 14 Optical fiber mounting ridge (sixth ridge) 15 V-groove for optical fiber 16 light Fiber 17 Optical fiber holding plate

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) Silicon (1) of a mounting substrate for an optical element
11) a plurality of ridges manufactured by anisotropic etching using the surface, and (b) a plurality of ridges manufactured by anisotropic etching using the (111) surface of silicon of the optical fiber mounting substrate, (C) The optical coupler, wherein the plurality of ridges are fitted to each other to position the optical element and the optical fiber. (A) Silicon (1) of the optical device mounting substrate
11) The first manufactured by anisotropic etching using the surface
And a second ridge, and (b) a third ridge for mounting an optical element formed by anisotropic etching using the (111) plane of silicon between the first ridge and the second ridge. And (c) the silicon (1) of the mounting substrate for the optical fiber.
11) The fourth manufactured by anisotropic etching using the surface
And (d) a sixth ridge for mounting an optical fiber formed by anisotropic etching using the (111) plane of silicon between the fourth ridge and the fifth ridge.
And (e) silicon (11) in the sixth ridge.
1) An optical fiber alignment V-groove formed by anisotropic etching using a surface, and (f) an optical fiber holding plate for fixing an optical fiber in the optical fiber alignment V-groove,
(G) connecting the first ridge between the fourth ridge and the sixth ridge, and connecting the second ridge to the fifth ridge and the sixth ridge.
Characterized in that the optical coupler is fitted between the ridges to position the optical element and the optical fiber. 3. The optical coupler according to claim 2, wherein the third ridge for mounting the optical element has a trapezoidal shape, and an end surface type optical element is mounted on an upper surface of the trapezoidal shape. An optical coupler wherein an end of an optical fiber fixed to the optical fiber alignment V-groove is fixed at a position corresponding to an active layer of the optical element. 4. The optical coupler according to claim 1, wherein the optical element is a light emitting element. 5. The optical coupler according to claim 1, wherein the optical element is a light receiving element.