JPH02125209A - Optical waveguide and optical fiber coupling structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obviate an aligning operation when coupling an optical fiber with an optical waveguide by forming guide grooves in parallel at specific intervals and holding optical fibers so that when guide pins are engaged with guide grooves, the fibers are coupled optically with waveguide entrance exits. CONSTITUTION:An optical fiber holding connector 11 consists of an upper plate 13, guide pins 14a and 14b, and a lower plate 15. Then V grooves 16a and 16b where the guide pins 14a and 14b are inserted and fixed are formed in the upper plate 13 and V grooves 17a and 17b are formed in the lower plate 15. The guide pins 14a and 14b are sandwiched fixed between the V grooves 16a and 17a, and 16b and 17b. The optical fibers are positioned and fixed between the optical fiber V grooves of the upper plate 13 and lower plate 15. Thus, the optical fibers and an optical waveguide base body 11 are positioned mutually through the guide pins 14a and 14b to eliminate the need to align the optical fibers and optical waveguides.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optical waveguide/optical fiber coupling structure, and more particularly, to positioning adjustment between an optical waveguide formed on an optical waveguide substrate and a destination fiber. This invention relates to an optical waveguide/optical fiber coupling structure that eliminates the need for optical waveguides and optical fibers.

[Prior art]

In recent years, methods for directly processing light (No. 3) using optical waveguides have been developed. It is necessary to position and fix the optical fiber to the end face of the optical waveguide.

As such a positioning and fixing method, there is a method as shown in FIG. For example, in the method shown in FIG. 6(a),
The optical fiber 1 and the optical waveguide base 2 are each placed on a fine movement table (
(not shown), align the optical fiber 1 and the optical waveguide signal input/output end 2a while moving them in three axial directions relatively, find the position where the transmission loss of the optical signal is minimum, and then They are fixed to each other by resin 3 or the like at the position.

Furthermore, in the method shown in FIG. 6(b), the optical fiber 1 a
, 1b-1cll d are parallel to each other, the distance between the optical fiber output ends of the optical waveguide 4 is the same, and the end face of the optical fiber 1a etc. in the longitudinal direction of the optical axis (Z-axis direction) is accurately positioned. It is fixed to member 5. Thereafter, the connector member 5 is brought into contact with the optical waveguide base 2 and aligned by relatively moving in two axial directions, and then the connector member 5 and the optical waveguide base 2 are fixed.

Furthermore, in the method shown in FIG. 6(c), the optical fibers la,
lb, lc, ld, and le are arranged parallel to each other, and the spacing between them is the same as the spacing between the optical fiber output ends of the optical waveguide 4.
In addition, the end face of the optical fiber such as the optical fiber 1a in the longitudinal direction of the optical axis is accurately positioned and fixed to a predetermined connector member 6. As shown in the figure, this connector member 6 is composed of an upper holding part 6a and a lower holding part 6b, and the optical fiber 18 etc. is sandwiched between these upper holding part 6a and lower holding part 6b. The lower surface 6b of the upper holding part 6a
comes into contact with the upper surface 2b of the optical waveguide base 2, thereby positioning the optical fiber 1a etc. in the Z direction in the figure.

In this fixing method, alignment between the optical signal input/output end face of the optical waveguide 4 of the optical waveguide base 2 and the tip fiber only needs to be performed in the Y direction.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In any of the conventional fixing methods described above, it is necessary to align the optical signal input/output ends of the optical fiber and the optical waveguide.1. This alignment took an extremely large amount of time, resulting in poor work efficiency.

Specifically, the fixing method shown in FIG. 6(a) requires alignment work in three horn directions, and also fixes the optical fiber and the optical waveguide base using resin. , due to aging, temperature changes, etc., the centric form of the deaf may collapse after it has been fixed. Moreover, in the example shown in FIG. 6(b),
In the figure, since the alignment work in the X direction has been completed in advance, alignment work in this direction is not necessary, but alignment work in the Y and Z directions is required. Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 6(C), alignment in the X direction is achieved when fixing to the connector, and alignment in the Z direction is achieved by bringing the bottom surface of the connector into contact with the top surface of the optical waveguide base. However, it is necessary to perform alignment work in the Y direction. As described above, all of the conventional fixing methods require alignment work in at least one direction, resulting in poor work efficiency when coupling the optical fiber and the optical waveguide base.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber/optical waveguide coupling structure that does not require alignment work when coupling an optical fiber and an optical waveguide.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, in the optical fiber/optical waveguide coupling structure of the present invention, an optical waveguide is formed which has guide grooves formed parallel to each other at predetermined intervals and has an optical signal introduction/exit at the end face. The optical waveguide base body and the guide pin that engages with the guide groove are separated, and when the guide pin engages with the guide groove, the optical fiber is optically coupled to the introduction exit. and an optical fiber holding member that holds the optical fiber.

