JP2002062459A - Optical module device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To improve an alignment accuracy by bringing an optical element such as a semiconductor laser and an optical waveguide into accurate contact with each other. SOLUTION: A core part 131 and a clad part 132 are formed of a flexible and transparent material, and an outer frame 133 thereof is provided.
Is formed as an optical waveguide 13 supported by a hard material, forming a fitting portion in the hard material portion facilitates the alignment process, and also enables the semiconductor laser 12 and the core portion 131 and the clad portion 132 to be aligned. Since the end faces can be contacted without fear of being damaged, optical coupling loss can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser,
The present invention relates to an optical module device using an optical waveguide necessary for optically coupling an optical element such as an optical fiber with low loss.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, light emitted from an emission end face having a small spot size, such as an edge-emitting type semiconductor laser, has a large divergence angle and is considered to optically couple a semiconductor laser and an optical waveguide. In the case where the spot size at the exit end face of the semiconductor laser is equal to the spot size at the entrance end face of the optical waveguide, the loss of optical coupling increases as the distance between the two increases in the optical axis direction. For this reason, it is desirable that both end faces are in contact with each other. However, when the optical waveguide is formed of a hard material, the end faces of the semiconductor laser may be damaged by the contact.

As a method of avoiding this, there is, for example, the invention of Japanese Patent Application No. 11-260710 filed earlier by the present applicant. According to the present invention, the optical waveguide is formed of a flexible and transparent material such as silicone resin, so that the semiconductor laser can be brought into contact with the optical waveguide.

In this case, when the entire optical waveguide is formed of a flexible resin and the concave / convex portions for fitting are also flexible, there is a new problem that the accuracy of alignment is reduced and handling during mounting becomes difficult. appear.

[0005]

According to the mounting method in which the concave and convex portions for fitting are provided on the optical waveguide and the substrate and the alignment is performed by the fitting, the entire optical waveguide is formed of a flexible resin and the fitting for the fitting is performed. If the concave and convex portions are also flexible, the accuracy of alignment is reduced and handling during mounting is difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical module device in which an optical element such as a semiconductor laser or an optical fiber is brought into accurate contact with an optical waveguide to improve the alignment accuracy.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in an optical module device according to the present invention, a first terminal is provided at one end.
An optical module substrate having the second optical element attached to the other end thereof and a first fitting part formed at the center, a core part formed of a flexible and transparent material, and A clad formed of a flexible and transparent material disposed on the outer periphery of the core except for both ends through which light from the first optical element passes, and a hard clad supporting the clad and forming a second fitting portion at a lower portion thereof An optical waveguide composed of an outer frame made of a conductive material, wherein the first and second fitting portions are fitted to each other to make the end face of the first optical element come into contact with the optical waveguide. And the optical axis from the first optical element to the second optical element is aligned via the optical waveguide.

Further, in an optical module device for optically coupling first and second optical elements having different spot sizes, a flexible and transparent material is formed into a shape having a sectional area gradually increasing from an incident end face to an output end face. The core portion, the cladding formed of a flexible and transparent material disposed on the outer periphery excluding the output end surface from the incident end surface, an outer frame formed of a hard material surrounding the clad and the core portion, A first mounting opening formed in the outer frame on the optical axis of the core portion facing the incident end surface, and a second mounting opening formed in the outer frame on the optical axis of the core portion facing the emitting end surface. The first optical element is attached to the first mounting port, the optical element is brought into contact with the incident end face, and the second optical element is mounted to the second mounting port, Optical axis from the first optical element to the second optical element Characterized by comprising alignment.

By this means, the core portion and the clad portion of the optical waveguide are formed of a flexible and transparent material such as silicone resin, and the outer frame is surrounded by an outer frame of a hard material. By fitting the first and second fitting portions with the module substrate, the end faces of the optical element and the optical waveguide are brought into contact with each other without fear of being damaged, and reliable alignment can be performed.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention. 11 is an optical module substrate, 12 is a semiconductor laser, 13 is an optical waveguide, 141 and 142 are concave portions, 15
Is a concave groove, and 161 and 162 are convex portions. Step portions 111 and 112 are formed on both sides of the optical module substrate 11 in the longitudinal direction. The semiconductor laser 12 is attached to the step 111. Concave portions 141 and 142 parallel to the longitudinal direction are formed in the central upper surface portion 113 of the optical module substrate 11. In addition, a concave groove 15 is formed in the step portion 112.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical waveguide 13 comprises a core portion 131, a cladding portion 132 formed around the core portion 131, and an outer frame 133 for accommodating the core portion 131 and the cladding portion 132. Core part 131 and clad part 13
2 is a flexible and transparent material such as silicone resin, and the outer frame 133 is formed of a hard material. The optical waveguide 13 is for converting the light emitted from the semiconductor laser 12 to a spot size and optically coupling the light to the optical fiber 17 with low loss.

