CN1193249C - Fiber Alignment Components with Integral Microsphere Lens - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical fiber alignment element structure of an integrated microsphere lens. The micro-sphere lens comprises a substrate, a plurality of arrayed V-shaped grooves are etched on the substrate or a plurality of arrayed optical waveguides are formed, a first polymerization layer and a third polymerization layer with high light transmittance are coated on the surface of the substrate, and at least one base and a spherical micro-sphere lens are formed between the arrayed V-shaped grooves or the optical waveguides; an optical fiber can be arranged in the V-shaped groove, and an upper cover covers the microsphere lens, the groove and the optical fiber or the optical waveguide; the optical fibers or the optical waveguides arranged at two sides of the microsphere lens are aligned by means of proper configuration of the microsphere lens and the groove or the optical waveguide; therefore, the optical fiber alignment element structure which is simple in manufacturing process and can be integrated and produced in batch can be provided.

Description

Fiber Alignment Components with Integral Microsphere Lens

The invention relates to an optical fiber alignment component structure of a microball lens, in particular to making V-shaped grooves or optical waveguides and microsphere lenses in batches on the optical element by using photolithography, etching molding and micro-processing technology, and integrating V-shaped Grooves, optical waveguides and microsphere lenses are used to complete the optical path control structure of the passive element of the optical fiber.

In optical fiber communication (optical fiber communication), the optical fiber alignment method used by the general optical fiber passive element, there is a technology called fused biconical taper, that is, two optical fibers (optical fiber) directly Align, melt and stretch after joining together, so that the fiber cores of the two ends of the fiber are connected together under the action of aggregation force. Factors such as misalignment of the optical fiber or unevenness of the fiber connection surface cause power loss during fiber connection.

Another method is to assemble a gradient index lens (gradient index lens, GRIN lens) at the end of an optical fiber, and guide the optical signal in the optical fiber into the gradient index lens rod, so that the light traveling in the gradient index lens rod After the light is expanded and parallelized, the optical signal is finally focused and coupled into another optical fiber. This method is expensive and requires manual micro-assembly to achieve; in addition, there is another method that is made at the end of each optical fiber. A microlens (microlens) focuses the light to achieve the function of optical signal transmission between optical fibers. This method requires processing the end of each optical fiber; and another method is to set up between two optical fibers or optical waveguides. A ball lens (ball lens), which uses a ball lens to focus light, so that the optical signal sent by the optical fiber at one end of the ball lens can be transmitted to the optical fiber or optical waveguide at the other end. The ball lens used is made of precision ceramic grinding The production process of the resulting spherical ball lens is relatively complicated, and no matter whether the above-mentioned gradient index lens rod or ceramic ball lens is used as the optical signal transmission component between optical fibers, the gradient index lens rod must be arranged at the end of the optical fiber or in the assembly method. The ceramic ball lens is arranged between the optical fiber and the light. As many optical fibers need to be arranged, a corresponding number of graded index lens rods and ball lenses need to be assembled. The production process takes a lot of time and cannot be batched (in batch) production; moreover, if the artificial micro-assembled ball lens is used between the optical fiber and the optical fiber. When the center of the optical fiber is aligned with the center of the ball lens, a positional deviation is likely to occur, which reduces the transmission power of the optical signal between the optical fibers. In addition, there is another way to use surface micro machining technology to fabricate a vertical lens on a substrate between the positions where the optical fibers are arranged. This method is costly and the manufacturing process is relatively complicated.

The main purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned shortcomings. The present invention forms a plurality of V-shaped grooves, optical waveguides and micro ball lenses on a substrate, so that the optical fiber or optical waveguide can be accurately aligned with the ball. lens, instead of disposing the microsphere lens between the optical fiber or the optical waveguide by artificial micro-assembly.

Another object of the present invention is that the optical waveguide of the present invention, the V-groove and the microsphere lens used for fixing the optical fiber are formed on the surface by lithography (lithography (lithography)) and etching molding (patternetching) technology and heat treatment. The surface of the substrate can improve the accuracy of aligning the optical fiber or the optical waveguide with the microsphere lens.

Another object of the present invention is that the preparation method of the present invention is relatively simple, which is beneficial to the improvement of the production process to a certain extent.

