JP2001350051A - Optical waveguide module and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an optical waveguide module having various excellent optical characteristics and a technique capable of manufacturing the optical waveguide module simply and inexpensively. SOLUTION: This is a method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module in which an optical fiber for optical input / output is connected to the optical waveguide,
Processing a V-groove for inserting an optical fiber in the substrate;
Coating a V-groove region of the grooved substrate with a thin film for peeling a polymer film; an optical waveguide layer forming step of forming a buried polymer optical waveguide at a predetermined position on the V-groove substrate; A step of cutting the optical waveguide and a part of the substrate in a thickness direction at a predetermined position on the substrate, and immersing the polymer optical waveguide together with the V-grooved substrate in a predetermined solution and attaching the polymer to the V-groove region The process of peeling only the substrate from the substrate and inserting an optical fiber into the re-exposed V-groove and optically connecting the polymer optical waveguide to the polymer optical waveguide without any alignment. And a step of firmly fixing the optical fiber to the V-grooved substrate and / or the polymer optical waveguide using an optical adhesive.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical waveguide module and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to an optical waveguide module having excellent optical characteristics, which is effective when applied to a technique for connecting an optical fiber to a polymer optical waveguide module simply and inexpensively. It is about technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical waveguide using a polymer material has
Compared to optical waveguides using optical glass materials, inorganic optical crystal materials, optical semiconductor materials, etc., in the manufacturing process, films can be formed by a simple method such as spin coating without using an ultra-high vacuum. The required temperature is relatively low at most, at most about 400 ° C., and there is an advantage that processing such as production of a core ridge can be easily realized by oxygen plasma or the like. In order to further reflect the low cost in the production of the polymer optical waveguide in practical use, a simple and inexpensive new technology is required also in the optical fiber connecting step following the production of the optical waveguide. Needless to say, optical fiber connection mounting is a major factor that increases the price of optical components, and realizing this in a simple and inexpensive manner is not limited to polymer optical waveguides, but is useful in all optical component manufacturing. It is great to do.

Until now, many polymer optical waveguide modules, like quartz-based optical waveguide components, have both ends of an optical waveguide and an optical fiber butted to each other while being aligned with their optical axes, and are bonded with an adhesive. Was. This method requires skill in optical axis alignment and adhesive fixing, and is difficult to mass-produce.

Therefore, in recent years, a method of forming a V-groove for mounting an optical fiber on an optical waveguide substrate has been proposed as a technique for connecting an optical fiber without alignment.

[0005]

However, a close examination of the technical contents of the connection method using the V-groove reveals that the number of steps and the required time in the V-groove processing stage are increased, and the reflection attenuation of the finished product is reduced. In terms of both cost and characteristics, the technology has not been matured until it can be replaced with a method of aligning and bonding and fixing.

In the connection method using the V-groove, first, an optical waveguide is formed on a substrate, and V-grooves are formed at both ends or one end of the optical waveguide. These V-grooves are configured such that the axis of the optical fiber accommodated therein and positioned and fixed coincides with the axis of the optical waveguide core. By fixing the optical fiber to these V-grooves, This makes it possible to easily connect the optical fiber and the optical waveguide. Such an optical waveguide with a V-groove is conventionally manufactured by the following steps.

(1) A V-groove and an alignment marker required for positioning the optical waveguide and a V-groove formed in a subsequent process are formed on a substrate. The V-groove and the alignment marker are
Usually, it is manufactured by photolithography and anisotropic etching, or machining with a V-shaped cutting tooth.

(2) A lower clad film and then a core film are laminated on the substrate by a predetermined method, a resist is applied, and etching is performed by photolithography using a photomask for an optical waveguide and in accordance with a marker position. Draw the mask. The core film is etched through this mask to form a core ridge. Finally, an upper clad layer is formed so as to cover the core ridge, and a buried optical waveguide is manufactured.

(3) The material used for manufacturing the optical waveguide also covers the V-groove portion unless a special operation is performed. Therefore, in many cases, the time required for photolithography and dry etching is increased. , These must be removed. Finally, the end face of the optical waveguide is formed by cutting.

