JPS63161408A - Production of fiber module for optical communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure the alignment precision between optical axes of an optical semiconductor element and a fiber having a rounded end by checking the optical axis of the fiber having the rounded end after a first sticking process and performing readjustment to correct the position of the optical axis if necessary. CONSTITUTION:A base 14 to which a laser diode 13 is attached is stood on a stem 12, and the fiber having the rounded end and a fiber holder are supported by jigs, which can finely adjust them individually, to face the light emitting part of the laser diode 13. The laser diode 13 is caused to emit light, and this light is made incident on the fiber having the rounded end, and such position in X-Z directions is selected that the optical output emitted from the other end of the fiber having the rounded end is maximum. A solder is flowed to the clearance of the hole of the fiber holder to fix the fiber having the rounded end. The fiber holder is rubbed against a holder to correct the positional deviation of the optical axis by the similar method, and plural parts of the fiber holder are spot-welded to the holder base 17 with a YAG laser point by point while being subjected to position correction. Thus, the alignment precision between optical axes of the optical semiconductor element and the fiber having the rounded end.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical communication fiber module using an optical semiconductor element and a bulbous fiber.

(Prior art) In optical communication fiber modules using laser diodes and spherical fibers, alignment of the optical axes between the laser diode and the spherical fiber is extremely important, and precision on the order of - is required. Ru.

By the way, conventionally, when assembling and manufacturing this type of fiber module for optical communication, a method has been used to attach the bulbous fiber to a holder stand by using solder or adhesive. That is, in this method, as shown in FIG. 2, a spherical fiber 2 is placed on a holder 1, the optical axes of the spherical fiber 2 and a laser diode 3 are adjusted, and then a solder 4 is placed on the holder 1. The tip fiber 2 is fixed by applying adhesive.

Further, as shown in 2 in FIG. 4, a hole 5 is formed in the holder base 1 for passing the spherical fiber 2, and after passing the spherical fiber 2 through the hole 5, the optical axis of the spherical fiber 2 and the laser diode 3 is adjusted. There is also a method of fixing the tip bulb fiber 2 by pouring solder 4 or adhesive into the hole 5 after doing this.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) When fixing the tip ball with solder in the above conventional technology,
Solder 4 cools, solidifies, and contracts.

At this time, thermal stress is applied to the tip fiber 2, causing it to move from the positioned position, and the tip fiber 2 tends to be misaligned as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3.

Since it is fixed with solder, the position of the tip spherical fiber 2 cannot be corrected as it is. Therefore, if position correction is required, it is necessary to melt the solder 4 again and readjust the position.

Furthermore, even if the fixing part is fixed without any displacement, the part beyond the fixing part may be fixed in a bent state, causing positional displacement, as shown by the dotted line in FIG.

As described above, fixing with the solder 4 has the problem that the tip fiber 2 is misaligned and the optical axis is misaligned.

On the other hand, even if an adhesive is used, a shrinkage phenomenon occurs during the curing process, resulting in a similar problem. Moreover, in the method using this adhesive, once it hardens, it is difficult to try again, which makes the problem even worse.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to ensure a high degree of alignment accuracy of the optical axes of the optical semiconductor element and the tipped fiber, and to be able to assemble it easily and reliably. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a fiber module for optical communication.

[Structure of the Invention] [Means and Effects for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an optical semiconductor, a tipped fiber whose optical axis is aligned facing the optical semiconductor element, , in a method for manufacturing an optical communication fiber module consisting of a fiber holder for attaching and fixing this spherical fiber and a holder stand for attaching and fixing this fiber holder, with respect to an optical semiconductor element and a holder stand that have been positioned and fixed in advance. A step of supporting the tipped fiber and the fiber holder with a jig so that their positions can be freely adjusted; an adjustment step of aligning the optical positions of the optical semiconductor element and the tipped fiber; and after this adjustment step, the tipped fiber is placed in the fiber holder. a step of attaching and fixing; a step of adjusting the optical axis by selecting the relative position of the fiber holder and the holder stand after completing the attaching and fixing step; and a step of adjusting the optical axis by selecting the relative position of the fiber holder and the holder stand; An initial fixing process in which the holder is partially fixed to the holder base; After this initial fixing process, the optical axis of the tip fiber is inspected and, if necessary, the position of the optical axis is corrected again; and this readjustment process. A second fixing step of partially fixing the fiber holder to the holder stand later.

Therefore, the optical semiconductor element and the tip fiber can be optically aligned one after another, and the tip fiber can be attached and fixed to the fiber holder and the fiber holder to the holder stand, so there is no problem in the installation process. This makes it possible to prevent the optical semiconductor device and the optical axis of the optical fiber from occurring, and to ensure the precision of alignment of the optical axes of the optical semiconductor element and the tipped fiber, as well as making it possible to assemble easily and reliably.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows the main parts of a fiber module for optical communication, which are covered with a cover 11. As shown in FIG. Also, 12 is the stem,
A stand 14 is erected on the stem 12 and has a laser diode 13 attached thereto as a light emitting element, which is an optical semiconductor.