Another object of the present invention is that the V-groove, optical waveguide and microsphere lens structure of the present invention can be integrated and mass-produced on a substrate, so that the overall manufacturing efficiency can be improved.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention forms a plurality of arrayed V-grooves or micro-processes optical waveguides at appropriate positions on a substrate, and coats a first polymer layer and a second polymer layer with high light transmittance on the substrate. On the surface of the substrate, through the photolithography process and heat treatment, a plurality of bases and spherical microsphere lenses are formed at appropriate positions on the substrate surface, so that the optical fiber is arranged in the V-shaped groove, and finally a cover is used Coating the microsphere lens and the optical fiber.

The formation of the microsphere lens and the V-groove or the optical waveguide can use the photolithography production process commonly used to specify its disposition position, so that the optical fibers disposed on both sides of the microsphere lens can be aligned; This can provide an optical fiber alignment element structure with a relatively simple manufacturing process, improved accuracy, and can be integrated and mass-produced.

Figure 1 is a schematic view of the appearance of the structure of the present invention.

Figure 2-1 and Figure 2-2 are side schematic views of the structure of the present invention.

Fig. 3-1, Fig. 3-2, Fig. 3-3, Fig. 3-4, Fig. 3-5, Fig. 3-6 and Fig. 3-7 are schematic diagrams of the manufacturing process of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the structure of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the second embodiment of the structure of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of the structure of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a fourth embodiment of the structure of the present invention.

Please refer to Fig. 1, which is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the structure of the present invention, as shown in the figure: the structure of the present invention has a silicon substrate 1, and a plurality of V-shaped grooves 11 are formed in batches on the substrate 1, the V V-shaped grooves 11 are arranged in a parallel array on the surface of the substrate 1, wherein the adjacent grooves are arranged in parallel, and the opposite grooves are arranged in a straight line. There is a part of the area between the grooves 11, and a plurality of microsphere lenses 2 are formed in this area, wherein each microsphere lens 2 is formed between the areas of the opposite V-shaped grooves 11; in the plurality of V-shaped The number of optical fibers 3 corresponding to the number of the grooves is arranged in the groove 11, and the optical fibers 3 can be confined in the V-shaped groove 11 by the concave structure of the V-shaped groove 11, and by the V-shaped groove The groove 11 and the aforementioned microball lens 2 are properly arranged so that the center of the optical fiber 3 erected in the opposite V-shaped groove 11 can be just aligned with the center of the aforementioned microsphere lens 2 .

Please refer to Fig. 2-1 and Fig. 2-2, which are schematic side views of the structure of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2-1, the cross section of the V-shaped groove 11 is a V-shaped concave structure with appropriate angles, sizes and Depth, so that the optical fiber 3 can be limited in the V-shaped groove 11 without shifting left and right, the proper orientation of the optical fiber 3 can be determined by the V-shaped optical groove 11, and the formation of the microsphere lens 2 can be used to make the optical fiber 3 The core 31 of the optical fiber 3 and the perspective center of the microsphere lens 2 are exactly the same point, thereby completing the alignment between the optical fibers 3; as shown in Figure 2-2, after the optical fiber 3 is arranged in the V-shaped optical groove 11, The optical fiber 3 and the microsphere lens 2 are covered with the upper cover 4 corresponding to the substrate 1, and the optical fiber 3 is completely fixed by the upper cover 4 and the substrate 1, and the optical fiber 3 can be completely sealed, thereby avoiding In the future, when the optical fiber 3 transmits optical signals, it will be interfered by external light sources, which will affect the quality of optical signal transmission.

