WO2015157980A1

WO2015157980A1 - Optical waveguide and printed circuit board

Info

Publication number: WO2015157980A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/075642
Authority: WO
Inventors: 王攀
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2014-04-17
Filing date: 2014-04-17
Publication date: 2015-10-22
Also published as: CN105308487B; CN105308487A

Abstract

An optical waveguide and a printed circuit board. The optical waveguide comprises a lower clad layer (1), an upper clad layer, and a waveguide core layer formed between the lower clad layer (1) and the upper clad layer. The waveguide core layer comprises at least one waveguide unit (100). Each waveguide unit (100) comprises a signal optical waveguide used for transmitting an optical signal, and a gain optical waveguide (3) used for amplifying, under a pump effect of pump light, the optical signal transmitted by the signal optical waveguide. The signal optical waveguide and the gain optical waveguide (3) are disposed on the surface of the side of the lower clad layer (1) facing the upper clad layer, and the signal optical waveguide and the gain optical waveguide (3) are connected into an integral structure by means of end surfaces, so that normal operation of the system can be ensured, and the optical interconnection bottleneck problem caused by great loss of optical signal transmission can be avoided.

Description

Optical waveguide and printed circuit board

The present invention relates to the field of optical communications, and more particularly to an optical waveguide and a printed circuit board. Background technique

As the demand for high-speed data transmission continues to increase, the data center needs multiple processors to coordinate the processing of related data, which in turn makes the data center's requirements for inter-chip interconnect bandwidth become higher and higher. Higher interconnect rates, bandwidths, and channel densities between printed boards (PCBs) and/or chips on the PCB place higher demands.

Traditional metal-based electrical interconnection between chips on a PCB. Due to the inherent physical characteristics of the metal wire, it has serious transmission loss and limited transmission distance in high-speed data transmission. (The higher the transmission rate, the higher the transmission distance. A series of bottlenecks, such as short) and severe crosstalk, make the electrical interconnection method unable to meet the processing and transmission requirements of high-speed information. Compared with traditional electrical interconnection technology, optical interconnect technology uses light waves as a carrier for information transmission, with high space-time bandwidth product, high integration density, wavelength division multiplexing, anti-electromagnetic interference and low transmission loss. Advantages, therefore, the development of an OE-PCB (Opto-electrical hybrid printed circuit board) in combination with optical interconnect technology and electrical interconnection technology is extremely important for promoting the development of future data centers and high-performance computers. The meaning and application value.

Currently producing 0E-PCBs, optical waveguides for transmitting high-speed optical signals are usually embedded in conventional PCB boards, and low-speed electrical signals are still transmitted electrically in the PCB. In actual use, the optical waveguide embedded in the PCB board causes transmission loss of the optical signal, and the optical signal loses a large amount after transmitting a certain distance, so that the optical power of the signal light received by the detecting end is too small, thereby causing the error of the detector. The rate increases, affecting the normal operation of the system, and causing bottlenecks in the optical interconnection between chips. Summary of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide an optical waveguide and a printed circuit board to solve the bottleneck problem of optical interconnection between chips. In a first aspect, an optical waveguide is provided, including a lower cladding layer, an upper cladding layer, and a waveguide core layer formed between the lower cladding layer and the upper cladding layer;

The waveguide core layer includes at least one waveguide unit, each of which includes a signal optical waveguide for transmitting an optical signal, and light for transmitting the signal optical waveguide under pumping of pump light a gain optical waveguide in which the signal is amplified;

The signal optical waveguide and the gain optical waveguide are disposed on a surface of the lower cladding layer facing the upper cladding layer, and the signal optical waveguide and the gain optical waveguide are connected to each other through an end surface.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first implementation manner, the signal optical waveguide includes a front end portion of the optical path and a rear end portion of the optical path;

The gain optical waveguide is disposed between the front end portion of the optical path and the rear end portion of the optical path, and an end surface of the gain optical waveguide and an end surface of the optical path front end portion facing the rear end portion of the optical path are integrally connected. The other end surface is connected to the end surface of the optical path rear end portion facing the front end portion of the optical path as a unitary structure.

In conjunction with the first aspect or the first implementation of the first aspect, in a second implementation manner, an end face cross-sectional dimension of the gain optical waveguide is identical to an end cross-sectional dimension of the signal optical waveguide.

