JPS58152213A - Method for shaping terminal of optical fiber array - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shape the terminals of plural optical fibers which are arrayed and stuck to a substrate by immersing the terminals in parallel into an etching soln., and shaping the same to a tapered shape having a specified and uniform extent of projection. CONSTITUTION:Optical fibers 71, 72, 73 are first projected by a required extent from the end face 2 of a substrate and are fixed to the substrate. When the end faces thereof are etched in an etching soln. 9, the terminals 81, 82, 83 of the fibers 71, 72, 73 are unified to a specified length from the end face 2 and are tapered like 81', 82', 83'. The tips in the terminal parts are then cut flush and the end faces 81'', 82'', 83'' cut by the arc discharge from electrodes 13, 13 are made semispherical. The terminals having high optical coupling efficiency are obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for shaping the terminals of an optical fiber array that is optically coupled to light emitting elements arranged in an array.(b) Background of the technology In recent years, optical communications In this field, light-emitting element arrays have been developed, in which many light-emitting elements such as semiconductor lasers are arranged side by side on the same substrate. It is claimed that an optical fiber array is capable of combining a light emitting element array with high efficiency and high efficiency.
Please refer to the diagram to clarify.

(A) of Figure 1 is a perspective view of an end piece of the optical 7-eye fiber array before shaping, and (B) is a perspective view after shaping.

In FIG. 1(a), IFi is a rectangular semiconductor (
For example, with a (silicon) substrate, the end surface 2 of the substrate is
Multiple (3 in -) jus (3 in -) with equal pitch and perpendicular to .
For example, V@)4 is suginari. In each monument 4, the f4 zero 6 of the original fiber 5 is inserted so as to protrude from the substrate direction 2 into the PJr wrapper, and is solidified with, for example, a molding agent to form an optical 7 fiber array.

However, each light 7 eye pa 5 Elll! Since the distance between the tip end face of the l end 6 and the end face 2t of the substrate is uneven, when mounted facing the light emitting element array (not shown),
The distance from the light emitting surface of the corresponding light emitting element varies, and the optical coupling loss is extremely large.

Therefore, as shown in Figure 1 (b), the terminal 6 and the board end t
h+2 is used as firewood l when the optical fiber 5 is fixed, so that the end surface 2' of the new 1 board and the tip surface 6' at the end of the new layer are made into a 4-1 plane. In addition to this, the tip surface 6' of each optical fiber 5 and the light emitting surface of each corresponding light emitting element are brought close to each other as desired (for example, 20 μgI@~30 μm).
This improves the optical coupling efficiency.

However, since the light beam emitted from the light emitting element has a spread angle t, a light beam having an incident angle larger than the acceptance angle corresponding to the NA of the original fiber cannot be confined within the optical fiber. Therefore, like Kenmai, former fiber 5
If the tip if+6' is a flat plane perpendicular to the axis of the optical fiber, the optical coupling efficiency is 20%. When the light beam approaches the light emitting surface of the light emitting element, the light beam is refracted in the direction of the optical fiber's center, reducing the NAK of the optical fiber.
The corresponding acceptance angle is larger, the optical coupling efficiency is t-5o.
It is known that n~60-0 (d) Object of the Invention In view of the above-mentioned conventional interlocking points, the object of the present invention is to reduce the length between the tip surface of each optical fiber of the optical 7-eye fiber array and the end surface of the substrate. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for shaping an end into a shape that is uniform and has good coupling efficiency.

(e) Structure of the Invention In order to achieve this objective, the present invention immerses the terminals of a plurality of optical fibers fixed in an array on a substrate in parallel in an etching solution, and the amount of protrusion of each optical fiber is reduced by a certain amount. This is a method to form a uniformly tapered gl shape. The tips m' of the aligned optical fibers are then heated elsewhere to shape them into a spherical direction.

(f) Embodiment of the Invention (A), (B), (C), (C), and (E) in FIG. Shows the same object.

The shaping method of the present invention is as follows.