The core portion 131 has a tapered shape in which the width of the incident end face 1311 is wide in the horizontal direction and narrow in the vertical direction, and the width is gradually narrower in the horizontal direction up to the emission end face 1312, and becomes slightly thicker in the vertical direction. . The core 13
1 is formed in a state of being surrounded by the cladding part 132 except for the incident end face 1311 and the outgoing end face 1312.

The outer frame 133 is the incident end face 1 of the core 131.
311, the emission end face 1312 is opened, and the cladding 132 is formed in a state where a projection 1321 projecting in the optical axis direction with respect to the outer frame 133 is obtained. Also, on the lower surface of the outer frame 133, substantially parallel convex portions 16 along the light emission direction of the optical waveguide 13 that can be fitted into the concave portions 141 and 142 are provided.
1,162 are formed. The concave groove 15 has an optical fiber 17
Is attached at one end.

Here, the mounting will be described. First, the semiconductor laser 12 is mounted on the optical module substrate 11 and electric wiring is performed. In the semiconductor laser 12, for example, a marker is formed on the step portion 111 of the optical module substrate 11 and the semiconductor laser 12, and alignment is performed by image matching.

Next, the optical waveguide 13 is connected to the optical module substrate 11.
To be implemented. Protrusions 161 provided on the lower surface of the optical waveguide 13
162 and recesses 141 and 142 on optical module substrate 11
After the optical waveguide 13 is arranged by fitting
Is moved to the semiconductor laser 12 side, and the optical waveguide 13 is fixed with an adhesive at a position where the end faces are in contact with each other.

Next, the optical fiber 17 is mounted on the substrate 11. After fitting the optical fiber 17 into the concave groove 15, the optical fiber 17 is moved to the optical waveguide 13 side, and the optical fiber 17 is brought into contact with the emission end face 1312 of the optical waveguide 13 and the end face of the optical fiber 17. Fix with adhesive.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a module after such mounting. Since the optical waveguide 13 is mounted on the optical module substrate 11 by fitting the concave and convex, alignment is not required, and the end face of the semiconductor laser 12 can be in contact with the optical waveguide 13 without being damaged. Thereby, even when the spread angle of the light emitted from the semiconductor laser 12 is large, it is possible to optically couple the optical waveguide 13 with low loss by bringing the end faces into contact with each other.

In this embodiment, the core portion and the cladding portion are formed of a flexible and transparent material, and the outer frame is formed of an optical waveguide supported by a hard material. The end faces of the portions can be in contact with each other without fear of being damaged, and the optical coupling loss can be reduced. Further, when mounting the optical waveguide on the substrate, the alignment can be performed by fitting the concave and convex portions, and the steps required for the alignment can be reduced.

By the way, the emission end face 131 of the optical waveguide 13
In the case where the spread angle of the light emitted from the optical fiber 2 to the optical fiber 17 side is small, the optical waveguide 13 and the optical fiber 17 have little effect on the optical coupling loss even if they are not in contact with each other, but the contact is more desirable. preferable. In the optical waveguide 13 of FIG. 1, the outer frame 133 formed of a hard material covers the upper surface, the lower surface, and the side surface of the clad 132, but the outer frame 133 may be the outer frame 4133 having only the lower surface and the side surface as shown in FIG. Good and
As shown in FIG. 5, an outer frame 5133 having only the lower surface may be used.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an essential part of an optical waveguide according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
It is a side view in the state where this optical waveguide was modularized. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that a core portion and a clad portion made of a flexible and transparent material such as silicone resin project in the optical axis direction with respect to an outer frame made of a hard material. Therefore, the same components as those in FIG. 2 will be described with the same reference numerals.

