JPS62196607A - Optical fiber supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To connect simultaneously, surely and collectively plural optical fibers in parallel by embedding and fixing optical fibers held on respective prescribed positions except both the end parts in a solid member. CONSTITUTION:A fiber supporting device is obtained by arranging and temporarily fixing respective optical fibers in respective required relative positions, surrounding them by a metal frame, surrounding the periphery by thermosetting resin having fluidity and then molding and setting the whole. The length of the optical fibers projected from the solid member 2 may be 4-5 times the diameter of each optical fiber and too long length may be influenced by vibration or curve. Respective constitutional parts are rigidly fixed on a printed circuit board 7 by respective connection layers 8-10. The positioning of the optical fiber group 1 to plural light emitting and receiving parts 4, 6 can be executed by finely adjusting the solid member 2 by a normal manipulator and respective constitutional parts are fixed on the printed circuit board 7 semipermanently through an adhesive layer 9 such as soldering at the positions for providing required optical coupling efficiency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to optical fiber connection technology, and particularly to an optical fiber support device suitable for parallel transmission of optical signals.

[Conventional technology]

Parallel transmission is often performed by introducing multiple optical signals into individual optical fibers. Especially in optical computers, which aim to speed up calculations and reduce the size of equipment, electronic devices, photoelectric conversion elements, or optical waveguides are often used. There is a trend toward high integration by mounting optical elements on the same substrate, so it is necessary to connect these optical elements with optical fibers to transmit optical signals in parallel. Although it is a short-distance connection, parallel connection in which many optical elements are connected using multiple optical fibers in a very narrow space is an extremely difficult task and requires a lot of time and effort.

For optical circuit elements having multiple optical fibers arranged in parallel, Applied Optic
plied 0ptics), 13 (1974),
pp. 2540-2545, and their usefulness as optical branching channels is disclosed.

゛ [Problem to be solved by the invention] In the above document,
The concept of parallel transmission by introducing multiple optical signals into each optical fiber arranged in parallel is not recognized, and therefore there is no understanding of the specific optical fiber support structure required for the above-mentioned parallel transmission. There is no suggestion as to the means of implementation.

Conventionally, when parallel transmission is performed between multiple optical elements using multiple optical fibers as described above, each optical fiber is individually coupled to each optical element within a narrow space. There was a problem in that extremely difficult work had to be performed over and over again.

An object of the present invention is to position and mechanically firmly (fix) the respective tips of a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel corresponding to a plurality of light emitting sections or a plurality of light receiving sections for optical coupling. An object of the present invention is to obtain an optical fiber support device that can extremely easily carry out the optical connection mounting work that is essential for realizing parallel optical transmission.

[Means for solving problems]

The above purpose is to efficiently connect multiple optical fibers to each optical element (by placing the multiple optical fibers in advance at each relative position required for optical connection, and This is accomplished by simultaneously making optical connections using an optical fiber support device that tightly restrains the fibers in place.

[Effect]

The optical fiber support device according to the present invention uses a solid member to fix each portion of a plurality of optical fibers except for both ends in a predetermined position. Even when connecting each optical fiber to an optical integrated device having a light emitting section or a plurality of light receiving sections, by fixing the above optical fiber support device in a predetermined position, it is possible to connect a plurality of optical fibers at the same time. Furthermore, it is possible to reliably perform parallel connection all at once.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of an optical fiber support device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a parallel connection between optical elements according to the above embodiment, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a diagram showing a parallel connection between optical elements according to the above embodiment. Cross section, 3rd
The figure shows a second embodiment of the invention, FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention. A diagram using an optical fiber processed into a spherical lens (bl is a diagram showing the case where a rod lens is installed at the tip of the optical fiber. In the example, four optical fibers are used), and a solid member 2 that semi-permanently firmly restrains these optical fibers and is formed into a desired shape.The above-mentioned optical fiber support The device consists of placing each optical fiber at the required relative position and temporarily fixing it, surrounding it with a metal frame, and then surrounding it with a fluid thermosetting resin (e.g., epoxy resin, trade name: Panacea). The resin is molded and solidified. A thermoplastic resin may be used as the resin. Alternatively, the optical fiber group 1 may be restrained by bonding two solid members together.

The length of the optical fiber projected from the solid member 2 may be approximately 4 to 5 times the diameter of the optical fiber; if it is too long, it will be affected by vibration and curvature.