The light emitting part of the laser diode 13 has a diameter of 10 m, for example.
The spherical fibers 15 are placed facing each other with their optical axes positioned. This spherical fiber 15 is attached and fixed to a holder stand 17 via a fiber holder 16. The fiber holder 16 is made of a rectangular plate member, as shown in FIG. 2, and has a hole 18 in the center thereof, through which the tip-shaped fiber 15 is inserted. Then, this fiber holder 16 is joined to the back surface of the holder stand 17 as shown in FIG.
... is fixed by welding. Note that this holder base 17 is also provided with a through hole (not shown) through which the spherical fiber 15 is inserted with some play.

Next, a procedure for assembling the optical communication fiber module having the above configuration will be explained. First, the laser diode 13 is positioned and fixed on the stand 14 in advance. Then, the tip fiber 15 and the fiber holder 16 are each supported by a jig (not shown).

Each of these jigs is capable of fine adjustment by individually moving the tip fiber 15 and the fiber holder 16. In particular, the jig that supports the tip spherical fiber 15 is mounted in the Z direction (gravitational direction) along the axial direction of the tip spherical fiber 15.
It is possible to adjust the movement in both the X and Y directions orthogonal to this. Further, the jig supporting the fiber holder 16 can be adjusted to move in at least both the X and Y directions. However, it is desirable to be able to move also in the Z direction.

These jigs are then used to hold the tipped fiber 15 and fiber holder 16 and adjust the optical axis. That is, the laser diode 13 is caused to emit light, and this light is made to enter the tip fiber 15.

Then, the light emitted from the other end of the spherical fiber 15 is measured, and the position in the XYZ directions where the output is maximized is selected.

After completing this adjustment process, as shown in FIG. The tip fiber 15 is fixed. In order to improve the wettability of this soldering, the tip fiber 15 is pre-plated with gold.

In the step of soldering the tip fiber 15 to the fiber holder 16, the tip fiber 15 tends to shift from its initial position due to the thermal stress of the solder 19. Therefore, the fiber holder 16 is rubbed against the holder stand 17, and the positional shift of the optical axis of the tip fiber 15 due to the thermal stress in the XYh direction is corrected in the same manner as described above.

Then, after this readjustment, the fiber holder 16 is partially fixed to the holder stand 17. In other words, multiple locations p・
...is spot welded point by point using a YAG laser. Then, the first point p is welded with a YAG laser, the position of the optical axis mentioned above is inspected, and if it is not in the correct position, the position is adjusted so that the maximum value of the output power can be obtained.
Apply I adjustment.

After this position adjustment, spot welding at the next point p is performed. In this way, each time we weld one point, we apply positional correction to obtain the maximum output power.
The process is completed by repeating this process for 8 points p...

In addition, if all points p... are completely fixed before welding is completed, and there is a situation where no displacement will occur in the subsequent welding of points p..., the above for all points p... It is not necessarily necessary to perform position correction/correction.

By assembling in this manner, it is possible to almost completely eliminate one positional deviation of the optical axis during each welding process, and the assembly can be completed with high precision. Note that since the fiber holder 16 is welded at a plurality of locations using a YAG laser, welding can be performed at low temperatures. therefore,
Thermal stress can be reduced accordingly, and it can be fixed while eliminating positional displacement.

Note that the present invention is applicable not only to light emitting elements such as laser diodes but also to light receiving elements.

Note that the method for fixing the bulbous fiber to the fiber holder may be other than soldering, such as adhesive.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to ensure a high degree of alignment accuracy of the optical axes of the optical semiconductor element and the tip fiber, and also to easily and reliably assemble them.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main parts of a fiber module for optical communication manufactured according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the spherical fiber and fiber holder, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of another conventional optical communication fiber module. 13...Laser diode, 5...Top fiber,
7... Holder stand, p... Welding location, 19... Solder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical semiconductor element, a spherical fiber whose optical axis is aligned facing the optical semiconductor element, a fiber holder to which the spherical fiber is mounted and fixed, and a holder stand to which the fiber holder is mounted and fixed. A method of manufacturing a fiber module for optical communication, comprising: supporting a tipped fiber and a fiber holder with a jig so that their positions can be freely adjusted with respect to a pre-positioned optical semiconductor element and a holder stand; an adjustment step of aligning the optical position with the tipped fiber supported by the jig; a step of attaching and fixing the tipped fiber to the fiber holder after this adjustment step; and a step of attaching and fixing the tipped fiber to the fiber holder after completing this fixing step. A process of selecting the relative position between the fiber holder and the holder base and adjusting the optical axis; an initial fixing process of partially fixing the fiber holder to the holder base after adjusting the fiber holder and the holder base; After the first fixing process, there is a readjustment process in which the optical axis of the tip fiber is inspected and the position of the optical axis is corrected again if necessary. After this readjustment process, there is a second process in which the fiber holder is partially fixed on the holder stand A method of manufacturing a fiber module for optical communication, the method comprising at least the following: a fixing step;