In conjunction with the first implementation of the first aspect, in a third implementation, the waveguide unit further includes a pump optical waveguide that transmits the pump light; and the pump optical waveguide is disposed in the lower package The layer faces the surface on one side of the upper cladding.

In conjunction with the third implementation of the first aspect, in the fourth implementation, the pump light waveguide is integral with the front end portion of the optical path of the signal optical waveguide.

In conjunction with the fourth implementation of the first aspect, in a fifth implementation, the cross-sectional dimension of the end face of the pump light waveguide is the same as the cross-sectional dimension of the end face of the signal optical waveguide.

In conjunction with the third implementation of the first aspect, in a sixth implementation, the optical path rear end portion of the pump optical waveguide is disposed in parallel with the gain optical waveguide.

In conjunction with the sixth implementation of the first aspect, in a seventh implementation, a distance between a rear end portion of the optical path of the pump light waveguide and the gain optical waveguide is no more than 100 nm.

Combining the sixth implementation of the first aspect, or the seventh implementation of the first aspect, In an eighth implementation manner, an end face cross-sectional dimension of the pump optical waveguide is not greater than an end surface cross-sectional dimension of the gain optical waveguide.

In conjunction with the third implementation of the first aspect, in the ninth implementation, each of the waveguide units further includes a Bragg grating disposed at a rear end portion of the optical path of the signal optical waveguide, Pump light that passes through the gain optical waveguide but is not absorbed is filtered out.

With reference to the third implementation of the first aspect, to any one of the ninth implementation manners of the first aspect, in the tenth implementation, the number of the waveguide units is at least two, wherein, at least The two waveguide units are arranged in an array, and the distance between the signal optical waveguides in the adjacent two waveguide units and between the pump optical waveguides is not less than 10 μm.

In a second aspect, a printed circuit board is provided, the printed circuit board comprising an optical waveguide in any of the implementations of the first aspect.

The optical waveguide and the printed circuit board provided by the embodiments of the present invention, the waveguide core layer in the optical waveguide includes a signal optical waveguide for transmitting an optical signal, and light for transmitting the signal optical waveguide under the pumping action of the pumping light The gain optical waveguide is amplified by the signal, and the gain optical waveguide is connected to the signal optical waveguide as an integral structure, so that there is no coupling loss between the gain optical waveguide and the signal optical waveguide, so that the signal can be avoided under the premise of avoiding the coupling loss by the present invention. The optical signal transmitted by the optical waveguide is amplified, thereby avoiding the problem that the error rate of the detector is too high due to the light power of the optical signal received by the detecting end is too small, thereby ensuring normal operation of the system and avoiding the loss of optical signal transmission. Optical interconnect bottlenecks have emerged. DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2A-2 are schematic diagrams showing an optical waveguide structure provided with a pump optical waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical waveguide provided with a Bragg grating according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another optical waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of manufacturing an optical waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6A-6F are schematic diagrams showing a manufacturing process of an optical waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIGS. 7A-7B are schematic diagrams showing another optical waveguide manufacturing process according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts are within the scope of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an optical waveguide in which a gain optical waveguide integrally connected with a signal optical waveguide is disposed, and an optical signal transmitted by the signal optical waveguide is amplified by the gain optical waveguide to solve the current OE- Transmission loss problem of optical signals transmitted in PCB optical links.

The optical waveguide generally includes a waveguide core layer, and an upper cladding layer located above the waveguide core layer and a lower cladding layer located below the waveguide core layer, and the optical waveguide provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes an upper cladding layer and a lower cladding layer, and is formed under a waveguide core layer between the cladding layer and the upper cladding layer, the waveguide core layer comprising at least one waveguide unit, each waveguide unit including a signal optical waveguide for transmitting signal light and for pumping under pumping light a gain optical waveguide in which the signal light transmitted by the signal optical waveguide is amplified, the signal optical waveguide and the gain optical waveguide are disposed on a surface of the lower cladding layer on the side of the upper cladding layer, and the ratio of the signal optical waveguide to the gain optical waveguide is different in the configuration of the waveguide core layer .