Please refer to Figure 3-1, Figure 3-2, Figure 3-3, Figure 3-4, Figure 3-5, Figure 3-6 and Figure 3-7, which are schematic diagrams of the manufacturing process of the present invention, as shown in the figure Shown: firstly, as shown in Fig. 3-1, a substrate 1 is firstly provided, and the substrate 1 is made of silicon; furthermore, as shown in Fig. 3-2, the silicon substrate is fabricated by bulk micromachining 1. As a processing base material, carry out lithography process (lithography process) on the surface of the silicon substrate 1, use a mask aligner or a stepper (stepper), and carry out the lithography process on the surface of the substrate 1 at an appropriate position. Expose to form an array pattern on the surface of the substrate 1, then select an appropriate etching solution to perform anisotropic etching on the surface of the substrate 1, and carve a three-dimensional V-shaped groove on the pattern position after the aforementioned exposure Groove 11, wherein, this V-shaped groove 11 has suitable angle, size and depth; The first polymer layer 5 (polymer layer) made of photosensitive material can be coated by spin coating (spincoating) technology. After the first polymer layer 5 is coated, continue on the surface of the first polymer layer 5. A second polymeric layer 6 composed of polymethacrylate or polyacrylate polymer material is coated, wherein the second polymeric layer 6 is composed of a photoresist with high light transmittance ( photoresist), and has a glass transition temperature (glass transition temperature, Tg) lower than the first polymer layer 5; , forming a plurality of block patterns on the surface of the substrate 1, the patterns can be circular or oval, so that the first polymer layer 5 and the second polymer layer 6 are stacked to form a columnar structure; as shown in Figure 3-5, The substrate 1 and the first polymer layer 5 and the second polymer layer 6 are heated so that the heating temperature exceeds the glass transition temperature of the second polymer layer 6 but is still lower than the glass transition temperature of the first polymer layer 5 to soften The second polymer layer 6 is in a molten state, its fluidity increases and begins to reflow, and the first polymer layer 5 shrinks in area under heating temperature, and the second polymer layer 6 forms a spherical shape due to the effect of surface tension, and then the The substrate 1, the first polymer layer 5 and the second polymer layer 6 are cooled to obtain the spherical microsphere lens 2 formed by the second polymer layer 6 and the base 7 formed by the first polymer layer 5; as shown in Fig. 3-6 As shown (also is the A-A sectional view of Fig. 1), after the microsphere lens 2 and the base 7 are molded, the optical fiber 3 is arranged in the aforementioned V-shaped groove 11, so that it is limited on both sides of the microsphere lens 2 With the help of the silicon substrate 1, a V-shaped groove 11 is anisotropically etched with a fixed angle, and with the design of its appropriate size and depth, the center of the optical fiber 3 arranged in the V-shaped groove 11 can be just aligned Align the center of the microsphere lens 2; as shown in Figure 3-7, cover the microsphere lens 2, the groove and the optical fiber 3 corresponding to the position of the substrate 1 with a cover 4 to encapsulate the overall structure, and The upper cover 4 and the base plate 1 completely fix the optical fiber 3, and the optical fiber 3 and the microsphere lens 2 can be completely sealed, thereby preventing the optical fiber 3 from being interfered by an external light source when the optical signal is transmitted in the future. Optical signal transmission quality.

Please refer to Fig. 4, which is a schematic view of the first embodiment of the structure of the present invention. As shown in the figure: the present invention can also form a plurality of optical waveguides 8 arranged in an array on the surface of the silicon substrate 1 by micromachining. 8 are arranged on the surface of the substrate 1 in a parallel array, wherein the adjacent optical waveguides 8 are arranged in parallel, and the opposite optical waveguides 8 are arranged in a straight line. 8. A plurality of microsphere lenses 2 are formed through the above-mentioned photolithography and heat treatment process, and an alignment structure is obtained by forming the microsphere lenses 2 and the optical waveguide 8 on the surface of the substrate 1 at an appropriate position; as shown in FIG. 5 , The structure of the present invention can also be designed to use the V-shaped groove 11 in conjunction with the optical waveguide 8, so that the microsphere lens 2 becomes an optical signal transmission element between the optical fiber 3 and the optical waveguide 8; in addition, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, In the present invention, the microsphere lens 2 can also be formed at one side of the V-groove 11 or the optical waveguide 8, so that when the optical signal is divergent light 9a, it can be converted by the microsphere lens 2 is the parallel ray 9b.

The design and formation of the above-mentioned V-shaped grooves, optical waveguides and microsphere lenses are completed by using the commonly used photolithography process, heat treatment and micro-machining. The required V-shaped grooves on the substrate can be calculated in advance. The size of the optical waveguide and the configuration orientation of the microsphere lens do not need to use manual micro-assembly to configure the microsphere lens. The alignment of the optical fiber can achieve higher accuracy, and the focusing characteristics of the microsphere lens can reduce the transmission of optical signals. The insertion loss improves the light-gathering efficiency; and, the V-groove and the microsphere lens of the present invention use a general photolithography manufacturing process because of their manufacturing method, so their components can be integrated and mass-produced, so they can be Effectively reduce the size of the element, increase the density of the microlens, and the manufacturing process of the present invention can be integrated on a general micro-optical bench system (micro-optical benchsystem), which can have a considerable degree of improvement in its application field, manufacturing cost and time efficiency. improve.