That is, a side view of an optical module using the optical waveguide 13 is shown. In FIG. 7, the semiconductor laser 12 is mounted on the optical module substrate 11 so as to protrude from the optical waveguide 13 side by a width a so that the end faces of the optical waveguide 13 and the semiconductor laser 12 can be in contact with each other. .

In this embodiment, the core portion 131 and the clad portion 132 do not protrude from the outer frame in the optical axis direction.
Since the semiconductor laser 12 is attached to the optical module substrate 11 at a position closer to the optical waveguide 13, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an essential part of an optical waveguide according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The difference between this embodiment and the second embodiment lies in that the protruding portions 81 of the core portion 131 and the cladding portion 132 are formed at an acute angle with the protruding portion 81. Will be described with the same reference numerals.

In the case where the optical waveguide 13 of this embodiment is used, as shown in FIG. 9, a groove portion 91 whose size is controlled to be fitted to the projecting portion 81 of the optical waveguide 13 is formed on the emission end face of the semiconductor laser 12. .

FIG. 10 shows a side view of an optical module using the optical waveguide of this embodiment. By positioning the optical waveguide 13 and the end face portion of the semiconductor laser 12 by fitting, more accurate positioning is possible.

Although an acute angle is formed at the tip of the protruding portion 81 of the cladding 132 in FIG. 8, only the core 131 protrudes from the cladding 132, and the protruding cladding 132 is fitted into the groove 91. With this structure, it is possible to achieve more accurate alignment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the essential part of the fourth embodiment of the present invention in which the optical waveguide is seen through.
FIG. 4 is a side view of a state where the optical waveguide is modularized. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that
The point is that the outer frame 133 protrudes from the emission end face 1312 of the optical waveguide 13, and a mounting port 134 for attaching the optical fiber 17 to the outer frame 133 on the extension of the emission end face 1312 at the protruding portion is formed.

By attaching the optical fiber 17 to the optical waveguide 13, the optical waveguide 13
Does not affect the positional relationship between the optical fiber 17 and the optical waveguide 13.

In this embodiment, since the dimensional control of the emission end face 1312 of the core portion 131 and the mounting opening 134 formed in the outer frame 133 becomes easy, the positioning of the optical fiber 17 and the optical waveguide 13 becomes easy. Becomes

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the essential part of the optical waveguide according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention in a see-through state.
FIG. 14 is a side view showing a state where the optical waveguide of FIG. 13 is modularized.

In the optical waveguide 13 of this embodiment, the core 131 having a gradually increasing cross-sectional area from the square incident end face 1311 to the output end face 1312 and the incident end face 1
311 and the cladding 132
Is arranged, and the periphery thereof is surrounded by an outer frame 133. Core part 131
The cladding 132 is formed of a flexible and transparent material such as silicone resin, and the outer frame 133 is formed of a hard material.

On the extension of the optical axis of the core portion 131 on both sides of the outer frame 133, a mounting opening 13 facing the incident end face 1311 is provided.
5 and a mounting port 136 facing the output end face 1312, respectively. The other end surface of the optical fiber 121, on which light from a light emitting unit such as a laser is generated, is brought into contact with the incident end surface 1311 at one end of the mounting hole 135, and the mounting hole 136 is attached.
The optical fiber 171 with its end face and the output end face 131
2 are mounted facing each other.

Thus, the optical waveguide 1 capable of optically coupling two types of optical fibers 121 and 171 having different spot sizes.
3 can be realized. At this time, since the core portion 131 and the clad portion 132 are formed of a flexible and transparent material such as silicone resin, the end faces of the optical fiber can be in contact with each other without fear of being damaged. Can be reduced.

[0034]

As described above, in the optical module device according to the present invention, the optical waveguide is formed of a flexible and transparent material, and the periphery of the optical waveguide is surrounded by a hard material so as to be fitted to the hard material portion. The formation of the joining portion facilitates the alignment step, and allows the optical element such as a semiconductor laser and the end faces of the optical waveguide to be in contact with each other without being damaged, so that the optical coupling loss can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a state where a main part of FIG. 1 is seen through;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the assembled state of FIG. 1 as viewed from the side.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a modification of the optical waveguide of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining another modification of the optical waveguide of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part according to the second embodiment of the present invention in a see-through state.