Regarding the above-mentioned steps (1) to (3),
Problems in terms of cost and optical characteristics in manufacturing optical components are as follows.

Problem (1): Regarding the V-groove processing of the substrate, there are economical problems such as the fact that the etching method has many steps and the mechanical processing method is not suitable for mass production.

Problem (2): When a high temperature is required for manufacturing the waveguide, the substrate itself may be bent or deformed depending on the material of the V-grooved substrate. As described above, the material of the substrate that can be used is significantly limited by the manufacturing conditions of the optical waveguide.

Problem (3): The number of steps and time required for removing the optical waveguide material deposited on the V-groove are comparable to those required for manufacturing the optical waveguide. In addition, usually, an optical fiber and an optical waveguide that are perpendicular to each other are optically connected to each other. Therefore, the normal line of the connection surface coincides with the axis of the light, and the light reflected by the connection surface is reflected in the optical fiber or the optical waveguide. Even when the rate of return to the wave path is high and a return loss of 50 dB or more is required, the return loss is at most about 30 to 35 dB.

As described above, the present non-alignment connection technology using a substrate with a V-groove has not yet been able to achieve a sufficiently low cost, contrary to its purpose, and has to be provided with an optical device. There is a problem that there is also a shortage in characteristics.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical waveguide module having various excellent optical characteristics and a technique capable of manufacturing the optical waveguide module simply and inexpensively. The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0016]

The outline of the invention disclosed in the present application is briefly described as follows. (1) A method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module in which an optical fiber for optical input / output is connected to an optical waveguide, wherein a step of processing a V-groove for inserting an optical fiber in a substrate; Groove area is coated with a thin film for polymer film peeling
Performing an optical waveguide layer forming step of forming a buried polymer optical waveguide at a predetermined position on the V-grooved substrate; and forming a part of the optical waveguide and a part of the substrate in a thickness direction at a predetermined position of the substrate. A cutting step, a step of immersing the polymer optical waveguide together with the substrate in a predetermined solution to peel off only the polymer adhered on the V-groove region from the substrate, and inserting an optical fiber into the re-exposed V-groove portion Before optically connecting the polymer optical waveguide to the polymer optical waveguide, a process of processing the connection surface of both in advance so that the optical axis of the two and the surface normal of the connection surface are inclined, and optically bonding the optical fiber Firmly fixing to the V-grooved substrate and / or the polymer optical waveguide using an agent.

(2) In the method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to the means (1), the V-groove of the substrate is formed by cutting or embossing a predetermined position on the metal substrate.

(3) In the method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to the means (1), the substrate is a resin molding material in which inorganic fine particles or fillers are dispersed.

(4) In the method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to any one of the means (1) to (3),
The thin film that covers the V-groove region of the substrate is made of aluminum, and a dilute hydrochloric acid aqueous solution is used in the peeling step.

(5) In the method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to any one of the means (1) to (3), the thin film covering the V-groove region of the substrate is made of a fluorinated acrylic polymer, In the stripping step, a fluorocarbon solvent is used.

(6) In the method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to any one of the means (1) to (3), the thin film covering the V-groove region of the substrate may be:
It is made of polyvinyl alcohol, and water or a weak alkaline aqueous solution is used in the stripping step.

(7) An optical waveguide module in which an optical fiber for inputting / outputting an optical fiber is connected to an optical waveguide, wherein a substrate having a V-groove for inserting an optical fiber and a position of the V-groove are provided. The polymer optical waveguide produced after positioning on the V-grooved substrate with reference to the optical axis and the optical axis where the optical fiber and the polymer optical waveguide coincide with each other and the surface normal of the connection surface between them are inclined. The optical fiber and the polymer optical waveguide are optically connected.

That is, the point of the present invention is that (A) the waveguide is manufactured by a low-temperature process in order to enable the use of an inexpensive and mass-produced substrate with V-grooves. (B) As a means for quickly removing the optical waveguide material deposited on the V-groove region of the V-groove substrate, a batch peeling method utilizing an oxidation-reduction reaction or a solubility difference is used. (C) In order to keep the return loss at the end face of the waveguide-optical fiber connection at a certain value or more, the end face of the waveguide is vertically inclined with respect to the axis thereof and slightly inclined in the left-right direction. That is.