■ Optical 7 eyeglasses are simultaneously attached to the jk board... (Figure 2 (a) #show) A plurality of #14s formed at equal MI intervals on the upper plane 1iia of the semiconductor substrate 1 (Fig. Hisashi) is a former fiber in each? +s 7t, 7m' and glue. In this case, each terminal 8 of the optical fiber 71-7m
1t 81188 is a protruding amount (which does not have to be constant) from the substrate edge direction 2.

■ Etching of the end of the optical fiber... (Figure 2 (b), (/page m) This is an enlarged view of the end wood of the optical fiber at reiFi in the m2 diagram. Etching on v610 *<e.g. boiled water kite)
9, and a plate-shaped support 1lKl that rises above the surface of the etching solution 9! I! Place the substrate end-wise 2t on the soil surface at the edge of the kerbed hole n', and connect the end L of each original fiber.
m Fht 8s T-Immerse directly into the liquid surface. If you hold this state for 30 to 60 minutes, the terminal 81*81ts
The portion of m immersed in the etching solution 9 melts. Therefore, the lengths of the respective terminals 81, 81188 from the tip to the substrate end surface 2t are made constant. As shown in f→, the ends with the same length are resistant to adhesion as the etching liquid 9 rises in a conical shape along the ends due to surface tension, resulting in a tapered end 81181°8m. becomes.

■ Terminal tip face shaping (see Figure 2)) 812
() is a cross-sectional view during the distal end surface shaping), and (e) is a plan view after the shaping.

Since each of the optical fibers 7+*7 and 7s has terminals, it is possible to optically couple them as a good 5111I optical fiber array as is, but the - end has a thin arrow. Since there is a risk of damage, cut the tapered ends so that they are aligned.

When a pair of 11t poles 13' are brought close to the desired position of the terminal 8 from above and below and an arc discharge is caused between the electrodes 13, the cut tip surface 8. i'i becomes the hemisphere. Since arc discharge can heat the extreme portion, the tapered surface of the terminal 81 of the substrate end surface 2I11 is not deformed.

In this way, terminals 8* and 8 are successively made to have spherical tip surfaces by arc discharge. In this case, for example, the voltage @13 is fixed at tILt-, and the end surface 2 of the board is guided (
By moving the substrate in close contact with the substrate (not shown), it is possible to keep the distance S between the tips of the respective terminals 8+*80g and the substrate end surface 2 constant.

By making the tip face face Nt, the tapered tip I
The optical coupling efficiency can be further improved compared to cutting in half to 11[I'.

The present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment,
For example, the number of optical fibers may be 4, 5, etc., and modifications may be made as appropriate within the scope of the claims, such as heating and shaping with a laser rather than arc discharge. It is something.

(billion) As described in detail, this invention shapes the terminals of each optical fiber of an optical 7-eyeper array into a shape with good coupling efficiency,
It is also a shaping method that makes the length to the end face of the substrate uniform, and has a great practical effect of increasing the optical coupling efficiency of the optical fiber array.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows a conventional optical fiber array. 0F is a perspective view of the terminal before shaping, (B) is a perspective view after the terminal is shaped vertically, and Figure 2 is an embodiment of the present invention (A) and (B). , (c), ni), and ni) are diagrams showing the shaping order, respectively. In the figure, 1 is the board, 2 is the board edge direction, 4 is the handle, 5171171
+71 is the original fiber, b+ 8s*s,, 8s
* 8i * 8t + 8: is the terminal of the optical fiber, 6 ' *
8H8*, 8m is the apical blood at the end of the pain, 9 is the etching liquid, 13t! 'a&' indicates.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) By immersing the terminals of a plurality of optical fibers fixed in an array on a substrate in parallel in an etching solution, the respective optical fibers are shaped into a uniform tapered shape with a constant protrusion amount, After that, leave it as it is, or use an appropriate hand R to shape the tip th of the teno (-) into the desired shape!1
Carving T-Characteristic Princess-shaped method of original fiber array terminal. (2) By heating the tips of each of the tapered optical fibers t and t, the tip surface of the tapered tip t#'! The optical fiber array terminal according to item 1 of claim 12, characterized in that it is shaped into a hemispherical shape.