[Effect]

The optical fiber/optical waveguide coupling structure of the present invention has the structure described above, and by positioning the optical fiber and the optical waveguide base relative to each other via guide pins, alignment work between the optical fiber and the optical waveguide can be eliminated. ing.

〔Example〕

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Elements with the same reference numerals have the same functions, so redundant explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state before coupling of an optical fiber/optical waveguide coupling structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment is comprised of a fiber-end holding connector 10 that holds an optical fiber and an optical waveguide base 11 on which an optical waveguide 9 is formed. This optical waveguide base 11 uses, for example, a LiNbO3 substrate, and the optical waveguide 9 is formed by a Ti diffusion method. The optical waveguide 9 extends to the end surfaces 11a and 11b of the optical waveguide base 11, and the end surface portion of the optical waveguide 9 is 98% 9 b s
At 9c, an optical signal is input from the optical fiber and output to the destination fiber. The input/output end 9a of the optical waveguide 9 to the optical fiber, etc. are formed in a predetermined pattern. The end face 9a of the optical waveguide 9 and the like are optically polished. FIG. 3(a) shows a view seen from the direction of arrow X. Since the shape of the other portions of the optical waveguide 9 is not directly related to the present invention, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Furthermore, guide pin grooves 12a and 12b into which guide pins are inserted are formed in the upper surface 11a of the optical waveguide base 11. This guide pin groove 12a112b has a predetermined interval P.
These guide pin grooves 12a,
12b can be formed by machining, etching the substrate (e.g.
C (plasma etching using 14, etc.), YAG laser, etc. can be used. This guide pin groove 1
Although 2a and 12b are shown in FIGS. 1 and 3(a) as grooves with a V-shaped cross section, they may be square grooves with a rectangular parallelepiped cross section, or round grooves with an arcuate cross section. In addition, FIG. 3(b) shows a view of the optical fiber holding connector 10 from the W direction in FIG.
Shown below.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the optical fiber holding connector 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the optical fiber holding connector 11
is composed of an upper plate 13, guide pins 14a and 14b, and a side plate 15. The upper plate 13 and the lower plate 15 can be made of Si chips, plastic, or the like. As the Si chip, it is also possible to use an S■ connector manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., which has already been processed into a V-groove. Further, the guide pins 14a and 14b may be guide pins commonly used in optical connectors.

On the other hand, the upper plate 13 and the lower plate 15 each have a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, as shown in FIG.
The upper plate 13 is longer than the lower plate 15. When these upper plate 13 and lower plate 15 are fixed to each other and coupled to the optical waveguide base 11, the lower surface 13a of the upper plate 13 comes into contact with the upper surface 11a of the optical waveguide base 11, and alignment in the Z direction is performed. It is preferable to configure the system so that it can be done. The upper plate grooves have V grooves 16a and 16b for inserting and fixing the guide pins 14a and 114b, respectively, and the side plate has V grooves 16a and 16b.
Grooves 17a and 17b are formed. Guide pin 14a
is the groove 1 of this upper plate 13 and lower plate 15.
It is inserted between 6a and 117a and fixed, and the guide pin 1
4b is the V of this upper plate 13 and lower plate 15.
It is inserted and fixed between the grooves 16b and 17b. Furthermore, an optical fiber 18 a s 18 is installed in the upper plate groove.
V full 19a, 19b to hold b s 18 c
, 19c are formed, and when the lower plate 15 is also fixed facing the upper plate 13, Vt419a, 19b
, 19c at the position corresponding to V 1M 20 a , 2
0 b and 20 c are formed.

The optical fiber is positioned and fixed by being inserted between the optical fiber grooves of the upper plate 13 and the lower plate 15. These guide pin V grooves and optical fiber V tilts are formed at positions corresponding to the guide pin V grooves and the optical waveguide end surface formed in the optical waveguide described above, respectively, and are shown in FIG. As shown, the optical waveguide base and the optical fiber holding connector are formed so that they are aligned with each other when they are coupled using guide pins.