The above three features are all characterized in that they can be easily realized by using a polymer waveguide. That is, it is possible to perform waveguide manufacturing and batch removal of a specific part of the waveguide by a low-temperature process, and to achieve optically sufficient surface precision even by cutting with a dicing blade. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings together with embodiments (examples) according to the present invention.

[0025]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing each step of a method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to an embodiment (example) of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a V for inserting an optical fiber.
V-grooved substrate having grooves, 2 is a thin film coat for polymer film peeling (before patterning), 3 is a thin film coat for polymer film peeling (after patterning), 4 is a lower clad for optical waveguide (lower clad) 5 is a core ridge for an optical waveguide, 6 is an upper clad (upper clad) for an optical waveguide, 7 is a dicing blade, 8 is a polymer film to be peeled, 9 is an optical waveguide for a module, and 10 is a V groove (optical fiber). (Including the re-exposed V-groove after the polymer film is peeled off for loading), 11 is the end face of the optical waveguide that is exposed at the same time as cutting, 12 is the cut groove for ensuring the convenience of optical fiber connection, 13 Is an optical fiber whose end face is obliquely cut or polished, and 14 is an optical fiber fixing jig.

In the method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, an optical waveguide is formed on a substrate, and a V-groove 10 is formed at both ends or one end of the optical waveguide. A processing substrate 1 is prepared (a), and a thin film for polymer film peeling (before patterning) 2 before patterning is coated (coated) on the upper surface thereof (b), and thereafter, patterning is performed, and a thin film for polymer film peeling is formed. (After patterning)
3 is coated (coated) (c). Next, a lower cladding 4 for the optical waveguide is formed (d), and a core ridge 5 for the optical waveguide is formed (e). An upper clad 6 for an optical waveguide is formed on the formed core ridge 5 (f). The formed optical waveguide and a part of the substrate are cut (diced) by a dicing blade 7 (g), the optical waveguide 9 for the module is left, and unnecessary portions are removed by peeling the polymer film 8. (H).
The V-groove 10 is re-exposed at the mark where the polymer film 8 for loading the optical fiber is peeled off. At the same time as the cutting by the dicing blade 7, an end face of the optical waveguide 11 which is exposed and a cutting groove 12 for ensuring the convenience of optical fiber connection are formed (i). An optical fiber 13 whose end face is obliquely cut or polished is fitted into the V-groove 10 (j), and the optical fiber 13 is fixed by an optical fiber fixing jig 14 (k).

The V-grooved substrate 1 can be widely selected from various options depending on an arbitrary material and an arbitrary manufacturing method. Therefore, the most common silicon wafer as the V-groove substrate 1 is anisotropically etched to form the V-groove 1
In addition to the substrate on which a V-shaped groove is formed, a substrate obtained by cutting various substrates, a substrate on which a V-groove 10 is formed by embossing a stainless steel wafer, a resin-molded V-groove substrate on which aluminum fine particles are dispersed, and the like can be used. In particular, it should be noted that embossed substrates and molded substrates can be mass-produced at low cost. The reason that these substrates can be used arbitrarily is that the polymer optical waveguide can be manufactured by a low-temperature process,
This is because the dependence on the substrate material can be kept low.

FIG. 2 shows the design method of the V-groove 10.
As shown in FIG. 7, the distance (18) from the substrate surface at the center of the core of the optical fiber 15 loaded on the V-groove substrate 16 (same as the V-groove substrate 1 in FIG. 19
The setting method is adopted.

A V-groove region of the V-groove substrate 1 is coated with a thin film 3 for polymer film peeling (FIG. 1).
(C)). This makes it possible to easily and collectively remove unnecessary portions of the optical waveguide after the optical waveguide is produced, that is, the polymer film 8 covering the V-groove 10, as described later.

