Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
  • G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
  • G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
  • G02B6/4219—Mechanical fixtures for holding or positioning the elements relative to each other in the couplings; Alignment methods for the elements, e.g. measuring or observing methods especially used therefor
  • G02B6/4228—Passive alignment, i.e. without a detection of the degree of coupling or the position of the elements
  • G02B6/423—Passive alignment, i.e. without a detection of the degree of coupling or the position of the elements using guiding surfaces for the alignment
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
  • G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
  • G02B6/30—Optical coupling means for use between fibre and thin-film device
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
  • G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
  • G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
  • G02B6/4202—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details for coupling an active element with fibres without intermediate optical elements, e.g. fibres with plane ends, fibres with shaped ends, bundles
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
  • G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
  • G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
  • G02B6/4274—Electrical aspects
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
  • G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
  • G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
  • G02B6/4274—Electrical aspects
  • G02B6/428—Electrical aspects containing printed circuit boards [PCB]

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device for coupling optical signals into at least one waveguide according to the preamble of claim 1.
• the present invention further relates to a complementary device for decoupling optical signals from at least one waveguide according to the preamble of claim 2.
• VCSEL Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers
• PD photodiodes
• VCSEL Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers
• the optical signals S1 are in a ninety-degree offset plane via a 45-degree deflection mirror US from the transmitting or receiving direction of the optical converter WA to divert the waveguide WL, as shown in Fig.1 removable.
• the publication DE 102012005618 A1 describes an active optical cable whose fibers are firmly bonded to an optical substrate. The fibers couple to an integrated optical waveguide.
• a deflector directs the free jet to the process unit located on the surface of the substrate, the free jet undergoing a ninety degree change of direction to direct the free jet into a transceiver unit.
• optical transducers WA can be arranged by means of a corresponding holder HA such that their transmitting or receiving direction corresponds to the plane of the waveguide WL, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3.
• the present invention has the object, a device according to the preamble of claim 1 and a device according to the preamble of claim 2 educate so that a corresponding miniaturization of A - And coupling device is made possible with low optical losses; At the same time the effort in the production should be low.
• This object is achieved by a device having the features of claim 1 and by a
• incoming electrical signals are processed in at least one circuit via electrical connection contacts.
• the circuit which may be implemented as an application-specific integrated circuit or as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for example as a custom chip, controls at least one electro-optical converter, in particular at least one laser, for example at least one vertical cavity surface emitting
• This electro-optical converter is accommodated or integrated, in particular embedded, in at least one transmitting-side pickup / alignment module and transmits the converted optical signals axially into at least one waveguide, for example into at least one optical fiber.
• the transmitting-side receiving / aligning module which is substantially positively and / or non-positively received in a provided in a transmitting side substrate recess, in particular fitted, has at least one groove or channel-shaped recess along which the waveguide with respect to the electro optical transducer can be aligned.
• the transmitting side receiving / alignment module allows a modular design, and in particular an alignment or fixation of the waveguide with respect to the electro-optical converter. As a result, the dimensions of the transmitting side device can be reduced according to the present invention, wherein the modularization is also considered to be very advantageous in terms of production and cost technical aspects.
• the substrate itself acts as a recording medium not only for the transmitting side receiving / aligning module but also for the transmitting side circuit and the transmitting side connecting contacts. Furthermore, the substrate has communication interfaces and electrical connections to allow the communication of the individual components with each other.
• the optical signals arriving via the waveguide are decoupled by at least one opto-electrical converter from the direction of the axis of the waveguide, in particular the glass fiber.
• This opto-electrical converter which may be at least one diode, in particular at least one photodiode, is received or integrated, in particular embedded, in at least one receiving-side pickup / alignment module and converts the optical signals into electrical signals.
• the converted electrical signals are output to at least one receiving-side circuit, in particular to at least one application-specific integrated circuit or to at least one application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for example to at least one custom chip.
• ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
• the receiving-side circuit processes and, if necessary, amplifies the incoming electrical signals, possibly also amplified, and outputs these signals to receiving-side terminal contacts.
• the receiving-side receiving / aligning module which is substantially positively and / or non-positively received in a recess provided in a receiving substrate, in particular fitted, has at least one groove or channel-shaped recess, along which the waveguide with respect to the opto -electric converter can be aligned.
• the reception-side pickup / alignment module allows a modular design, and in particular an alignment or fixation of the waveguide with respect to the opto-electrical converter. As a result, the dimensions of the receiving device according to the present invention can be reduced, wherein the modularization is also considered to be very advantageous from a production and cost technical point of view.