The alignment state of the coupling structure of the above embodiment will be explained using FIG.

FIG. 4(a) is a side view of the coupling structure of the above embodiment, and FIG. 4(b) is a partial cross-sectional view of the coupling structure taken along the plane in which the optical fiber is wrapped. (C) shows a partial cross-sectional view of the coupling structure taken along the plane where the idbin is provided.

As explained above, when the optical fiber 18a etc. are mounted on the optical waveguide base 11,
It is designed to be held by an optical fiber holding connector 10, and the optical fiber connector 10 and optical waveguide base 11
Positioning in the Z direction with the lower surface 13a of the upper plate 13
The positioning in the X direction is performed by bringing the front surface 15a of the lower plate 15 of the optical fiber holding connector 10 into contact with the side surface 1b of the optical waveguide base 11. Furthermore, regarding positioning in the Y direction, guide pins 14a114b attached to V/ivj of the optical fiber holding connector 10 are inserted into the V grooves 12a, 12b of the optical waveguide base 11.

In this way, simply insert the guide pin attached to the optical fiber holding connector 10 into the V-groove of the optical waveguide base 11, and further,
Two sides of the optical fiber holding connector 10 are attached to the optical waveguide base 11
By bringing these two surfaces into contact with each other, it is possible to align the input and output ends of the optical waveguide formed on the optical waveguide base and the optical fiber.

Furthermore, if the optical waveguide base body and the optical fiber holding connector of the above embodiment are simply attached and fixed to each other, they are likely to come off due to a force from above. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5(a), it may be fixed with resin etc. 21 after connection, or it may be used by being fitted into a holder 23 and fixed with resin etc. 22 as shown in FIG. 5(b). preferable.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications may be made.

Specifically, in the above embodiment, the positioning in the Z direction is carried out by bringing one surface of the end fiber holding connector into contact with the top surface of the optical waveguide base, but the guide pin attached to the optical fiber holding connector is It can also be achieved by inserting it into a V-groove formed on the upper surface of the waveguide substrate. In this case, it is not necessary to bring the bottom surface of the optical fiber holding connector into contact with the top surface of the optical waveguide base.

Further, in the above embodiments, an example is described in which the optical fiber holding connector is provided only on one side of the optical waveguide substrate, but normally it is provided on both sides.

Further, in the above embodiment, the groove into which the optical fiber and guide pin are inserted and fixed is V-shaped, but it may be U-shaped or rectangular.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the optical waveguide/optical fiber coupling structure of the present invention, as described above, the optical fiber that simply holds the optical fiber does not need to be adjusted for positioning between the optical fiber and the output end of the optical waveguide. This can be easily done by inserting the guide pin of the holding connector into the V-groove of the optical waveguide base.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an optical waveguide/optical fiber coupling structure according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the end fiber holding connector shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the optical waveguide base and optical fiber shown in FIG. A side view of the optical fiber holding connector, Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the optical waveguide/optical fiber coupling structure shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the fixing of the optical waveguide/optical fiber coupling structure shown in Fig. 1. The figure showing an example and FIG. 6 are views showing an example of the conventional optical waveguide/end fiber coupling +Mjfl. 10... Optical fiber holding connector, 11... Optical waveguide base, 12a, 12b... ■Groove for guide pin, 13
Upper plate, 14a, 14b...guide pin, 15
...Do side plate. Patent applicant: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Representative patent attorney Yoshiki Hase
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Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An optical waveguide substrate having guide grooves formed parallel to each other at predetermined intervals, and an optical waveguide having an optical signal introduction/exit on an end surface, and an optical fiber holding connector member that holds an optical fiber positioned to be optically coupled to the inlet/outlet when the guide pin engages with the guide groove; Optical fiber coupling structure. 2. The optical fiber holding connector member includes a contact surface that comes into contact with the upper surface of the optical waveguide base, and the optical fiber is held by the optical fiber holding connector member by the contact surface contacting the upper surface of the optical waveguide base. 2. The optical waveguide/optical fiber coupling structure according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber and the optical signal introduction exit of the optical waveguide on the optical waveguide base are positioned in the Z-axis direction.