Typical thin films for peeling polymer films include:
Examples include a metallic copper sputter film and an aluminum sputter film which are easily dissolved by an acid. Further, other than the metal film, an organic thin film that is well soluble only in a specific solvent can be used. For example, a fluoropolymer dissolved in a fluorocarbon solution, polyvinyl alcohol having high solubility in water, and the like can be given.

The steps shown in FIGS. 1D to 1F are steps for producing a buried polymer optical waveguide.
Other than using the V-grooved substrate 1, no special operation is required, and the conventional procedure can be applied as it is. Therefore, the polymer optical waveguide module according to the present invention can be manufactured using any type of polymer waveguide.

The connection form between the polymer optical waveguide and the optical fiber and the method of realizing the connection form are shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 (g) shows a step of cutting a necessary portion and an unnecessary portion of the optical waveguide by cutting, which is a pretreatment indispensable for batch peeling of the polymer film described later. At this time,
Excavating the substrate a little is very effective because the possibility that a minute physical obstacle is present when the optical waveguide 9 and the optical fiber 13 are connected is greatly reduced.

The cut end face 11 of the polymer optical waveguide obtained by the dicing blade 7 has an extremely high optical quality and does not need to be subjected to another end face processing by polishing or the like. Further, the cutting direction may be completely perpendicular to the axis of the V-groove 10 or may be slightly shifted from the perfect perpendicular. The former is a conventional general method, and can be represented as shown in FIG. The latter is the cutting direction used in the present invention, and is shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the angle at which the cutting direction deviates from the axis of the V-groove 10 perpendicularly is often set to 8 °. When the cutting direction of the present embodiment is actually selected, it is obvious that a substrate of the type shown in FIG. 3B must be used at the stage shown in FIG.

FIG. 1 (h) shows a state in which unnecessary polymer films are peeled off at once. For example, when the thin film for peeling the polymer film formed in FIG. 1 (c) is made of copper or aluminum, the polymer optical waveguide with the substrate after the step of FIG. 1 (g) is simply immersed in a dilute hydrochloric acid aqueous solution. The molecular film 8 can be peeled off. When it is desired to remove the metal film on the surface of the V-groove 10 after peeling the polymer film, it can be completely removed by a mild oxidation-reduction reaction. For example, in the case of copper adhering to a substrate, the purpose can be achieved only by immersing it in an aqueous solution of ferric chloride.

As described above, a fluorine-based polymer or polyvinyl alcohol can also be used as a stripping film. As the stripping solution, hexafluoroxylene or tri (fluoroalkyl) amine is particularly suitable for the former, and a weak alkaline aqueous solution is particularly suitable for the latter. .

With the simple and short operation as described above, the polymer optical waveguide platform with the V-groove shown in FIG. 1 (i) can be manufactured. FIG. 1 (j)
The process of mounting the optical fiber 13 on this polymer optical waveguide platform with V grooves is shown. As previously mentioned,
In the present embodiment, the end face of the polymer optical waveguide is a V-shaped groove 10.
(Equivalent to the optical axis of the loaded optical fiber 13), the angle is shifted by 8 ° from the perfect vertical, and the optical fiber 13 connected to this must also be exposed at the same angle. . Regarding the end face of the optical fiber 13,
In recent years, various technologies have been developed, and sufficient optical quality has been obtained by only cutting as well as polishing, and there is no technical load in using an 8 ° polished optical fiber itself.

FIG. 1 (k) shows that the optical fiber and the optical waveguide are connected to each other at an angle of 8 ° so that the optical axes thereof coincide with each other, and then the optical fiber is connected to the V-groove substrate 1 using an optical adhesive.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a polymer optical waveguide module according to the present embodiment, which is manufactured by being firmly fixed to a polymer optical waveguide. The polymer optical waveguide module of the present embodiment manufactured in this manner can use the inexpensive and mass-produced substrate 1 with a V-groove, and can rapidly form a polymer film made of an optical waveguide material deposited on the V-groove 10. By maintaining the return loss of the connection end face between the optical waveguide 9 and the optical fiber 13 at a certain value or more, it is possible to realize a feature of low cost and excellent optical connection characteristics. Is what it is.