Claims (12)

1. An optical fiber alignment element structure of an integrated microsphere lens, comprising a substrate (1), a plurality of V-shaped grooves (11) formed on the substrate (1), and formed on the V-shaped grooves At least one pair of bases (7) and microsphere lenses (2) between (11), characterized in that the V-shaped groove (11) is formed on the substrate (1) by photolithography and etching, and arranged An array pattern is formed, so that the substrate (1) has V-shaped grooves (11) arranged in parallel and opposite V-shaped grooves (11); and the base (7), microsphere lens (2) through The photolithography process and heat treatment are formed between the V-shaped grooves arranged in the array, the base (7) is located at an appropriate position between the opposite V-shaped grooves (11), and the microsphere lens (2) is located On the surface of the base (7), the V-shaped groove and the microsphere lens are properly arranged so that the center of the optical fiber erected in the V-shaped groove is aligned with the center of the microsphere lens. 2. The structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the substrate (1) is composed of silicon. 3. The structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the material of the base (7) and the microsphere lens (2) contains photoresist components, wherein the microsphere lens (2) contains high light transmittance As for the photoresist component, the material of the base (7) is photosensitive material polyimide, and the material of the microsphere lens (2) is polymer material polymethacrylate. 4. The structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the microsphere lens (2) is made of polymer material polyacrylate. 5. An optical fiber alignment component structure of an integrated microsphere lens, comprising a substrate (1), a plurality of optical waveguides (8) formed on the substrate (1), and formed between the optical waveguides (8) At least one pair of bases (7) and microsphere lenses (2), characterized in that the optical waveguide (8) is molded on the surface of the substrate (1) by micromachining, arranged to form an array pattern, so that the There are adjacent parallel optical waveguides (8) and opposite optical waveguides (8) on the surface of the substrate (1); and the base (7) and the microsphere lens (2) are formed through a photolithography process and heat treatment Between the arrayed optical waveguides (8), the base (7) is located at an appropriate position between the relative optical waveguides (8), and the microsphere lens (2) is located on the surface of the base (7), V The V-shaped groove and the microsphere lens are properly arranged so that the center of the optical fiber erected in the V-shaped groove is aligned with the center of the microsphere lens. 6. The structure according to claim 5, characterized in that the substrate (1) is composed of silicon. 7. The structure according to claim 5, characterized in that the base (7) and the microsphere lens (2) contain photoresist components, wherein the microsphere lens (2) contains light with high light transmittance The material of the base (7) is photosensitive polyimide, and the material of the microsphere lens (2) is polymer material polymethacrylate. 8. The structure according to claim 5, characterized in that the microsphere lens (2) is made of polymer material polyacrylate. 9. An optical fiber alignment component structure of an integrated microsphere lens, comprising a substrate (1), a plurality of optical waveguides (8) and V-shaped grooves (11) arranged in an array on the substrate (1), And at least one base (7) and microsphere lens (2) between the optical waveguide (8) and the V-shaped groove (11), it is characterized in that the V-shaped groove (11) is formed by photolithography and etching molding on the substrate (1) in batches, and forming the optical waveguides (8) in batches by micromachining, so that adjacent parallel arrays of optical waveguides (8) and V-shaped grooves (11) are formed on the substrate (1) , wherein, the optical waveguide (8) and the V-groove (11) are arranged oppositely; and the base (7) and the microsphere lens (2) are formed in an array type through photolithographic manufacturing process and heat treatment. Between the arranged optical waveguides (8) and the V-shaped grooves (11), the base (7) is located at an appropriate position between the oppositely arranged optical waveguides (8) and the V-shaped grooves (11), and the microspheres The lens (2) is located on the surface of the base (7), and the V-shaped groove and the microsphere lens are properly arranged so that the center of the optical fiber erected in the V-shaped groove is aligned with the center of the microsphere lens. 10. The structure according to claim 9, characterized in that the substrate (1) consists of silicon. 11. The structure according to claim 9, characterized in that the base (7) and the microsphere lens (2) contain photoresist components, wherein the microsphere lens (2) contains a high light transmittance The material of the base (7) is photosensitive polyimide, and the material of the microsphere lens (2) is polymer material polymethacrylate. 12. The structure according to claim 9, characterized in that the microsphere lens (2) is made of polymer material polyacrylate.

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