In the embodiment of the present invention, the gain optical waveguide may be integrated with the signal optical waveguide through the end surface at a set position, for example, at the end of the signal optical waveguide, or at a certain set position of the signal optical waveguide. The embodiment of the present invention is not limited. The embodiment of the present invention will be described below by taking a gain optical waveguide at a set position of the signal optical waveguide.

1 is a schematic structural view of an optical waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention. The optical waveguide of FIG. 1 includes an upper cladding layer (not shown) and a lower cladding layer 1 , and further includes an upper cladding layer and a lower cladding layer. The waveguide core layer, the waveguide core layer includes a waveguide unit 100. In Fig. 1, a signal optical waveguide is formed on a surface of the lower cladding layer 1 facing the upper cladding layer for transmitting an optical signal. Signal optical waveguide includes a discontinuous optical path End portion 201 and optical path rear end portion 202. The optical path front end portion 201 can be regarded as the front end portion of the optical signal in the optical signal waveguide, and the optical path rear end portion 202 can be regarded as the rear end portion of the optical signal in the optical signal waveguide, the material composition and the end surface cross section of the optical signal. The size can be considered to be uniform, which is different from the existing optical waveguide in that there is a vacant area between the optical path front end portion 201 and the optical path rear end portion 202. In the embodiment of the present invention, the material of the signal optical waveguide may be a polymer material, but the refractive index of the polymer material should be not less than the refractive index of the under cladding material.

The gain optical waveguide 3 is disposed between the signal optical waveguide optical path front end portion 201 and the signal optical waveguide optical path rear end portion 202, and one end surface of the gain optical waveguide 3 and the end surface of the optical path front end portion 201 facing the optical path rear end portion 202 are integrally connected. The other end surface is connected to the end surface of the optical path rear end portion 202 facing the optical path front end portion 201 as a unitary structure, as shown in FIG.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the cross-sectional dimension of the end face of the gain optical waveguide 3 is the same as the cross-sectional dimension of the end surface of the signal optical waveguide connected thereto, that is, the height and width of the gain optical waveguide 3 are the same as the height and width of the signal optical waveguide, that is, the gain light. The waveguide 3 and the signal optical waveguide are completely coupled together through the end faces, and there is no need for separate alignment assembly between the two, and there is no coupling problem, and unnecessary coupling loss can be avoided.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the gain optical waveguide 3 is doped with a gain medium, and the gain medium can amplify the signal light transmitted in the signal optical waveguide under the pumping action of the pump light.

The gain medium doped in the gain optical waveguide 3 in the embodiment of the present invention may be a rare earth ion, a dye molecule, and/or a quantum dot, etc., and the doping concentration thereof may be determined according to a target gain coefficient that needs to be achieved.

The pump light for pumping the gain optical waveguide 3 in the embodiment of the present invention may be provided by a laser light source, and in the embodiment of the present invention, the gain light waveguide 3 may be directly pumped from the side by the laser light source, and the pump light is pumped from the side. When the side passes through the gain optical waveguide 3, it is absorbed by the gain medium in the gain optical waveguide 3.

Preferably, the optical waveguide provided by the embodiment of the present invention further includes a pump optical waveguide 4 for transmitting pump light for pumping the gain optical waveguide 3, and the pump optical waveguide 4 passes The coupling structure is coupled with the gain optical waveguide 3 to pump the gain optical waveguide 3, and the side of the gain optical waveguide is relatively directly pumped by the laser light source, and the pump light can be transmitted inside the optical waveguide, so that the pump is pumped The light can be continuously absorbed by the gain medium in the gain optical waveguide 3, and is not absorbed only when the side of the pump light passes through the gain optical waveguide, thereby improving the utilization of the pump light.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the signal optical waveguide for transmitting signal light and the pump optical waveguide 4 for transmitting the pump light may be made of the same material, for example, polystyrene, polyacrylic acid ruthenium hydride. a polymer material such as an ester, a polycarbonate, a polyimide, or a fluoride thereof. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, in order to simplify the manufacturing process, the pump optical waveguide 4 can be formed on the surface of the lower cladding layer 1 facing the upper cladding layer. Above, and making a pump optical waveguide while making a signal optical waveguide.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, the pump optical waveguide 4, the signal optical waveguide optical path front end portion 201, the signal optical waveguide optical path rear end portion 202, and the gain optical waveguide 3 are disposed on a surface of the lower cladding layer 1 facing the upper cladding layer. Rather than placing the pump optical waveguide 4 above the signal optical waveguide and/or the gain optical waveguide 3, the space resources occupied by the pump optical waveguide in the OE-PCB can be reduced.

