KR100787101B1 - Optical interconnection module and Optical printed circuit board using the interconnection module - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical signal connection body arranged on a traveling path of light for changing a traveling direction of light, and an optical printed circuit board provided with the optical signal connection.

In the optical signal connector according to the present invention, a hollow portion penetrating between one side surface and the other side surface is provided, and one side surface of the hollow portion forms an incident surface through which light is incident, and the other side surface of the hollow portion forms an emission surface from which light is emitted. A connection main body in which the entrance face and the exit face are arranged in a direction crossing each other; And a reflective surface formed of a metallic material coated on the inner circumferential surface of the hollow portion of the connection body to form a tubular shape.

An optical printed circuit board according to the present invention includes a substrate on which a first optical waveguide for guiding an optical signal is mounted; And a hollow portion penetrating between one side and the other side, and one side of the hollow portion forms an incidence surface through which light is incident, and the other side of the hollow portion forms an emission surface from which light is emitted. And an optical signal connecting body mounted on a substrate, having a connecting body arranged in a direction to be formed and a metal reflecting surface formed in a tubular shape coated on the inner circumferential surface of the hollow body of the connecting body. One of the incident surface and the exit surface is characterized in that it is connected to the first optical waveguide.

Optical waveguide, optical printed circuit board

Description

Optical signal connection body and optical printed circuit board using the same {Optical interconnection module and Optical printed circuit board using the interconnection module}

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional connection between optical waveguides. FIG. 1A is a view illustrating arrangement of optical waveguides crossing each other on an optical printed circuit board, and FIG. 1B illustrates a reflection surface on the optical waveguide. It is a figure which shows the state which processed and connected the optical waveguide.

2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional optical printed circuit board.

3 is a schematic perspective view of an optical signal connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A is a view showing an embodiment in which the reflective surface is curved, and FIG. 4B is a view showing an embodiment in which the reflective surface is formed as a flat surface.

5 is a schematic exploded perspective view of an optical printed circuit board according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5 as a view for explaining a manufacturing process of the optical printed circuit board shown in FIG. 5.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10 ... connecting body 11 ... hollow part

12 ... entrance face 13 ... exit face

20 ... Reflective surface 30 ... Guide pin

50 ... optical signal connector 60 ... dielectric substrate

71 ... optical waveguide 80 ... all-optical conversion element

The present invention relates to an optical signal connector for changing an advancing direction of an optical signal disposed in an advancing path of an optical signal and traveling in one direction.

At present, the processing speed of the CPU of the computer is several GHz, while the data processing speed inside the chip is fast, while the data transmission speed of the electrical wiring (copper wiring) connected to the memory chip is very slow, and the data processing speed of the entire computer system is reduced. . For example, as the computer's CPU evolved from Pentium I to Pentium IV, the CPU's data processing speed was about 50 times faster from tens of MHz to several GHz, but the user's computer speed was not getting that fast because This is due to data bottlenecks in electrical wiring. The data bottleneck in the data input / output wiring around the CPU has been pointed out as a fundamental cause of signal distortion caused by electromagnetic interference in the copper wiring.

In order to solve these problems, the traditional data transmission through the copper wiring is possible through optical signals, and an optical printed circuit board (PCB) has been developed for this purpose.

In the optical printed circuit board, an optical waveguide using glass and an optical waveguide using a polymer material such as a polymer compound or a semiconductor material are wired in place of the copper wiring. Hereinafter, the optical waveguide used in the present specification is used in a concept including an optical fiber and an optical waveguide. However, in consideration of the integration ratio, the wiring allowance area of the optical printed circuit board is relatively smaller than the allowable curvature of the optical waveguide which minimizes the loss of the optical signal. Therefore, a bending section between the optical waveguides (section requiring vertical optical input) is required. . Therefore, even in such a bending section, a configuration for transmitting data while reducing the loss of an optical signal is required.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional connection between optical waveguides. FIG. 1A is a view illustrating arrangement of optical waveguides crossing each other on an optical printed circuit board, and FIG. 1B illustrates a reflection surface on the optical waveguide. The figure which shows the state which processed and connected the optical waveguide, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the conventional optical printed circuit board.