In the above method using thermosetting resin, mixing fibers into the resin forming the solid member 2 to keep the coefficient of thermal expansion low after solidification is extremely effective in parallel connections that require fine alignment. Ta.

FIG. 2 shows an example of parallel connection using the above embodiment, and in (a), the light beams emitted from the four light emitting parts 4 provided in the optical element 3 (the direction of travel is indicated by arrows) are It shows how the light is transmitted in parallel through the optical fiber group 1 fixed by the solid member 2 and taken into the light receiving section 6 of the opposing optical element 5.

Each of the above components is placed on an adhesive layer 8 on the wiring board 7.
．． 9.10. The optical fiber group 1 can be aligned with the plurality of light emitting parts 4 or light receiving parts 6 by finely adjusting the solid member 2 using a normal manipulator, and the wiring board 7 can be aligned at a position where the desired optical coupling efficiency is obtained. For example, it is fixed semi-permanently via an adhesive layer 9 such as solder. When using solder for the adhesive layer 9 as described above, the adhesive surface of the solid member 2 is coated with, for example, Cr/
It was useful to form a metal layer of Ni/Au. According to the configuration example shown in Fig. 2 above, it is extremely easy to connect multiple optical fibers in parallel, which is difficult to achieve with the conventional method of aligning and fixing individual optical fibers. be able to.

In the first embodiment, the optical element 3 having a light emitting function and the optical element 5 having a light receiving function are arranged directly facing each other. It may be necessary to increase the intensity. The second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 shows a case where the light emitting section 4 and the light receiving section 6 do not directly face each other, and the optical fiber group 1 is bent into a desired shape. This embodiment can be manufactured by temporarily fixing a group of optical fibers bent into a desired shape, and then fixing them with a solid member in the same manner as in the first embodiment. If this embodiment is to be further developed, the shapes of the optical fiber group l and the solid member 2 should be devised within a permissible range that takes into account the increase in optical fiber transmission loss due to bending deformation and the decrease in reliability due to mechanical distortion. This makes it possible to connect optical elements with arbitrary spatial arrangement with optical fibers. That is, in this embodiment, optical elements mounted three-dimensionally at high density can be effectively optically connected in parallel.

The present invention can also be effectively used for processed optical fibers.

The third embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is an embodiment of sufficient waves,
This shows a state in which the light beam travels in the direction of the arrow, enters the optical fiber 11, and is split into two directions.

As the arrangement of optical elements becomes more complicated and the area of the light emitting part and the light receiving part becomes smaller, it becomes difficult to obtain good coupling between the optical element and the optical fiber. Therefore, the fourth
As shown in the embodiment, an optical fiber 12 whose tip is processed into a spherical lens is used (FIG. 5(a)), or FIG.
As shown in bl, by installing an optical medium 13 such as a rod lens or a ball lens at the tip of the optical fiber l, the optical coupling efficiency can be improved and the practical value of each of the above embodiments can be increased.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the optical fiber support device according to the present invention is an optical fiber support device that transmits a plurality of optical signals in parallel and couples them to optical elements of a plurality of light emitting parts and light receiving parts, respectively.
By embedding and fixing the parts of the optical fiber except for both ends, which maintain their respective predetermined positions, in a solid member, optical elements having multiple light emitting parts or light receiving parts can be easily connected in parallel using optical fibers. , it becomes possible to implement high-density packaging of integrated optical devices, and it is possible to improve the performance of optical functional devices.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of an optical fiber support device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a parallel connection between optical elements according to the above embodiment, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a diagram showing a parallel connection between optical elements according to the above embodiment. Cross section, 3rd
The figure shows a second embodiment of the invention, FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention. fa) has a spherical tip. A diagram showing an example in which an optical fiber processed into a lens is used, and (b) a diagram showing an example in which a rod lens is installed at the tip.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an optical fiber support device that transmits a plurality of optical signals in parallel and couples them to optical elements of a plurality of light emitting units and light receiving units, a portion excluding both ends of each optical fiber that maintains each predetermined position. An optical fiber support device characterized in that the following is embedded and fixed in a solid member. 2. The optical fiber support device according to claim 1, wherein the solid member is one in which an optical or mechanical process is applied to the buried portion of the optical fiber. 3. The optical fiber support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the optical fiber has at least one end processed into a lens shape.