KR20180072285A - apparatus for optical interconnection and coupling and method of making the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is an optical coupling device including optical fibers having optical signal incident surfaces or exit surfaces formed with inclined surfaces of a predetermined angle, and an array block having grooves formed to fix the optical fibers, wherein the grooves are formed on an upper surface of the array block, the optical fibers are fixed to and seated in the grooves, and an end surface of the array block and end surfaces of the optical fibers are positioned on the same plane forming inclined surfaces of a predetermined angle. The optical coupling device may be manufactured such that the optical fibers are installed at ends of the grooves of the array block and fixed by using an adhesive or an auxiliary block, and ends of the array block and the optical fibers are polished with the inclined surfaces to position the end surface of the array block and the end surfaces of the optical fibers on the same inclined plane. According to the present invention, an alignment state such as a position, inclined surfaces and the like of the optical fibers and the array block can be efficiently and accurately determined in the optical coupling device having a plurality of optical fibers aligned in parallel in an optical fiber array block, and a coupling between the optical fibers and the array block having the ends with inclined surfaces of a predetermined angle can be accurately performed, thereby improving optical coupling efficiency and uniformity for each channel and reducing distortion or occurrence of error on signal transmission.

Description

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

More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical coupling device and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an optical coupling device and a method of manufacturing the same, (For example, 45 degrees), and a method of manufacturing the same.

Due to the explosive increase in transmission capacity, the construction of a high-speed information communication network has been promoted nationwide. In order to increase the transmission capacity, a multi-channel light source is used and a multi-channel optical waveguide (or optical waveguide array) is used for optical coupling.

Generally, an optical device used for optical communication using an optical fiber uses an optical waveguide device having an optical waveguide as its basis, and an optical waveguide forms impurities on an optical substrate through thermal diffusion or ion implantation. It has difficult microstructure.

An optical device needs to receive an optical signal from the outside or transmit an optical signal to another place outside, and uses the optical fiber most as the means. Therefore, in order to transmit the optical signal through the optical fiber, it is necessary to connect the input / output portion of the optical device with the optical fiber.

As the input / output end connection elements of the planar waveguide, a fiber array block in which a plurality of optical fibers are bonded and integrated is essentially used. Since the optical fiber array block plays a very important role in the optical communication device, precise fabrication of the optical fiber array block directly leads to improvement of the transmission efficiency. The optical fiber array blocks function as connectors interconnecting and connecting optical fibers. In this case, the surfaces of the optical fiber array blocks which are connected to each other in contact with each other can be formed as an 8 degree inclined surface in order to minimize connection loss.

On the other hand, in the optical module, the two-dimensional coupling of the light source, the light guide plate, and the optical fiber in the optical coupling may occupy a large area and may not be suitable for the focusing of the optical module and the tendency of the lightning fast. Therefore, there is a case where the light source is irradiated in the vertical direction and the incident plane of the light guide plate or the optical fiber of the light receiving section receiving such vertically irradiated light is formed at 45 degrees, and the light guide plate or the optical fiber itself is horizontally installed to horizontally transmit the incident light .

That is, in the optical coupling device in which the light source and the optical fiber are combined, if the relative arrangement of these elements is not linearly arranged according to the given conditions, and the main light irradiation direction and the arrangement direction of the optical fiber are 90 degrees, A 45-degree inclined surface is formed to receive the light.

In FIG. 4 of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09 / 891,149 (published on June 2, 2000), an example is shown in which an optical signal output from a light source is input to the input surface having a 45 degree inclination.

In general, the optical incident end of the optical fiber is slightly protruded from the end face of the array block (fixed block), and the protruded portion is very easily damaged by collision with other objects during the manufacturing process or use of the optical coupling device, Therefore, there is a problem that the optical coupling device itself needs to be replaced frequently or the optical fiber frequently needs to be replaced in the fixed block.

Particularly, when the optical coupling device is manufactured as described above, since the input surface of the end of the optical fiber is formed at an inclination of 45 degrees, the optical fiber end can be more easily collided with an external object to be damaged, A manufacturing method is required which makes it easy to manufacture the device.