First, the first optical waveguide 1 and the second optical waveguide 2 which are disposed perpendicular to each other are mounted on the optical printed circuit board 3. At this time, the first and second optical waveguides 1 and 2 are wired while maintaining the bending section bent at 90 degrees on the optical printed circuit board 3 mounted thereon.

When the mounting of the optical waveguide is completed, one end of the optical waveguide located in the bending section between the optical waveguides, that is, one end of the second optical waveguide 2 is cut at an angle of 45 degrees to form the reflection surface 4 as shown in FIG. 1B. do. When the reflective surface 4 is formed in this way, the optical signal 5 transmitted through the first optical waveguide 1 is reflected from the reflective surface 4 and the direction of travel of the optical waveguide 2 is changed to the second optical waveguide 2. .

However, since the optical waveguides 1 and 2 are made of a polymer material as described above, it is not easy to accurately cut the reflective surface 4 in consideration of the physical and chemical properties of the polymer material. As a result, an error may occur in the flatness of the reflective surface 4, and when the optical signal 5 is reflected through the reflective surface 4 having an uneven flatness, it becomes difficult to align the light. . In addition, when the wiring of the optical waveguides 1 and 2 is made through the above-described process, but an error occurs in the reflective surface 4, the entire optical waveguides 1 and 2 mounted on the optical printed circuit board 3 are formed. There was an inefficiency that required replacement and mounting on the substrate again using a new optical waveguide. On the other hand, in the prior art, since one or both ends of the optical waveguide are processed to form a reflective surface, there is a problem of increasing the manufacturing cost of the optical printed circuit board on which the optical waveguide is mounted due to the incompatibility with other optical waveguides, making mass production difficult. .

The above problem is not only seen in the connection between the optical waveguide and the optical waveguide, but also in the connection between an optical waveguide such as a laser diode (LD) and an optical waveguide or a connection between an optical waveguide and a photoelectric conversion element such as a photodiode (PD). Occurs. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional optical printed circuit board, and shows a connection state between an all-optical conversion element and an optical waveguide. Referring to FIG. 2, an optical waveguide 1 is mounted on a conventional optical printed circuit board 3 on an upper portion of a laser diode 2. At the end of the optical waveguide 1, a reflecting surface 4 is formed at a 45 degree angle. The optical signal 5 transmitted from the laser diode 2 is reflected through the reflecting surface 4 so that the traveling direction is changed. That is, in order to change the traveling direction of the optical signal transmitted from the laser diode 2 to a 90 degree angle, the end of the optical waveguide 1 should be cut at a 45 degree angle. As described above, the optical waveguide made of polymer Not only is it not easy to make a flat cut, there is a problem of optical alignment, and there is a problem that mass production is difficult and economical because of incompatibility.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, it is made of a simple configuration, easy to manufacture, mass production is possible, as well as to provide an optical signal connecting body with increased compatibility.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical printed circuit board which can be economically manufactured by applying the optical signal connector.

The optical signal connector according to the present invention for achieving the above object is arranged on the path of the light to change the direction of the light, the hollow portion penetrating between one side and the other side is provided with one side of the hollow portion A connection body which forms an incident surface in which the incident surface is formed, and the other side surface of the hollow portion forms an emission surface through which light is emitted, the connection body having the incident surface and the emission surface intersecting with each other; And a reflective surface formed of a metallic material coated on the inner circumferential surface of the hollow body of the connection body to form a tubular shape.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical printed circuit board comprising: a substrate on which a first optical waveguide for guiding an optical signal is mounted; And a hollow portion penetrating between one side surface and the other side surface, and one side surface of the hollow portion forms an incident surface through which light is incident, and the other side surface of the hollow portion forms an emission surface on which the light is emitted. Comprises an optical signal connecting body mounted on the substrate, the connecting body having a connecting body disposed in a direction crossing each other and a metallic reflective surface coated on an inner circumferential surface of the connecting body hollow part and formed in a tubular shape. Any one of the incident surface and the emitting surface of the optical signal connector is connected to the first optical waveguide, and the portion not connected to the first optical waveguide is a second optical waveguide, a photoelectric conversion element or an all-optical conversion. It is preferable that the device is connected.