• the substrate itself functions as a recording medium not only for the reception-side pickup / alignment module but also for the reception-side circuit and the reception-side connection terminals. Furthermore, the substrate has communication interfaces and electrical connections to facilitate communication between the individual components.
• the waveguide is at least partially accommodated with respect to its cross-section in the recess of the receiving / aligning module, in particular at least partially sunk in the recess of the Aufnhrr alignment module.
• the Aufnatural- / Ausrichtmodul fulfill its alignment function for the waveguide particularly effective.
• V-shaped recess can advantageously in a in axial
• the recess may be laterally provided on the alignment part, thereby allowing a particularly space-saving fixation of the waveguide, as the inner wall of the recess in the substrate forms the counterpart (which is not possible with conventional V-guide rails, which are arranged below the waveguide ).
• the depression is associated with a partial region, in particular a section, of the outer contour of the waveguide; in particular, the recess does not completely surround the waveguide, but provides an alignment aid on one side of the waveguide.
• the Auf Principle- / Ausrichtmodul for receiving the transducer expediently have a receiving part.
• the geometry of, in particular mechanical, pick-up / alignment module thus be T-shaped, in particular to ensure a positive and / or non-positive connection of the receiving / alignment module with the substrate.
• the receiving / aligning module can be fastened by means of adhesive bonding and / or soldered connection and / or plug-in connection and / or other joint connection to the substrate functioning as a complementary part or counterpart of the receiving / aligning module.
• the end of the receiving / aligning module facing away from the transducer in particular the end of the alignment part facing away from the transducer, can terminate substantially flush with the end face of the substrate.
• the height of the pick / place module may be substantially flush with the height of the substrate to be as homogeneous as possible
• the receiving / alignment module can be made entirely of an optically transparent medium. This variant is significantly cheaper from a manufacturing point of view than a local or selective introduction of an optical medium into the pick-up / alignment module.
• the Aufnhrr alignment module in particular its receiving part may expediently have at least one provided between the transducer and the waveguide passage, in particular at least one bore and / or at least one optically transparent medium, for the optical signals.
• the substrate has at least one contact, in particular at least one contact surface, and / or the pick-up / alignment module has at least one contact, in particular at least one contact
• an electrical connection between the two components can be produced via such contacts both on the substrate and on the receiving / alignment module, for example by means of wire bonding or soldering process, by means of conductive adhesive, by means of electrical
• At least one contact surface is at least partially embedded in the substrate and / or in the receiving / aligning module. This allows the connection of embedded in the substrate and / or in the recording / alignment module
• the contacts may lie with one end on the surface of the substrate and / or the receiving / aligning module, in particular for the connection of substrate and receiving / alignment module, and at the same time with the other end in the substrate and / or in the receiving
• the circuit and the terminal contacts may be arranged so that they are substantially in one plane. This allows a reduction in the height, in particular when the circuit does not exceed the height of the substrate.
• the circuit is embedded in the substrate, in particular glued, soldered or plugged in order to produce a particularly intimate connection and connection to the, embedded in particular in the substrate, contacts.
• the waveguide in particular in the plane of the substrate, is aligned coaxially with a peripheral cable or peripheral contact which can be fastened to the connection contacts. This may be particularly important for the construction of optically active cables.
• the device may comprise an enclosing housing, through which the device is protectable from external influences. This is particularly important for use as optically active cable, especially since the housing can then be used as a plug with a mechanism for fixing to peripherals.
• the proposed device for coupling or decoupling optical signals can be used profitably in many fields of application, primarily for fast signal transmission between two components with electrical signal routing.
• the present invention primarily relates to the use of the construction of, in particular pluggable, active optical cables for fast and low-loss signal conversion and data transmission in a very small space to forward the electrically processed data quickly to the various units.
• the extremely short conduction paths within the device allow for very short latencies.
• the modularization allows an extremely high degree of automation in production.
• the separate structure of the substrate with ASIC and the mechanical pickup / alignment module with embedded electro-optical and / or opto-electrical converter, in particular with embedded electro-optical transmitter and / or with embedded opto-electrical receiver, and firmly connected fiber a separate further processing of the two components possible.
• the substrate in an automated "pick and place” process, can be machine-mounted on a printed circuit board and swirl soldered using ASIC.
• the cable in the connector ends performs the signal processing, signal conversion and coupling or decoupling of the input and output signals.
• bidirectional cables in particular if transmitting and receiving components are integrated in a recording / alignment module, or direction-independent cable, if the electro-optical converter is also an opto-electrical converter, provided become.
• a novel structure of a miniaturized electro-optical transmitter and / or a miniaturized opto-electrical receiver can be realized with the optical waveguide fixedly connected to the recording / alignment module for transmitting electrical signals via such an optical waveguide with this device.
• the present invention is characterized by a high degree of miniaturization, which is due to the inventive way of positioning, modularization and integration of the components. This allows the construction of A [ctive] 0 [ptical] C [able] s with miniaturized electro-optical transmitters and / or opto-electrical receivers.
