KR19980036220A - Equipment for manufacturing tapered fiber pair - Google Patents

Abstract

1. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Tapered Fiber Pair Maker

2. The technical gist of the invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, tapered having a uniform length and spacing in order to prevent the optical coupling efficiency deterioration occurs when manufacturing a module using a conventional pair of polished optical fiber pairs It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber pair when using the optical fiber pair.

3. Summary of Solution to Invention

The present invention is mounted on a predetermined position on the main body plate, the substrate holder for fixing the silicon substrate placed on the top; Surface alignment adjusting means mounted on the main body plate to be located at one side of the substrate holder and adjusting the side surface of the silicon substrate to be aligned parallel to the reference plane; Means for providing an X-axis movement force to the surface alignment control means; An optical fiber holder mounted on the main body plate so as to be located at the other side of the substrate holder and supporting and fixing the optical fiber; And means for providing the optical fiber to the V-groove of the silicon substrate and providing the moving force in the X, Y, and Z axial directions to the optical fiber holder such that the end length of the optical fiber is aligned.

Description

Equipment for manufacturing tapered fiber pair

The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus of a tapered optical fiber pair used in the manufacture of a semiconductor optical switch module, in particular, to prevent the optical coupling efficiency caused when optical coupling using the polished optical fiber pairs The present invention relates to a tapered fiber array manufacturing apparatus that can be manufactured so that the end faces and spacing of the optical fiber pairs are exactly aligned.

In general, the optical switch module of the optical module used in the optical communication system occupies an important position for optical exchange. Optical switches are usually made up of an even number of channels, with every fiber attached to an optical fiber for ease of use in the system. When attaching even-numbered optical fibers, it is difficult to attach the optical fibers individually because the size of the switch element is so small in the prior art that fabrication of a fiber array (fiber array), and to align and fix the channel of the optical fiber pair and the element The process is used.

In addition, the conventional optical switch device is made of a polymer or a crystal, not a semiconductor device, wherein the optical fiber is aligned on a V-groove substrate to be equal to the channel spacing of the device and then fixed with epoxy. The end face is polished and used for optical coupling by contacting the optical fiber tip and the optical switch element. In this case, the optical waveguide transmits the optical signal between the optical fiber and the optical switch element so that high optical coupling efficiency can be obtained.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1A, the optical switch element 1 applies an electric current or voltage to the signal switching electrode 6 with an optical signal incident on the channel 2 or channel 3 of the input terminal. The first channel (4) or the second channel (5) of the opposite output stage is made to be freely discharged to the desired place. In Fig. 1, a 2x2 optical switch having two input channels and two output channels is shown. However, a device having a much larger number of channels is actually required, and the distance between the optical switch channels is usually made of 0.25 mm, which is the covering thickness of the optical fiber.

Reference numerals 7, 8 denote optical fibers for signal input, 9 and 10 optical fibers for signal output, and 11 and 12 denote optical fiber pairs at the input and output terminals, respectively.

In addition, the optical fiber is wrapped in the cladding 13 so that the optical fiber core 14 having a diameter of about 0.01 mm is slightly smaller than its refractive index, as shown in FIG. 1B, so that the diameter is 0.125 mm. For this purpose, a plastic sheath 15 is coated on the cladding 13 so that the diameter of the entire optical fiber is 0.25 mm.

Since the optical signal is transmitted only to the core portion 14 having a diameter of 0.01 mm, it is the biggest problem to focus as much of the signal generated from the device as possible on the core having a diameter of 0.01 mm at the time of module fabrication. Since the optical waveguide region can be manufactured to be the same as the optical fiber core, the optical coupling efficiency is very high even when the optical fiber is simply cut and optically coupled, and the optical fiber end and the optical switch are in contact with each other. The conventional four-channel optical fiber pair used for this is provided with a silicon lower substrate and an upper cover 16, 18 having V grooves 16a, 18a formed on opposite surfaces as shown in Fig. 2, and their respective V grooves. After inserting the optical fiber 17 into the 16a and 18a so as to protrude, the end surface of the substrate is polished and aligned.

The manufacturing process of the four-channel optical fiber pair as described above is as follows.

The end faces of the optical fiber are sequentially placed in the V grooves 16a at predetermined intervals which are chemically etched on the silicon lower substrate 16 surface. At this time, the ends of the optical fibers do not need to be aligned.

Then, epoxy is added to the silicon substrate on which the optical fiber is located, and the silicon top cover 18, which is also recessed with the V-shaped groove 18a, is pressed and covered with heat to cure the epoxy to heat the optical fiber and the silicon substrates 16 and 18. Fix it.

After cutting the protruding end of the optical fiber with a sharp knife, the end of the optical fiber is aligned and produced by grinding the silicon end surface together with the optical fiber.