In addition, in a multi-channel light source system in which a plurality of optical fibers are installed in an optical fiber array block, the inclination direction should be the same and the degree of protrusion from the array block should be the same. The optical fiber itself is very small and difficult to handle. Therefore, it is difficult to arrange the installation angle of the plurality of optical fibers accurately and to arrange them uniformly with the light source. Therefore, a plurality of optical fibers having a 45-degree inclined plane are arranged in the same direction in the array block, and optical coupling efficiency can be kept to be similar due to the same degree of separation as an element for transmitting light, such as a light source, Is requested.

Patent No. 10-1268096: Automatic grinding system for optical fiber array block Open Patent Application 2004-0081187: A method for final polishing of an optical fiber connector end face U.S. Published Patent Application US 2002/0076157 A1

The present invention solves and compensates for the difficulty of precise coupling between an optical fiber and an optical device (light source, photodiode) in the optical coupling device as described above, and it is a structure that can accurately position a relative position between an optical fiber and an array block And a method of manufacturing the same.

The optical fiber array is polished at a predetermined angle (for example, 45 degrees) to obtain a uniform optical coupling efficiency for each channel, and basic materials of the optical fiber array block used in the past, such as a cover block, a V- 40) is used to maintain the stability during polishing, to increase the reliability of the manufactured product, to minimize the distance between the center of the fiber and the optical element (light source or PD) polished at a predetermined angle (for example, 45 degrees) And a manufacturing method thereof.

The present invention relates to an optical coupling device capable of efficiently obtaining alignment efficiency of an optical fiber and an array block in an optical coupling device having a plurality of parallelly arranged optical fibers in one optical fiber array block, And a method for producing the same.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical coupling device capable of precisely coupling between an array block and an optical fiber having an inclined plane (for example, 45 deg.

In order to achieve the above object, an optical coupling device according to the present invention includes an optical fiber in which an optical signal incident surface or an exit surface forms an inclined plane (for example, 45 degrees) at an angle and an array block in which a groove is formed to fix the optical fiber In the optical coupling device,

A groove is formed on the upper surface of the array block, and an optical fiber is fixed and seated in the groove,

The end face of the array block and the end face of the optical fiber are located on the same plane forming a slope (for example, 45 degrees) of a certain angle downward.

In order to fix the optical fiber to the top surface groove of the array block, the optical fiber may be provided on the upper surface of the block or on the upper surface of the block. However, auxiliary blocks may be provided to be mutually fixed with the array block so as to expose the optical fiber end inclined surface.

In the present invention, the array block has a plurality of parallel grooves on its upper surface, and a plurality of optical fibers are generally fixed parallel to each other. At this time, all the end faces of the optical fibers are coplanar with the end faces of the array blocks.

The optical coupling device manufacturing method of the present invention

A step of mounting an optical fiber on an upper surface groove of the array block so that an end of the optical fiber coincides with or protrudes from the upper surface of the array block; fixing the optical fiber to an upper surface groove by using an adhesive and an auxiliary block; polishing the array block and the optical fiber end together And forming the end face of the array block and the end face of the optical fiber into a single inclined plane inclined at a predetermined angle (for example, 45 degrees) from the top plane.

In the method of forming the inclined plane in the method of the present invention, the polishing may be performed stepwise in a plurality of steps so that a rough polishing step for polishing the block and a precision polishing step for the inclined surface of the optical fiber end may be provided together.

According to the present invention, since the position of the optical fiber can be accurately coupled to the array block of the optical coupling device, the optical coupling efficiency can be easily increased, and the optical fiber end is embedded in the groove of the array block, Thereby reducing replacement and management demands.

The present invention can efficiently and accurately align the positions of the optical fibers and the array blocks and the alignment state of the inclined planes in an optical coupling apparatus having a plurality of parallelly arranged optical fibers in one optical fiber array block, (Approximately 40 to 45 degrees depending on the surrounding environment and device needs), the optical coupling between the optical fiber and the array block can be precisely performed, thereby improving the uniformity of optical coupling efficiency for each channel, .

1 is a plan view showing an optical coupling device according to an embodiment of the present invention,
2 is a side view showing an optical coupling device according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a side view conceptually showing a state in which an optical fiber portion in which a light incidence surface is exposed is enlarged and a light of a light source is incident on the right end of FIG. 2,
4 is a front view showing an optical coupling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical coupling device includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped optical fiber array block 10 having a top surface in which a plurality of V-shaped grooves are formed on a top surface thereof, And a plurality of optical fibers 20 fixedly placed in the grooves.