Hereinafter, an optical signal connector and an optical printed circuit board using the same according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a schematic perspective view of an optical signal connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A is a view showing an embodiment in which a reflective surface is curved. 4B is a view illustrating an embodiment in which a reflective surface is formed as a flat surface, and FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view of an optical printed circuit board according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 to 5, the optical signal connector 50 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is mounted on the optical printed circuit board 100, interconnecting the optical waveguide and the optical waveguide, or the optical waveguide And to connect the photoelectric conversion element or the all-optical conversion element to change the traveling echo of the optical signal. The optical signal connecting body 50 having such a function includes a connecting body 10 and a reflecting surface 20.

The connection body 10 is formed in a substantially cuboid shape with an upper surface, a lower surface, and four side surfaces. The connecting body 10 has a hollow portion 11 is formed. The hollow part 11 is formed to penetrate between one side of the four side surfaces of the connection body 10 and the other side surface adjacent to the one side surface. As described above, since the connection body 10 is a cube shape, the one side surface and the other side surface are arranged to cross in a direction perpendicular to each other. The one side forms an incident surface 12 through which light is incident on the hollow part 11, and the other side forms an exit surface 13 through which light transmitted through the incident surface 12 is emitted. The connection body 10 may be made of various materials, but in this embodiment is made of a polymer synthetic resin material. In addition, the connection body 10 can be molded integrally very simply by injection molding.

The reflective surface 20 is for changing the traveling direction of the light by reflecting the light incident through the incident surface 12 of the connection main body 10 to advance toward the exit surface 13. The reflective surface 20 is coated on the inner circumferential surface of the hollow portion 11 of the connection body 10 to form a tubular shape. The reflective surface 20 is made of any one material of gold, silver, copper, aluminum, and platinum, but is not necessarily limited thereto, and may be made of a metal having excellent reflectance. In the present embodiment, the reflective surface 20 is formed by plating on the inner circumferential surface of the hollow part 11 of the connection body 10. On the other hand, the 'coating (coating) is used to mean that the reflective surface 20 of the metal material is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the hollow portion 11, it is a concept including the attachment by various methods such as plating. On the other hand, the cross-sectional shape of the reflective surface 20, that is, the cross-sectional shape from the incident surface 12 to the exit surface 13, is formed as an arc-shaped curved surface as shown in Fig. 4A. As in the conventional optical waveguide connection, the flat cut of one end of the optical waveguide made of polymer at an angle of 45 degrees is likely to cause an error in the flatness, and when the error occurs in the flatness, it becomes difficult to align the light. have. However, the reflective surface 20 of the optical signal connector 50 according to the present invention can be easily manufactured without the above-mentioned problems due to the arc shape of the metal material. However, the cross-sectional shape of the reflective surface 20 in the optical signal connector 50 according to the present invention is not limited to an arc shape, and may be formed in a polygonal surface as shown in FIG. 4B. On the other hand, when the reflective surface 20 is formed in a tubular shape, the longitudinal cross-sectional shape may be formed in a circular tube of a circular shape or may be formed of a polygonal polygonal tube. In general, the optimum shape of the optical transmission medium (optical fiber, optical waveguide, optical signal connector, optical connector, etc.) for improving the optical alignment accuracy and reducing the loss rate of the input optical signal is a circular tube shape, It is preferable that the signal connection body 20 also forms a circular tube shape. However, in the manufacturing of the optical waveguide, it is common practice to use an etching process, and it is not easy to manufacture a circular optical waveguide through the etching process. Accordingly, since the optical waveguide is generally manufactured in the form of a polygonal tube, it is common to manufacture the longitudinal cross-section of the reflective surface 20 in the form of the polygonal tube corresponding to the shape of the optical waveguide.