Preferably, in the embodiment of the present invention, the optical path front end portion 201 of the pump optical waveguide 4 and the signal optical waveguide may be an integrated structure, so that the pump optical waveguide 4 and the signal optical waveguide can be integrally formed, which further simplifies the manufacturing process, and FIG. 2A The schematic diagram of the signal optical waveguide and the pump optical waveguide 4 in the waveguide unit provided by the embodiment of the present invention is an integrated structure.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the pump optical waveguide 4 and the signal optical waveguide are integrated, the cross-sectional dimension of the end face of the pump optical waveguide 4 is preferably the same as the cross-sectional dimension of the end surface of the signal optical waveguide, for example, the pump optical waveguide 4 and When the end face of the signal optical waveguide is square, the square may have a side length of 10 ± 0.5 μm. The cross-sectional dimension of the end face of the pump optical waveguide 4 is consistent with the cross-sectional dimension of the end face of the signal optical waveguide, so that the same process can be used in the fabrication, the process is further simplified, and the pump can be pumped in the pump optical waveguide. Light is preferably coupled to the gain optical waveguide.

Preferably, in the embodiment of the present invention, the pump optical waveguide 4 and the signal optical waveguide are selected to be discrete structures, and the optical fiber rear end portion of the pump optical waveguide 4 is disposed in parallel with the gain optical waveguide 3, so that the pump optical waveguide 4 is disposed. The transmitted pump light and the gain optical waveguide 3 interact in an evanescent wave coupling manner, and are absorbed by the gain medium in the gain optical waveguide to improve the utilization of the pump light, as shown in FIG. 2A, the structure of the diagram is set. schematic diagram. Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, the rear end portion of the optical path of the pump optical waveguide 4 is disposed in parallel with the gain optical waveguide 3, and the spacing between the two is not more than 100 nm, and the cross-sectional dimension of the end surface of the pump optical waveguide 4 is not greater than the gain light. When the end face cross-sectional dimension of the waveguide 3, for example, the end face section of the gain optical waveguide 3 is a square having a side length of about 10 μm, the end face section of the pump optical waveguide 4 may be a square having a side length of about 5 μm, and the end face of the pump optical waveguide 4 The smaller the cross-sectional size is, the larger the evanescent wave energy transmitted outside the pump optical waveguide 4 is. Therefore, in order to improve the utilization of the pump light, the cross-sectional dimension of the end face of the pump optical waveguide 4 in the embodiment of the present invention should be no larger than the gain light. The cross-sectional dimension of the end face of the waveguide.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the waveguide unit further includes a Bragg grating 5 disposed on the optical path rear end portion 202 of the signal optical waveguide, as shown in FIG. 3, for filtering out the gain optical waveguide 3 but The pump light that is not absorbed to prevent the pump light from interfering with the signal light when the signal light is detected at the detecting end.

Specifically, the structural parameters (such as the period, the number of cycles, and the like) required for the Bragg grating in the embodiment of the present invention can be set according to the wavelength of the pump light to be filtered, the target extinction ratio, and the like.

Preferably, in another preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least two waveguide units 100 may be disposed between the upper cladding layer and the lower cladding layer, and at least two waveguide units are arranged in an array, as shown in FIG. 4 is another schematic view showing the configuration of an optical waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Specifically, each waveguide unit 100 in the optical waveguide unit array in the embodiment of the present invention may be any medium waveguide unit involved in the foregoing embodiment, and includes a signal optical waveguide and a gain optical waveguide in the waveguide unit, and may further include a pump. The structure shown in FIG. 4 in the embodiment of the present invention is only a schematic description, and is not limited thereto.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, the spacing between the signal optical waveguides in the adjacent two waveguide units is not less than ΙΟ μπι, and the spacing between the pump optical waveguides is not less than 10 μπι to avoid transmission between adjacent optical waveguides. The signals interfere with each other. The waveguide structure can complete the amplification of the multi-path optical signals, and can set different amplification factors in the gain optical waveguides in each waveguide unit to amplify the optical signals in different channels.