Further, according to the present invention, various high-performance optical waveguide modules comprising a polymer optical waveguide and an optical fiber can be manufactured at low cost. It is particularly effective for the manufacture of 1 × 2 switches, 1 × 1 arrayed waveguide grating type tunable filters with a small number of optical fibers to be connected, or optical transceiver modules in which only one end of an optical waveguide is connected to an optical fiber. It is. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to these Examples.

(Examples 1 to 4) FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (k)
According to the steps shown in FIG.
Was performed, and a polymer optical waveguide module was manufactured. Lower cladding of polymer waveguide (lower cladding) 4
Was 16 μm, the thickness of the core ridge (core) 5 was 8 μm, and the center of the core 5 was 20 μm in height from the surface of the substrate 1. On the other hand, the center of the core 5 of the optical fiber 13 is also simply loaded into the V-groove 10 shown in FIG.
The alignment was automatically performed at a height of 20 μm from the surface of the substrate 1. Hereinafter, a specific procedure will be described.

First, a copper thin film having a thickness of about 100 nm was formed on the silicon substrate (substrate with V-groove) 1 on which the V-groove 10 was processed (FIG. 3B) by a sputtering method (FIG. 1).
(B)). After a resist was applied on the copper thin film and patterned, the copper film was left only in the V-groove 10 as shown in FIG. 1C by ion milling. On this silicon substrate (substrate with V-groove) 1, a buried polymer optical waveguide was produced by a usual method. That is, formation of a lower cladding (lower cladding) 4 having a thickness of 16 μm by spin coating (FIG. 1D), application of a core layer having a thickness of 8 μm, and formation of a core ridge 5 by photolithography and reactive ion etching (FIG. 1). (E)), by over-tarading (12 μm thick on the core) with corad material, FIG.
A polymer optical waveguide shown in (f) was produced. As the cladding material, a copolymer of deuterated polymethyl methacrylate and fluorinated methacrylate was used, and as the core material, deuterated polymethyl methacrylate was used.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The boundary between the V-groove 10 at both ends and the waveguide (FIG.
(Corresponding to the broken line in (b)). The cut is made to reach the silicon substrate 1, and its search is
The thickness was 200 μm from the surface of the silicon substrate 1. The optical waveguide 9 was immersed in an aqueous hydrochloric acid solution, and the polymer film (thin film) covering the V-groove 10 was peeled off with the polymer waveguide portion remaining from the silicon substrate 1 (FIG. 1 (h)). The copper thin film remaining on the silicon substrate 1 after peeling off the polymer film was completely removed by elution into the solution with an aqueous ferric chloride solution (FIG. 1 (i)). Further, an optical fiber 13 having a cross section inclined by 8 ° with respect to a plane perpendicular to the optical axis was placed along the V-groove 10 (FIG. 1 (j)) and pressed axially toward the end face of the optical waveguide. In this state, a UV resin was applied, a V-groove-processed Pyrex holding plate was placed on the UV resin, and the fiber was fixed by irradiating ultraviolet rays to fix the fiber (FIG. 1).
(K)). Thus, the optical fiber was connected and fixed to the input / output portion of the polymer optical waveguide, and a 1 × 2Y branch polymer waveguide module was manufactured.

The loss of the 1 × 2Y branched polymer waveguide module manufactured in the above manner at a wavelength of 1.3 μm for both arms is about 3.5 dB, which is not significantly different from the conversion from the insertion loss of the linear optical waveguide. Did not. The branching ratio remained approximately 1: 1. Polarization dependence was hardly observed. The return loss was 50 dB or more.

The above description is based on the case where deuterated polymethyl methacrylate is used as an optical waveguide material, a silicon substrate on which a V-groove 10 is formed by anisotropic etching as a V-grooved substrate 1, and copper as a thin film coating material for peeling ( Example 1).