When fabricating a semiconductor optical switch module using an optical fiber pair fabricated by conventional optical fiber polishing technique, optical fiber coupling is performed when combining optical fiber pairs whose end surfaces are polished because the optical waveguide of the optical fiber pair and the waveguide of the semiconductor switch have a big difference. The disadvantage is that the efficiency is very poor.

That is, since the optical waveguide region of the semiconductor switch element is about 10 times smaller than that of the optical fiber core, high optical coupling efficiency cannot be obtained. In order to make up for these drawbacks, efforts have been made to increase optical coupling efficiency by making tapered fibers in pairs with sharply processed optical fibers. At this time, the optical fiber end face and the optical switch element maintain a spacing of 10 to 20 microns.

However, high optical coupling efficiency can be achieved by using tapered optical fibers, but the optical coupling is maximized at a distance of 10 to 20 microns between the switch element and the end of the optical fiber, and the alignment is very small even at the distance between the end face of the optical fiber and the switch element. With tolerances, half (-3dB) of the optical signal is lost, even with an error of 5-7 microns. Therefore, when fabricating an optical fiber pair, it is difficult to transmit a uniform signal between channels of the switch element only when the length of each optical fiber is equally matched as well as the distance between the optical fibers.

On the other hand, when the number of optical fibers increases as the number of channels of the switch element increases, the difficulty of uniformly adjusting the length of the optical fiber has a problem that increases.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, tapered having a uniform length and spacing in order to prevent the optical coupling efficiency deterioration occurs when manufacturing a module using a conventional pair of polished optical fiber pairs It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber pair when using the optical fiber pair.

In addition, another object of the present invention is a tapered optical fiber that can be easily produced by aligning the optical fiber to have the same precision as the optical fiber pair is polished without the process of grinding the end surface when applied to the conventional optical fiber cut the end surface Provided is a pair production apparatus.

1A is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a general optical switch module;

1B is a structural diagram of a general optical fiber used for fabricating the optical switch module of FIG. 1A;

2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an optical fiber pair in which a general optical fiber end surface is polished;

3A is a perspective view showing a tapered optical fiber pair manufactured according to the present invention;

3B is a plan view of a silicon V-groove substrate for positioning the optical fiber of FIG. 3A;

Figure 4A is a side view showing the configuration of an embodiment of a tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention;

Fig. 4B is a plan view of the tapered optical fiber pair fabrication mechanism according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

31 silicon substrate 32 V groove

33: optical fiber pair 34: epoxy

35 optical fiber pair cover 41 body plate

42: micro stage 43: X-axis adjusting knob

44: fixing bolt 45: surface alignment control panel

46 substrate holder 47 vacuum line

48: vacuum hose 49: optical fiber holder

50: auxiliary optical fiber holder 49a, 50a: base plate

49c, 50c: top cover 49b, 50b: rubber

49d: V groove of base plate 51: 3-axis stage

52a, 52b, 52c: X, Y, Z axis adjustment knob

53: probe 54: probe stage

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, the substrate holder is mounted at a predetermined position on the main body plate, and fixed to the silicon substrate placed thereon; Surface alignment adjusting means mounted on the main body plate to be located at one side of the substrate holder and adjusting the side surface of the silicon substrate to be aligned parallel to the reference plane; Means for providing an X-axis movement force to the surface alignment control means; An optical fiber holder mounted on the main body plate so as to be located at the other side of the substrate holder and supporting and fixing the optical fiber; And means for providing the optical fiber to the V-groove of the silicon substrate and providing the moving force in the X, Y, and Z axial directions to the optical fiber holder such that the end length of the optical fiber is aligned.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of the present invention;

3A is a perspective view showing a tapered optical fiber pair manufactured according to the present invention; 3B is a plan view of a silicon V-groove substrate for positioning the optical fiber of FIG. 3A; Figure 4A is a side view showing the configuration of an embodiment of a tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 4B is a plan view of the tapered optical fiber pair fabrication mechanism according to the present invention.

In the figure, 31 is silicon substrate, 32 is V groove, 33 is fiber pair, 34 is epoxy, 35 is fiber pair cover, 41 is body plate, 42 is micro stage, 43 is X-axis adjusting knob, 44 is fixed bolt, 45 Is a surface alignment throttle, 46 is a substrate holder, 47 is a vacuum line, 48 is a vacuum hose, 49 is an optical fiber holder, 50 is an auxiliary fiber holder, 49a and 50a is a bottom plate, 49c and 50c is an upper cover, and 49b and 50b is rubber , 49 is the V groove of the base plate, 51 is the three-axis stage, 52a, 52b, 52c is the X, Y, Z-axis adjusting knob, 53 is the probe, 54 is the probe stage.

Tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is implemented to be made to uniformly and accurately match the gap between the optical fiber and the length of the optical fiber end surface, Figure 3A is to ultimately manufacture using the tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus of the present invention A four-channel tapered optical fiber pair is shown. As shown in the figure, the silicon substrate 31 has a plurality of V grooves 32 having the same distance l2 as the channel of the optical switch element on the upper surface thereof is formed by chemical etching, and the V grooves 32 A tapered optical fiber pair in which the length l1 of the optical fiber end face is constantly aligned is mounted, and an optical fiber pair cover 35 is attached to the upper portion of the silicon substrate to bond with epoxy.

In order to fabricate the optical fiber pair as described above, in this embodiment, as shown in Figs. 4A and 4B, a substrate holder 46 is mounted on a central portion on the main plate 41 having a predetermined size, and the substrate holder ( 46 is provided with a vacuum line 47 and a vacuum hose 48 connected to the upper side thereof. In addition, the silicon substrate 31 is placed on the substrate holder 46, and is fixed by the vacuum suction from the vacuum hose 48.

On the left side of the body plate 41 is provided a micro stage 42 for driving left and right in the X direction, and an adjustment knob 43 mounted on one side of the micro stage 42 to adjust left and right movements.

The upper surface of the micro-stage 42 is mounted with a surface alignment control plate 45 fixed via a fixing bolt 44 so as to move with it, the silicon substrate 31 on one surface of the surface adjustment control plate 45 One side of the contact is aligned.

At this time, the contact surface of the surface alignment control plate 45 is polished smoothly like a mirror surface to prevent damage due to contact with the end surface of the optical fiber mounted on the V groove of the silicon substrate 31.

The right side of the main plate 41 is mounted with a three-axis stage 51 movable in the X, Y, Z axis, the X, Y, Z axis stage 51 is mounted on one side of the X, Y, Z axis Three-axis movement is made possible by the axis adjustment knobs 52a, 52b, and 52c. Then, an optical fiber holder 49 and an auxiliary optical fiber holder 50 are mounted on the upper surface of the three-axis stage 51 to position the optical fiber 33 and to adjust the end surface length thereof and to position the optical fiber in the desired silicon V groove. .

The V groove 49d is formed on the bottom plate 49c of the optical fiber holder 49, and the optical fiber is inserted into the V groove 49d of the bottom plate 49c to be reliably supported.

At this time, under the upper cover (49c, 50c) of each of the optical fiber holder 49 and the auxiliary optical fiber holder 50, rubber (49b, 50b) is mounted to enhance the fixing force by friction with the optical fiber 33, Press the fiber evenly.

On the upper portion of the silicon substrate 31 is mounted an optical fiber pair cover 35 made of a transparent cover glass for fixing the optical fiber 33 mounted in its V-groove by using ultraviolet curing epoxy.

In addition, a probe stage 54 capable of moving in the X, Y, and Z axis directions is mounted on one side of the upper side of the substrate holder 46, and on one side of the probe stage 54, an epoxy is applied after the alignment of the optical fiber and the optical fiber pair is applied. A probe 53 is mounted to press the surface of the lid 35 to fix it to the silicon substrate 31.

Referring to the state for producing an optical fiber pair with a uniform optical fiber end surface using the apparatus of the present invention configured as described above are as follows.

The silicon substrate 31 is placed on the substrate holder 46 so as to slightly protrude to the left side, and then the silicon substrate 31 is absorbed and fixed through the vacuum hose 48 and the vacuum line 47.

Then, the X-axis adjustment knob 43 is turned to advance the micro stage 42 and the surface alignment control plate 45 to bring the side surface of the silicon substrate 31 into contact with the right side thereof, and then push continuously. Accordingly, the silicon substrate 31, which is fixed by vacuum, is pushed little by little, and the right side of the surface alignment control plate 45 and the left side of the silicon substrate 31 are brought into close contact and aligned in parallel.

At this time, the X-axis adjusting knob 43 of the micro stage 42 is moved again to separate the surface alignment adjusting plate 45 from the silicon substrate 31 at an appropriate interval. In this way, the right side of the surface alignment control plate 45 and the left side of the silicon substrate 31 are completely parallel.

The optical fiber 33 is sequentially placed on the bottom plate 49a of the optical fiber holder 49 processed to have the V groove 49d equal to the channel spacing of the switch, and then covers the cover 49c of the optical fiber holder. Only the weight itself of 49c) allows the optical fiber 31 to be properly fixed. Initially, when the optical fiber 33 is placed on the right side by moving the 3-axis micro stage 51 located on the right side so that the height of the base plate 49a of the optical fiber holder 49 is higher than the silicon substrate 31, the optical fiber 33 is silicon. Be careful not to touch the substrate 31. Since the V groove 49d is formed in the bottom plate 49a of the optical fiber holder 49 by mechanical processing, the degree of alignment within 1 micron cannot be satisfied, but the silicon substrate 31 having accuracy within 1 micron later is ) Helps to position the optical fiber, and the end face of the optical fiber is not exactly matched. In addition, under the cover 49c of the optical fiber holder 49 having an appropriate weight, a rubber plate 49b is attached so that various strands of optical fibers may be evenly fixed by using elasticity of rubber.