The connection body 10 is mounted on an optical printed circuit board 60. When the connection body 10 is mounted, a guide pin 30 is formed on an outer surface of the connection body 10 so as to accurately align its direction and position. Is formed. Guide pins 30 are formed on the outer surface of the connection body 10, that is, the side surface on which the incident surface 12 and the exit surface 13 are not formed. As described above, since the connecting body 10 has a symmetrical shape to the cube, the guide pin 30 is provided to easily know the arrangement direction. The guide pin 30 is disposed to protrude relative to the outer surface. The guide pin 30 may be separately attached to the connection main body 10 by bonding or the like. Preferably, the guide pin 30 is integrally molded when the injection main body 10 is injection molded.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 5, the optical printed circuit board (100, optical printed circuit board) so that the connection main body 10 can be fitted, the shape corresponding to the connection main body 10, that is, a cube-shaped insertion groove ( 61) is provided. In addition, one side of the insertion groove 61 is provided with a reference groove 62 protruding outward, the reference groove 62 is the guide pin 30 formed in the connection body 10 is inserted into the guide It has a shape and dimensions corresponding to the pin 30. When the guide pin 30 is inserted into the reference groove 62, only a very narrow gap is formed between the outer circumferential surface of the guide pin 30 and the inner circumferential surface of the reference groove 62, so that the connection body 10 is formed on an optical printed circuit board. When mounted on (100), the direction as well as the arrangement position can be aligned very accurately.

An optical printed circuit board 100 for achieving another object of the present invention includes an optical signal connector 50 having the above-described configuration, and a substrate 60 on which the first optical waveguide 71 is mounted. The substrate 60 is a dielectric substrate made of a dielectric.

The first optical waveguide 71, the second optical waveguide 72, and the all-optical conversion device 80 are mounted on the substrate 60. The first optical waveguide 71 and the second optical waveguide 72 are orthogonal to each other on the substrate 60, and both are made of a polymer material. Although the optical waveguides 71 and 72 are shown on the substrate 60 in FIG. 5, this is for convenience of description, and the first optical waveguide 71 and the second optical waveguide 72 may be formed on the substrate 60. The process of mounting the prize is as follows. It demonstrates with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5 as a view for explaining a manufacturing process of the optical printed circuit board shown in FIG. 5. The first optical waveguide 71 and the second optical waveguide 72 are mounted on the substrate 60 by a general semiconductor manufacturing process. The first optical waveguide 71 is described as an example. First, the lower cladding layer 67 and the core layer 69 of the optical waveguide 71 are formed on the dielectric substrate 60. Subsequently, patterning is performed to form and etch a region in which the optical waveguide is to be disposed. Thereafter, the upper cladding layer 68 is formed again to complete the mounting of the optical waveguide 71 on the dielectric substrate 60. In addition, an insertion groove 61 and a reference groove 62 are formed between the first optical waveguide 71 and the second optical waveguide 72 disposed vertically so that the optical signal connector 50 can be fitted thereto. . In more detail, the insertion groove 61 and the reference groove 62 may be manufactured by forming a separate groove after forming the optical waveguide 71, and when forming the optical waveguide 71. It may be manufactured by forming a groove together with the optical waveguide 71 in the patterning and etching process.

When the first optical waveguide 71, the second optical waveguide 72 and the optical signal connector 50 are mounted on the substrate 60 in the above-described manner, the first optical waveguide 71 is an optical signal connector ( It is connected to the incident surface of 50, the second optical waveguide 72 is connected to the emission surface. Accordingly, the optical signal transmitted through the first optical waveguide 71 is incident through the incidence surface 12 of the optical signal connector 50 and exits after the traveling direction is changed while passing through the reflective surface 20. The process of exiting through the surface (13).

On the other hand, the optical signal connector 50 performs not only the connection between the optical waveguide and the optical waveguide, but also the connection between the all-optical conversion element and the optical waveguide and the connection between the photoelectric conversion element and the optical waveguide. The all-optical conversion element is a device that converts an electrical signal into an optical signal and transmits it. Generally, a laser diode is used. The photoelectric conversion element is a device that receives and converts an optical signal into an electrical signal and transmits it. do. 5 schematically shows a laser diode which is an all-optical conversion device 80. The laser diode 80 is disposed close to the optical signal connector 50. Since the laser diode is an all-optical conversion device, the electrical signal is converted into an optical signal and then transmitted to the first optical waveguide 71. Accordingly, the laser diode is connected to the incident surface of the optical signal connector 50, and the first optical waveguide 71 is connected to the exit surface of the optical signal connector 50. On the contrary, when the photoelectric conversion element and the first optical waveguide 71 are connected, the incident surface of the optical signal connector 50 is connected to the first optical waveguide 71, and the photoelectric conversion element is the optical signal connector 50. The optical signal transmitted through the first optical waveguide 71 in connection with the emission surface of is converted into an electrical signal in the photoelectric conversion element.