In addition, an epoxy-based UV resin as an optical waveguide material, a substrate in which a V-groove made of an epoxy-based resin mold in which aluminum fine particles are dispersed as a substrate 1 with a V-groove, and a polyvinyl alcohol as a thin film coating material for peeling. When used (Example 2), a fluorinated polyimide was used as the optical waveguide material, a silicon substrate having a V-groove formed by anisotropic etching as the V-grooved substrate 1, and aluminum as a thin film coating material for peeling (implementation) Example 3) Thermosetting silicone resin as optical waveguide material, V-grooved substrate 1
Was carried out on a substrate in which a V-groove was formed on a stainless steel wafer by embossing, and when aluminum was used as a thin film coating material for peeling (Example 4). The results are summarized in Table 1. In each of the examples, a 1 × 2Y-branched polymer optical waveguide module having good optical characteristics could be manufactured.

[0045]

[Table 1]

Example 5 A 1 × 2Y branch waveguide was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4 except that a silicone resin was used as the optical waveguide material. Further, a branch was formed on the upper clad surface in the region immediately above the branch portion. The thin film heater was loaded along the both arms to be performed. Then, again in the same manner as in Example 4,
Optical fiber mounted. FIG. 4 shows an overview of the manufactured 1 × 2Y branch optical waveguide type digital switch module. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 20 denotes a Y-branch type polymer optical waveguide for a digital switch, and reference numeral 21 denotes a thin film heater.

Actually, the final product was housed in a metal package and subjected to electrode wiring by wire bonding.

When the switch characteristics were evaluated in the wavelength band of 1.55 μm, an insertion loss of 1.2 dB, an extinction ratio of 40 dB at a power consumption of 120 mW, and a polarization dependent loss of 0.2 dB or less were exhibited. The return loss was 50 dB or more.

(Embodiment 6) An array waveguide in which a one-input one-output optical fiber is mounted in the same manner as in the fourth embodiment, using a silicone resin as an optical waveguide material and a 1 × 1 array waveguide grating as an optical waveguide structure. A lattice module was made.
This was loaded on a Peltier element to obtain a polymer waveguide type tunable filter module. Figure 5 gives an overview of the module
Shown in In FIG. 5, 22 is a slab waveguide, 23 is an array waveguide, and 24 is a Peltier element.

When the switch characteristics were evaluated in the 1.55 μm wavelength band, a wavelength tunable characteristic of about 10 nm was obtained with an insertion loss of 3.4 dB and a temperature change of 50 ° C. Further, the return loss was about 50 dB.

(Embodiment 7) In the same manner as in Embodiment 4, a silicone resin is used as an optical waveguide material, and a polymer waveguide module for optical transmission / reception based on a 1 × 2Y branch waveguide is manufactured as an optical waveguide structure. did.

The present polymer waveguide module for optical transmission and reception is
As shown in the module cross-sectional structure of FIG. 6, an optical fiber 26 is mounted on one end of the polymer optical waveguide 25, and a semiconductor laser 27 and a semiconductor photodiode 28 for monitoring are hybrid mounted on the other end. In the hybrid mounting, a polymer waveguide end face was exposed by the polymer film peeling technique of the present invention, and a platform for mounting an optical semiconductor device was formed. An optical transmission / reception experiment was performed in the 1.3 μm band using the present optical waveguide polymer waveguide module. Both the output fluctuation at the fiber end and the input fluctuation at the light receiving end are 1 dB
And the return loss at the end face of the optical fiber 26 is 5
It was about 0 dB. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 29 denotes a V-groove processed substrate, and reference numeral 30 denotes an end face of the optical waveguide.