Move the triaxial micro stage 51 supporting the optical fiber holder 49 to the left so that the optical fiber end face touches the right side of the surface alignment control plate 45, and then continue to push the cover 49c of the optical fiber holder 49 As the optical fibers fixed by weight are pushed out little by little, the ends of the optical fibers are aligned with the surface of the aligning plate 45 for surface alignment, and thus the ends of the first aligned silicon substrate 31 and the later aligned optical fiber pairs have exactly parallel characteristics.

Here, the contact surface of the surface alignment control plate 45 is polished to the mirror surface does not damage the optical fiber surface even if the optical fiber touches. Finally, the auxiliary optical fiber holder cover 50c is covered to more firmly fix the optical fiber pair.

The three-axis micro stage 51a on which the optical fiber holder 49 is mounted is moved in the left and right (x) directions so that the distance l1 between the end surface of the optical fiber 33 and the end surface of the silicon substrate 31 is floated as desired. The micro stages 51b and 51c are moved back and forth (y) and up and down (z) to position the optical fiber pair 33 in the V groove 32 formed on the silicon substrate 31. At this time, the optical fiber pair is not exactly in close contact with the V groove of the silicon substrate 31.

UV curable epoxy 34 was added to the optical fiber pair on the silicon substrate 31, and then the optical fiber pair cover 35 made of a transparent cover glass was placed on the optical fiber pair, and then the probe stage 54 was removed. By moving in the x, y, and z-axis directions and pressing the optical fiber pair cover 35 firmly with the probe 53, the optical fiber pair moves to the exact position of the V groove of the silicon substrate 31, and the V groove accuracy of the silicon substrate 31 is moved. The optical fiber pairs are aligned.

In this way, when the optical fiber pair is exactly aligned with the V groove of the silicon substrate, the ultraviolet curing epoxy 34 is cured using an ultraviolet lamp (not shown) to produce the optical fiber pair.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible within the scope without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be evident to those who have knowledge of.

As described above, according to the present invention, optical fiber pairs can be manufactured so that the end faces and spacing of the optical fibers are exactly aligned regardless of the number of tapered optical fibers. When the present invention is applied to an existing optical fiber with a cut end, the optical fiber can be easily aligned by aligning the optical fibers so that the end has the same precision as the polished optical fiber pair without the process of grinding the end face. I can make it.

Therefore, the present invention not only shortens the process time by aligning the optical fibers at the same time when manufacturing the tapered optical fiber pair, but also minimizes the defect rate during fabrication of the module by precisely fitting the ends of the optical fibers, and applying them to the optical fibers with the existing end surfaces cut. In this case, the polishing process is not necessary, so that the process time can be shortened to increase productivity.

Claims (7)

A substrate holder mounted at a predetermined position on the main body flat plate and holding a silicon substrate placed thereon; Surface alignment adjusting means mounted on the main body plate to be located at one side of the substrate holder and adjusting the side surface of the silicon substrate to be aligned parallel to the reference plane; Means for providing an X-axis movement force to the surface alignment adjusting means; An optical fiber holder mounted on the main body plate so as to be located at the other side of the substrate holder and supporting and fixing the optical fiber; And And means for providing the optical fiber to the V groove of the silicon substrate and providing movement force in the X, Y, Z axial direction to the optical fiber holder such that the end length of the optical fiber is aligned. The method of claim 1, Tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the surface of the surface alignment control means in contact with the side of the silicon substrate is polished to the mirror surface. The method of claim 1, The optical fiber holder Tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus comprising a bottom plate is formed with a V groove so that the optical fiber is inserted. The method according to claim 1 or 3, Tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus further comprises a rubber attached to the bottom surface of the upper cover of the optical fiber holder in order to increase the friction with the optical fiber holder. The method of claim 4, wherein Tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that the V groove spacing of the base plate is formed to match the optical switch spacing. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus mounted on one side of the optical fiber holder, further comprising an optical fiber auxiliary holder made of a rubber attached to the bottom of the upper cover in order to more firmly fix the optical fiber to be supported and fixed thereto. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A probe for pressing the silicon substrate fixed on the substrate holder to fix the optical fiber pair; Tapered optical fiber pair manufacturing apparatus further comprises a probe stage for moving the probe in the X, Y, Z axis.