As shown in the side view, the block 30 has a lower stepped portion at the upper left corner where a plurality of optical fibers 20 are bundled.

The bundle of the optical fibers 20 is installed in the upper surface groove with the protective layer removed while being drawn into the stepped portion of the block 10 from the outside. A plurality of optical fibers placed on the stepped portion for fixing the optical fiber 20 to the block 10 and stably coupling the optical fibers 20 are joined to the stepped portion by the epoxy adhesive layer 40,

In the state where the optical fiber 20 is seated in the groove of the upper surface of the block 10, the cover block 30 or the auxiliary block is located above the section corresponding to the lead-in side of the grooved portion. However, The groove of the optical fiber 20 and the block 10 is exposed without the auxiliary block on the upper side.

However, in this portion, most of the optical fiber is fixed as an epoxy adhesive layer except for the periphery of the end slope of the optical fiber 20.

This state can be confirmed also from the front view of FIG. According to this front view, the optical fibers 20 are attached to the left and right side surfaces of the V-shaped groove 15 of the block 10 and the lower surface of the cover block 30 at the portions where the block 10 and the cover block 30 are located, And stably supported and fixed in the block.

Instead of being fixed to the cover block 30 in the vicinity of the end of the optical fiber 20, the upper part of the optical fiber 20 is covered with an epoxy adhesive layer 40 'and is seated and fixed in the V-shaped groove.

In this embodiment, both the optical fiber array block and the cover block are made of a glass material, and thus are transparently transparent. However, blocks or cover blocks of different materials may be used depending on the embodiment.

In the optical coupling device composed of the conventional block and the optical fiber, the end of the optical fiber protrudes a little more than the end of the block. Unlike the end surface forming the end of the optical fiber and the end surface forming the end of the block, (For example, 45 degrees), and the end faces of all the optical fibers and the end faces of the blocks are located on one plane. As a result, the end of the optical fiber is protected by the body of the block so that almost all of the ends of the optical fiber, except for the portion necessary for receiving light from the external light source, are embedded in the groove of the block as much as possible.

The manner in which light from the light source is input to the end of the optical fiber in this state can be explained with reference to FIG.

The end of the optical fiber has an optical fiber inclined surface 25 which forms a horizontal and a constant angle (45 degrees in the example of FIG. 3). A light source 100 is provided vertically above the inclined surface. The light source may be a light emitting device such as a semiconductor laser. Of course, each of the optical fibers 20 is composed of a core layer 23 at the center portion and a clad layer 21 surrounding the core layer 23, and the refractive index of the core layer is slightly larger, so that total reflection is facilitated at the interface. The light source 100 of Fig. 4 may be a light receiving element. In this case, the traveling direction of the light becomes the light receiving element side in the optical fiber.

When the light is emitted vertically downward from the light source 100, the light passes through the clad layer 21 on the upper side of the optical fiber core 23 and enters into the optical fiber.

A large amount of light reflected from the interface between the medium (optical fiber) having a high refractive index and the medium (air) having a small refractive index propagates to the left along the optical fiber.

In this state, the end optical fiber slope and the optical fiber portion above the optical fiber are not obstructed by the surrounding light received by the light source while being surrounded by the block, and the other portions of the optical fiber are enclosed in blocks in both horizontal and vertical directions It is protected from external impact.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing such a light coupling device will be described.

In the conventional optical coupling device, when the end of the optical fiber is inclined incident surface or exit surface, the end of the optical fiber is first processed into an inclined surface, each optical fiber is placed in the optical fiber array block, and the optical fiber is fixed with a cover block and an adhesive .

However, in the present invention, the optical fibers are positioned and fixed in the respective grooves of the block in a state in which the incidence plane or the emission plane of the end is not separately processed. At this time, the end of the optical fiber may coincide with the end of the block, or may be somewhat protruded.

In this state, the end face of the optical coupling device is an end face in a state in which the corner portion 13 indicated by the dotted line at the lower right of the block of Fig. 2 exists. In this state, the optical coupling device is fixed The end face of the optical coupling device is polished through the polishing apparatus to remove the edge portion 13 to form the inclined end face of the optical coupling device.