The embodiment of the invention further provides a printed circuit board, which comprises the above embodiment Any of the optical waveguides.

The printed circuit board provided by the embodiment of the present invention is the same as or similar to the prior art except that the optical waveguide structure is different from the prior art, and details are not described herein again.

It should be noted that the optical waveguide structure shown in the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention is only a schematic description of the portion of the optical waveguide in which the gain optical waveguide is required, and is not the entire optical waveguide.

Based on the optical waveguide provided by the above embodiments, the following embodiments are provided. The optical waveguide manufacturing method according to the embodiment of the present invention is merely an example. For the optical waveguide manufacturing method, other manufacturing methods may be used. The embodiment of the invention is not limited.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a method for fabricating an optical waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention, including:

S101: forming an under cladding layer 1 on the base substrate as shown in Fig. 6A.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, a low refractive index polymer material having a thickness of about 5 μm can be formed on a clean PCB common material FR4 (glass epoxy copper clad laminate) by, for example, spin coating. The polymeric material can be, for example, a polysiloxane or the like, and then the polymeric material is exposed extensively with ultraviolet light to form a cured structure for use as an under cladding of the polymeric optical waveguide.

S102: forming a waveguide core layer including at least one waveguide unit on the lower cladding layer 1.

Specifically, each waveguide unit in the embodiment of the present invention includes at least a signal optical waveguide for transmitting an optical signal and a gain optical waveguide for amplifying the optical signal transmitted by the signal optical waveguide under the pumping action of the pump light. 3. The signal optical waveguide and the gain optical waveguide 3 are connected to each other through an end surface.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the pump optical waveguide 4 and/or the Bragg grating may be further included in each waveguide unit.

S103: On the basis of completing S102, an upper cladding layer covering the waveguide core layer including at least one waveguide unit formed in S102 is formed.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, the material for the upper cladding layer may be the same as the material for the lower cladding layer, such as a polymer material such as polysiloxane, and is cured by ultraviolet light exposure.

Further, the process of forming the waveguide core layer including at least one waveguide unit in the above step S102 will be described in detail below with reference to practical applications.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a process of forming a waveguide unit will be first described. A. Based on Fig. 6A, a signal optical waveguide is formed, and a vacant area is reserved at a set position on the signal optical waveguide, and the optical path front end portion 201 and the optical path rear end portion 202 of the signal optical waveguide are defined by the vacant area.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, a polymer material for fabricating a signal optical waveguide having a thickness of about 10 μm can be formed on the basis of FIG. 6A by, for example, spin coating, the polymer material and the underlying package. The material used for layer 1 is different, and a polymer material such as polystyrene, polydecyl methacrylate, polycarbonate, polyimide, and fluoride thereof may be selected in the embodiment of the present invention. The refractive index of the material should not be less than the refractive index of the material of the under cladding layer 1.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the structure of the signal optical waveguide can be formed by, for example, ultraviolet exposure or soft etching, and the height and width of the signal optical waveguide are both about 10 μπι.

Preferably, in the embodiment of the present invention, the signal optical waveguide can be formed on the lower cladding layer, and the pump optical waveguide 4 for transmitting the pump light is integrally formed, so that the signal optical waveguide and the pump optical waveguide 4 are integrated. As shown in Figure 6Β.

Of course, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the signal optical waveguide is formed on the lower cladding layer, the discrete signal optical waveguide and the pump optical waveguide 4 are formed on the lower cladding layer, and the vacant area of the signal optical waveguide and the pump optical waveguide are used. The rear end portions of the optical paths of 4 are arranged in parallel as shown in Fig. 6C.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the Bragg grating 5 may be formed at the rear end portion of the optical path of the signal optical waveguide for filtering the pump light that is not completely absorbed after passing through the gain optical waveguide, and preventing the pump light from interfering with the signal light. Detection. Among them, the structural parameters required to process the Bragg grating are determined by the wavelength of the pump light that needs to be filtered out.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the Bragg grating 5 can be fabricated by using a soft etching method while forming the signal optical waveguide and the pump optical waveguide 3, or after the signal optical waveguide and the pump optical waveguide 3 are completed, the laser is used. The cutting method is processed to form a structure as shown in Fig. 6D or Fig. 6A.