As described above, the optical signal connector 50 makes connection between the optical waveguide and the optical waveguide as well as the connection between the optical element and the optical waveguide very simple. Conventionally, for such an optical connection, after mounting an optical waveguide on an optical printed circuit board, the economics and inefficiencies required to individually cut the ends of the optical waveguide are reduced.

In addition, in the past, when an error occurs when cutting the end of the optical waveguide, there was a problem that the optical waveguide must be remounted on the new substrate 60, but in the present invention, the reflective surface of the optical signal connector is not precisely processed. Even if there is a need to replace only the optical signal connector is very economical.

First of all, the optical signal connector functions as a part of the optical printed circuit board, which can be assembled to the optical printed circuit board, compared to the conventional method, which requires individual processing for each optical printed circuit board for optical connection. As a result, mass production is possible.

Although there is a very good signal transmission ability, the optical printed circuit board, which has been limited in use due to cost and efficiency problems, can be increased in use through the optical signal connector according to the present invention.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, this is merely exemplary, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. There will be. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

As described above, the optical signal connector may be mounted on an optical printed circuit board through an assembly method, and thus, the optical signal connector may be treated with the end of the optical waveguide, thereby providing compatibility and compatibility with the conventional method. There is an advantage that mass productivity is increased.

In addition, the optical signal connector manufactured separately is advantageous in making the curvature of the reflective surface constant compared with the conventional method in which it is to be processed in a state mounted on the optical printed circuit board.

In addition, since the optical signal connector according to the present invention is made of a metal material rather than a polymer material, which requires consideration of physicochemical properties for reflecting surface processing, the optical signal connector has an effect of making the optical signal connector cheaper and easier.

Claims (8)

An optical signal connecting body disposed on a traveling path of light to change a traveling direction of light, A hollow portion penetrating between one side and the other side is provided, and one side of the hollow portion forms an incident surface to which light is incident, and the other side of the hollow portion forms an exit surface from which light is emitted, wherein the incident surface and the exit surface are Connection bodies arranged in the direction crossing each other; And And a reflective surface formed of a metallic material coated on the inner circumferential surface of the hollow body of the connection body to form a tubular shape. The method of claim 1, The reflective surface is an optical signal connector, characterized in that the coating is formed of any one of gold, silver, copper, aluminum and platinum. The method of claim 1, The cross-sectional shape of the reflecting surface from the incident surface to the exit surface along the traveling path of the light is an arc-shaped curved surface. The method of claim 1, A reference groove is formed in an optical printed circuit board (optical PCB) to which a wave guide is wired so as to align the positions where the connection bodies are arranged. Guide pins are formed on the outer surface of the connection body to protrude from the outer surface and have a shape corresponding to the reference groove, and the guide pins are fitted into the reference grooves of the optical printed circuit board. Optical signal connector to say. A substrate on which a first optical waveguide for guiding an optical signal is mounted; And A hollow portion penetrating between one side and the other side is provided, and one side of the hollow portion forms an incident surface to which light is incident, and the other side of the hollow portion forms an exit surface from which light is emitted, wherein the incident surface and the exit surface are And an optical signal connecting body mounted on the substrate, the connecting main body having a connection main body disposed in a direction intersecting with each other and a reflective surface formed of a tubular shape coated on an inner circumferential surface of the hollow main body of the connection main body. An optical printed circuit board, characterized in that any one of the incident surface and the exit surface of the optical signal connector is connected to the first optical waveguide. The method of claim 5, And a second optical waveguide mounted on the substrate and disposed in a direction crossing the first optical waveguide to guide the optical signal. And a surface which is not connected to the first optical waveguide among the entrance and exit surfaces of the optical signal connector is connected to the second optical waveguide. The method of claim 5, And an all-optical conversion element mounted on the substrate and converting an electric signal into an optical signal and transmitting the optical signal. And an incident surface of the optical signal connector is connected to the all-optical conversion element, and an output surface of the optical signal connector is connected to the first optical waveguide. The method of claim 5, And a photoelectric conversion element mounted on the substrate and converting an optical signal into an electrical signal and transmitting the same. And an entrance surface of the optical signal connector is connected to the first optical waveguide, and an emission surface of the optical signal connector is connected to the photoelectric conversion element.

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