• the direct integration of the waveguide into the pick-up / alignment module, in particular through the use of transparent media for the production of, in particular mechanical, pick-up / alignment module can be very short signal connection lengths, for example, bond wire lengths, achieve what especially at very high data transfer rates for Maintains signal quality and reduces latency.
• the modularization according to the present invention can save considerable costs in production, for example due to a higher degree of automation.
• FIGS. 4 to 8. It shows:
• Figure 1 is a conceptual schematic representation of a device of the prior art, by means of which optical signals can be coupled at an angle of ninety degrees to the emission direction.
• 2 is a conceptual schematic representation of a device from the prior art, by means of which optical signals can be coupled by means of an L-mount in the axial direction to the waveguide;
• 3 is a perspective view of an example of the realization of an input or Decoupling device from the prior art;
• FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a substrate, in particular a carrier substrate, according to the present invention.
• FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a device according to the present invention formed with the substrate of FIG. 4; FIG.
• Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a pick / place module according to the present invention which is part of the apparatus of Fig. 5;
• FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the pick-up / alignment module of FIG. 6 with integrated transducer; FIG. and
• Fig. 8 in perspective view of the receiving / alignment module of Fig. 7 with associated waveguide.
• FIGS. 4 to 8 Identical or similar configurations, elements or features are provided with identical reference symbols in FIGS. 4 to 8. With respect to the transmitting side and the receiving side is not distinguished graphically, however, the receiving side elements corresponding to the transmitting side elements have a 40 higher reference numerals.
• the device 100 has a transmitting-side circuit 26, which controls an electro-optical converter 28 on the basis of incoming from transmitting terminal contacts 22 signals, the optical Signals in the direction of the axis 12 of the waveguide 10 emits.
• a transmission-side substrate 20 or a reception-side substrate 60 is provided (compare FIG. 4).
• the connection contacts 22 and 62 which may be in particular metallic pressure contacts or sliding contacts are supported on the substrate 20 and 60, which may also incorporated in the substrate 20 and 60, for example, cast.
• the ASIC 26 or 66 is required by the electro-optical converter 28 and the opto-electrical converter 68 for the respective signal processing.
• the circuit 26 or 66 is integrated into the recess 24 or 64, preferably glued or plugged, wherein the height of the substrate 20 and 60 corresponds approximately to the height of the circuit 26 and 66, respectively.
• the circuit 26 or 66 may at least partially also be designed with the connection contacts 22 or 62, as can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5.
• the substrate 20 or 60 has on its side facing an optical waveguide 10 a side
• Recess 38 and 78 which corresponds approximately to the dimensioning of a pick / Ausrichtmoduls 40 and 80.
• the transducer 28 or 68 is assigned to this pick-up / alignment module 40 or 80, in particular accommodated or integrated in it, for example embedded therein.
• the emission or reception direction of the transducer 28 or 68 is in this case essentially parallel to a groove-shaped or channel-shaped, in particular V-shaped, lateral depression 46 or 86 provided in the receiving / aligning module 40 or 80, by means of which the waveguide 10 with respect to the transducer 28 and 68 can be aligned.
• the receiving / aligning module 40 or 80 is made of optically transparent material that can absorb mechanical loads, and is positively and / or non-positively received in the substrate 20 and 60 provided recess 38 and 78, in particular fitted.
• contact surfaces 30 and 70 On the surface of the substrate 20 and 60 are contact surfaces 30 and 70, which may be in particular metallic pressure contacts or sliding contacts, for communication of the
• the receiving / aligning module 40 or 80 can be assigned flush to the end face 20s or 60s of the substrate 20 or 60.
• the receiving / aligning module 40 or 80 lies in one plane with the circuit 26 or 66 and with the connection contacts 22 or 62 and has an approximately T-shaped geometry for frictional integration into the substrate 20 or 60, composing out
• the recess 46 or 86 is assigned to a partial region, in particular a section, of the outer contour of the waveguide 10;
• the recess 46 or 86 does not completely surround the waveguide 10, but merely provides an alignment aid on one side of the waveguide 10, the counterpart on the other side of the waveguide 10 passing through the inner wall of the recess 38 or 78 in the substrate 20 or 60 is formed.
• the receiving part 42 or 82 of the receiving / aligning module 40 or 80 has a passage 32 or 72 provided between the converter 28 or 68 and the waveguide 10. This passage 32 or 72 is thus located in front of the opening of the converter 28 or 68 and is as
• FIG. 8 shows the receiving / aligning module 40 or 80 with associated waveguide 10 designed as a glass fiber, which is partially received, in particular countersunk, in the recess 46 or 86 by means of adhesive bonding, welding (melting), clinching or other joining.
• ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
• receiving side circuit in particular receiving side application-specific integrated circuit or receiving side application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for example, receiving side custom chip
• ASIC circuit in particular application-specific integrated circuit or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for example custom chip (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2)

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Optical Couplings Of Light Guides (AREA)
• Optical Integrated Circuits (AREA)
• Semiconductor Lasers (AREA)
• Light Receiving Elements (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (2)

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Family Applications (1)

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Citations (14)

Family Cites Families (12)

• 2014
  • 2014-06-02 DE DE112014002594.1T patent/DE112014002594A5/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2014-06-02 JP JP2016515657A patent/JP6461108B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2014-06-02 EP EP14755968.6A patent/EP3004956B1/de active Active
  • 2014-06-02 WO PCT/DE2014/200243 patent/WO2014190991A1/de not_active Ceased
• 2015
  • 2015-11-27 US US14/953,108 patent/US10012807B2/en active Active

Patent Citations (14)

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