增益, the gain optical waveguide 3 is formed in the vacant area of the signal optical waveguide, and one end surface of the gain optical waveguide 3 and the end surface of the optical path front end portion 201 facing the optical path rear end portion 202 are integrally connected, and the other end surface and the optical path rear end are connected The end faces of the portion 202 facing the front end portion 201 of the optical path are connected in a unitary structure. Preferably, the embodiment of the present invention can form the gain optical waveguide 3 in the vacant area of the signal optical waveguide on the basis of completing FIG. 6B or FIG. 6C or on the basis of completing FIG. 6D or FIG. 6E. The optical waveguide 3 is connected to the front end portion of the optical path of the signal optical waveguide and the rear end portion of the optical path, and has an end face cross-sectional dimension which is identical to the end cross-sectional dimension of the signal optical waveguide to which it is connected.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, a suitable gain medium, such as a rare earth ion, a quantum dot, and/or a dye molecule, may be selected and doped into the polymer solution at an appropriate concentration, and mixed and hooked for use. In the embodiment of the present invention, the polymer mixed solution doped with the gain medium may be coated on the prepared optical waveguide structure by, for example, spin coating, and then pre-prescribed by ultraviolet exposure or soft etching. A gain optical waveguide containing a gain medium is formed at a position of the remaining air leaving region, and the optical signal transmitted by the signal optical waveguide is amplified, and the gain optical waveguide is located between the front portion of the optical path of the signal optical waveguide and the rear end portion of the optical path, and the end surface The cross-sectional dimension is the same as the cross-sectional dimension of the signal optical waveguide, so that a good coupling between the gain optical waveguide and the signal optical waveguide is achieved. If the gain optical waveguide is fabricated on the basis of FIG. 6B or FIG. 6C, the final structural diagram is as shown in FIG. 2A or FIG. 2B, if a gain optical waveguide is fabricated on the basis of FIG. 6D or FIG. 6E, the final structural diagram is as shown in FIG. 6F or FIG.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a process of forming a waveguide element array will be described as an example.

The process of forming the waveguide unit array in the embodiment of the present invention is similar to the above process of forming a waveguide unit, except that on the basis of FIG. 6A, it is required to form a waveguide unit array including at least two waveguide units, each The waveguide unit includes a signal optical waveguide and a pump optical waveguide 4, and a reserved space is reserved at a set position on the signal optical waveguide, and the optical path front end portion 201 and the optical path rear end portion of the signal optical waveguide are defined by the empty area 202.

Further, in the embodiment of the invention, a Bragg grating can be fabricated at the rear end portion of the optical path of the signal optical waveguide.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the spacing between each waveguide unit is not less than 10 μπι, that is, the spacing between the signal optical waveguides in adjacent waveguide units is not less than ΙΟμπι, and the spacing between the pump optical waveguides is not Less than ΙΟμπι, to avoid mutual interference between adjacent optical waveguides, as shown in Figure 7Α.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7A is an example in which the signal optical waveguide and the pump optical waveguide 4 are integrated, and the signal optical waveguide and the pump optical waveguide 4 are discrete structural phases. The embodiments of the present invention are not described herein again.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, on the basis of FIG. 7A, a gain optical waveguide is required in each waveguide unit, as shown in FIG. 7B, and the specific fabrication method is similar to the process of fabricating the gain optical waveguide in a waveguide unit. , will not repeat them here.

The optical waveguide manufacturing method provided by the embodiment of the invention forms a signal optical waveguide for transmitting an optical signal, and a gain optical waveguide for amplifying the optical signal transmitted by the signal optical waveguide under the pumping action of the pump light, Moreover, the gain optical waveguide and the signal optical waveguide are connected in an integrated structure, so that there is no coupling loss between the gain optical waveguide and the signal optical waveguide, so that the optical signal transmitted by the signal optical waveguide can be amplified by the invention without the coupling loss. In addition, the problem that the error rate of the detector is too high due to the excessive light power of the optical signal received by the detecting end can be avoided, the normal operation of the system is ensured, and the optical interconnect bottleneck problem caused by the large transmission loss of the optical signal is avoided.