As described above, the invention made by the present inventor is:
Although specifically described based on the embodiment (example),
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment (example), and it is needless to say that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Polymer optical waveguide modules having various excellent optical characteristics can be manufactured simply and inexpensively. Therefore, the present invention
An effective manufacturing technique can be provided not only for communication but also for consumer optical waveguide modules, and is likely to be widely used in the future.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing each step of a method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to an embodiment (example) of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a V-grooved substrate of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a standard for exposing a waveguide end face of a polymer optical waveguide on a V-grooved substrate according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an optical waveguide switch module according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an arrayed waveguide grating type tunable filter according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a transmission port side of a polymer waveguide module for optical transmission and reception according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: V-groove processed substrate 2: Thin film coat for polymer film peeling (before patterning) 3: Thin film coat for polymer film peeling (after patterning) 4: Lower clad (lower clad) for optical waveguide 5: Optical waveguide Core ridge 6: Upper clad (upper clad) for optical waveguide 7: Dicing blade 8: Polymer film to be peeled 9: Optical waveguide for module 10: V groove (re-exposed V after polymer film is peeled) 11: Optical waveguide end face exposed at the same time as cutting 12: Cutting groove for ensuring convenience of optical fiber connection 13: Optical fiber whose end face is obliquely cut or polished 14: Optical fiber fixing Jig 15: Cross section of single mode optical fiber 16: Cross section of V groove 17: Opening angle of V groove 18: Height from substrate surface to optical fiber core / optical waveguide core 19: Groove depth 20: Y-branch polymer optical waveguide for digital switch 21: Thin film heater 22: Slab waveguide 23: Array waveguide 24: Peltier element 25: Polymer optical waveguide 26: Optical fiber 27: Semiconductor laser 28: Monitor photodiode 29: V-groove substrate 30: Optical waveguide end face

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yujiro Kato 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Seiji Toyoda 2-3-3, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Naoki Oba 2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Shoichi Hayashida Otemachi 2, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Chome 3-1, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akira Tomaru 2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co., Ltd. 2-3-1 Otemachi Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F-term (reference) 2H037 AA01 BA24 CA10 DA12 DA13 DA17 2H047 KA03 KA12 LA12 LA18 MA05 NA01 PA02 PA03 PA04 PA24 PA28 Q A05 QA07 RA08 TA05 TA32 TA35 TA43 TA44

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module comprising an optical waveguide and an optical fiber for optical input / output connected to the optical waveguide,
Processing a V-groove for inserting an optical fiber in the substrate; coating (coating) a thin film for peeling a polymer film in a V-groove region of the V-grooved substrate; An optical waveguide layer forming step of forming a buried polymer optical waveguide at a position, a step of cutting a part of the optical waveguide and the substrate in a thickness direction at a predetermined position of the substrate, and A step of immersing the polymer in the predetermined solution to remove only the polymer adhered on the V-groove region from the substrate;
Inserting an optical fiber into the groove and connecting the polymer optical waveguide to the polymer optical waveguide without alignment, processing the connecting surface of both in advance so that they have the optical axis and the surface normal of the connecting surface and the inclination. And a step of firmly fixing the optical fiber to the V-grooved substrate and / or the polymer optical waveguide using an optical adhesive. 2. The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to claim 1, wherein the V-groove of the substrate is formed at a predetermined position on the metal substrate by cutting or embossing. Method. 3. The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a resin molding material in which inorganic fine particles or fillers are dispersed. 4. The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to claim 1, wherein the thin film for coating (coating) the V-groove region of the substrate is made of aluminum, and in the stripping step, a dilute hydrochloric acid aqueous solution is used. The manufacturing method of the optical waveguide module characterized by using. 5. The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to claim 1, wherein the thin film covering (coating) the V-groove region of the substrate is made of a fluorinated acrylic polymer. A method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module, wherein a fluorocarbon solvent is used in the step. 6. The method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module according to claim 1, wherein the thin film covering (coating) the V-groove region of the substrate is made of polyvinyl alcohol. A method for manufacturing an optical waveguide module, wherein water or a weak alkaline aqueous solution is used. 7. An optical waveguide module in which an optical fiber for optical input / output is connected to an optical waveguide, the substrate having a V-groove formed with a V-groove for inserting an optical fiber, and a position of the V-groove. As a reference, the polymer optical waveguide produced after positioning on the V-grooved substrate, the light such that the optical axis where the optical fiber and the polymer optical waveguide coincide with each other, and the surface normal of the connection surface between them are inclined. An optical waveguide module, wherein a fiber and a polymer optical waveguide are optically connected.