7 is a side view of a state where the optical waveguide of FIG. 6 is modularized as viewed from the side.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a main part of the third embodiment of the present invention in a see-through state.

FIG. 9 is a side view for explaining the optical waveguide and the semiconductor laser of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side view of a state where the optical waveguide of FIG. 8 is modularized as viewed from the side.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a main part according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention in a see-through state.

FIG. 12 is a side view of a state in which the optical waveguide of FIG. 11 is modularized as viewed from the side.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the essential part of the fifth embodiment of the present invention in a see-through state.

FIG. 14 is a side view of a state where the optical waveguide of FIG. 11 is modularized as viewed from the side.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: optical module substrate, 12: semiconductor laser, 13 ...
Optical waveguide, 131 core part, 1311 incident end face, 13
12 ... Outgoing end face, 132 ... Clad part, 133,413
3, 5133: outer frame, 141, 142: concave portion, 15: concave groove, 161, 162: convex portion, 17, 121, 171: optical fiber, 81: projecting portion, 91: groove portion, 134 to 136
...... Mounting port.

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H037 AA01 BA02 BA24 BA31 CA34 DA02 DA12 2H047 KA04 KA13 MA05 MA07 PA24 QA05 TA32 5F073 AB15 AB21 AB28 FA06 FA11 FA23

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An optical module substrate having a first optical element attached to one end and a second optical element attached to the other end, and a first fitting part formed at a central portion, and a flexible and transparent optical module substrate. A core portion formed of a material and a clad formed of a flexible and transparent material disposed on the outer periphery of the core portion except for both ends through which light from the first optical element passes,
An optical waveguide comprising an outer frame made of a hard material having a second fitting portion formed at a lower portion and supporting the clad, wherein the first and second fitting portions are fitted. The light emitting end face from the first optical element is brought into contact with and supported by the optical waveguide, and the alignment of the optical axis from the first optical element to the second optical element via the optical waveguide is performed. An optical module device comprising: 2. The optical module device according to claim 1, wherein the first fitting portion is a concave portion (convex portion), and the second fitting portion is a convex portion (concave portion). . 3. An end face of the optical waveguide on which light of the first optical element is incident, wherein at least one of the core portion and the clad is protruded from the outer frame toward the first optical element. The optical module device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The optical module device according to claim 1, wherein the outer frame supports one of a side surface, a bottom surface, and a bottom surface of the clad. 5. An emission end face of the optical element by arranging an emission end face of the first optical element so as to protrude toward the optical waveguide, and mounting the first optical element on the optical module substrate. 2. The optical module device according to claim 1, wherein an end face of said optical waveguide is in contact with said optical waveguide. 6. The outer frame is formed up to the emission end face of the optical waveguide, a first mounting port is formed in the outer frame on the optical axis of the output end face, and the second optical element is formed in the mounting port. 2. The optical module device according to claim 1, wherein an end face of the second optical element and an end face of the optical waveguide are brought into contact with each other. 7. The outer frame is formed up to the incident end face of the optical waveguide, a second mounting port is formed in the outer frame on the optical axis of the incident end face, and the first optical element is formed in the mounting port. 2. The optical module device according to claim 1, wherein an end face of the first optical element and an end face of the optical waveguide are in contact with each other. 8. The optical module device according to claim 1, wherein the first optical element is a semiconductor laser, and the second optical element is an optical fiber. 9. First and second spot sizes different from each other.
An optical module device for optically coupling the optical element, wherein a core portion formed of a flexible and transparent material and having a sectional area gradually increasing from an incident end face to an output end face, and an outer periphery excluding the output end face from the incident end face A cladding formed of a flexible and transparent material disposed on an outer frame formed of a hard material surrounding the cladding and the core; and an outer frame on the optical axis of the core facing the incident end face. And a second mounting hole formed in the outer frame on the optical axis of the core portion facing the emission end face, wherein the first mounting port is provided in the first mounting port. An element is attached to bring the optical element into contact with the incident end face, and the second optical element is attached to the second mounting port, so that light from the first optical element to the second optical element is emitted. Optical module device characterized by alignment of axes 10. The optical module device according to claim 9, wherein said first and second optical elements are optical fibers.