Further, the signal optical waveguide formed in the embodiment of the present invention includes a discontinuous optical path front end portion and an optical path rear end portion, and the gain optical waveguide is formed between the optical path front end portion and the optical path rear end portion of the discontinuous signal optical waveguide. The front end portion of the optical path of the signal optical waveguide and the rear end portion of the optical path are respectively connected as an integral structure, and the cross-sectional dimensions of the end faces are uniform, thereby further ensuring that the signal light transmitted by the signal optical waveguide is amplified without the coupling problem, thereby avoiding the detection end The problem that the error rate of the detector is too high due to the excessively small optical power of the received optical signal ensures the normal operation of the system and avoids the problem of optical interconnection bottleneck caused by the large loss of optical signal transmission.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention can be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or a combination of software and hardware. Moreover, the invention can be embodied in the form of one or more computer program products embodied on a computer-usable storage medium (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) in which computer usable program code is embodied.

The present invention has been described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (system), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or FIG. These computer program instructions can be provided to a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, An embedded processor or processor of another programmable data processing device to generate a machine such that instructions executed by a processor of a computer or other programmable data processing device are generated for implementation in a flow or a flow of flowcharts and/or Or a block diagram of a device in a box or a function specified in a plurality of boxes.

The computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising the instruction device. The apparatus implements the functions specified in one or more blocks of a flow or a flow and/or block diagram of the flowchart.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device such that a series of operational steps are performed on a computer or other programmable device to produce computer-implemented processing for execution on a computer or other programmable device. The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more of the flow or in a block or blocks of a flow diagram.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the < Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and the modifications and modifications The spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present invention are departed. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and modifications of the embodiments of the invention.

Claims

Rights request

1. An optical waveguide, characterized in that it includes a lower cladding layer, an upper cladding layer, and a waveguide core layer formed between the lower cladding layer and the upper cladding layer;

The waveguide core layer includes at least one waveguide unit, each of the waveguide units includes a signal optical waveguide for transmitting optical signals, and light for transmitting to the signal optical waveguide under the pumping action of pump light. Gain optical waveguide for signal amplification;

The signal optical waveguide and the gain optical waveguide are arranged on the surface of the lower cladding layer facing the upper cladding layer, and the signal optical waveguide and the gain optical waveguide are connected into an integrated structure through end faces.

2. The optical waveguide according to claim 1, characterized in that the signal optical waveguide includes an optical path front end part and an optical path rear end part;

The gain optical waveguide is arranged between the front end portion of the optical path and the rear end portion of the optical path, and one end surface of the gain optical waveguide is connected to an end surface of the front end portion of the optical path facing the rear end portion of the optical path to form an integrated structure. The other end face of the gain optical waveguide is connected to an end face of the rear end portion of the optical path facing the front end portion of the optical path to form an integrated structure.

3. The optical waveguide according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the end cross-sectional size of the gain optical waveguide is consistent with the end cross-sectional size of the signal optical waveguide.

4. The optical waveguide according to claim 2, wherein the waveguide unit further includes a pump optical waveguide that transmits the pump light;

The pump optical waveguide is disposed on the surface of the lower cladding facing the upper cladding.

5. The optical waveguide according to claim 4, characterized in that the optical path front end portion of the pump optical waveguide and the signal optical waveguide is an integral structure.

6. The optical waveguide according to claim 5, characterized in that the end cross-sectional size of the pump optical waveguide is consistent with the end cross-sectional size of the signal optical waveguide.

7. The optical waveguide according to claim 4, wherein the rear end portion of the optical path of the pump optical waveguide is arranged parallel to the gain optical waveguide.

8. The optical waveguide according to claim 7, characterized in that, after the optical path of the pump optical waveguide The distance between the end portion and the gain optical waveguide is not greater than 100 nm.

9. The optical waveguide according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the end cross-sectional size of the pump optical waveguide is not larger than the end cross-sectional size of the gain optical waveguide.

10. The optical waveguide according to claim 4, characterized in that each waveguide unit further includes a Bragg grating, and the Bragg grating is disposed at the rear end of the optical path of the signal optical waveguide for filtering out The gain light is waveguided but the pump light is not absorbed.

11. The optical waveguide according to any one of claims 4 to 10, characterized in that the number of said waveguide units is at least two, wherein,

At least two of the waveguide units are arranged in an array, and the distance between the signal light waveguides and the pump light waveguides in two adjacent waveguide units is not less than 10 μm.

12. A printed circuit board, characterized by including the optical waveguide according to any one of claims 1-11.