At this time, the right end of the optical fiber, which is fixed to the block, is polished together with the right end of the block to have an inclined surface that is flush with the end of the block. Of course, if a plurality of optical fibers are fixed to the respective grooves of the block, the end faces of all the optical fibers are inclined planes existing in the same plane.

However, the end face of the optical fiber needs to be polished more smoothly because it is a place where the optical signal enters and exits, and is reflected. Further, it has a step of finely polishing through a finer abrasive and polishing means as compared with a normal block surface polishing , And this polishing can be performed in two or more steps in a rough polishing and a precision polishing. At this time, when the block is made of a glass material, since there is not much difference in material from the optical fiber, it can be polished together with the same degree. Conventional abrasive and abrasive means relating to the light incidence and emergence surface grinding of the end of the optical fiber are well-known, so that further detailed explanation will be omitted here.

When the optical coupling device of the present invention is formed through the above process, a plurality of grooves are formed in one fixed block, a plurality of optical fibers are fixedly installed in these grooves, and a plurality of optical fibers can be processed at the same angle Therefore, the direction and the degree of polishing of the incident or emergent surface of each of these optical fibers, and the distance and the opposed state between the incident surface or the emitting surface and the target element to which the optical signal is applied or received can be made to the same degree, Or the light receiving element) and the optical fiber can be minimized.

As a result, it is possible to increase the optical coupling efficiency of the channel in the case of the multi-channel, in particular, in the transmission of the optical signal, and the signal is transmitted to the same degree by the same degree of optical coupling for each channel, You can expect.

In the meantime, although the light source is provided above the inclined incident surface of the optical fiber end in the above embodiment, the light source may be installed vertically downward, and the optical coupling device may be installed in the optical module with the upside- .

In the above embodiment, only the case where the light of the light source is incident through the end of the optical fiber has been described. In contrast, external light is transmitted through the optical fiber to reach the sloped surface, reflected by the sloped surface, A light receiving element such as a photodiode may be provided in the direction of emission, or an incidence plane inclined at 45 degrees of the light guide plate may be provided.

However, in the case where the thickness of the cover block is thin and the transparent glass material is sufficiently transparent, the end portion of the optical fiber is covered with the cover. However, in the case where the cover block does not cover the optical fiber so that there is no delay in the optical input path, It is also conceivable that the end face of the optical coupling device is processed with the cover block covered with the block and the optical fiber is covered with the block and the cover block at the upper and lower sides. In addition, the cover block covering the end of the optical fiber is removed, You can also think of exposing the ends.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. That is, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

10: block (optical fiber array block) 15: groove (V-shaped groove)
20: optical fiber 21: cladding layer
23: core layer 25: optical fiber inclined surface
30: Cover block (auxiliary block) 40, 40 ': Adhesive layer (epoxy adhesive layer)

Claims (6)

1. An optical coupling device comprising an optical fiber formed so that an incident surface or an exit surface has an inclination at a predetermined angle, and an array block formed with grooves for fixing the optical fiber,
Wherein the end face of the array block and the entrance face or exit face which are the end faces of the optical fiber are located on the same plane forming an inclined face at a constant angle. The method according to claim 1,
An adhesive layer for fixing the optical fiber to the groove of the array block or a cover block which is mutually fixed with respect to the array block so as to expose the incidence surface or the emission surface portion inclined at the end of the optical fiber, And auxiliary blocks) are further included or together. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the array block has a plurality of parallel grooves on an upper surface thereof, and a plurality of the optical fibers are fixed in parallel to the grooves, respectively. The method according to claim 1,
And a cover block (auxiliary block) fixed to the array block so as to press the optical fiber on the upper surface of the block to fix the optical fiber to the groove of the array block,
Wherein the end face of the cover block is positioned on the same plane as the end face of the array block and the end face of the optical fiber, the inclined face having a constant angle. Positioning the optical fiber in the groove of the array block so that the end of the optical fiber coincides with or protrudes from the end of the array block;
Fixing the optical fiber to the groove using at least one of an adhesive and an auxiliary block;
And polishing the end of the array block and the end of the optical fiber together to form an inclined plane having an inclined end face of the end face of the optical fiber and an end face of the array block. Way. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the step of forming the inclined plane comprises a step of polishing in a plurality of steps and a step of rough polishing for polishing the block and a step of precision polishing for polishing the end face of the optical fiber.

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