JP2824176B2 - Manufacturing method of optical fiber array - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an optical fiber array used for aligning and fixing optical fibers when connecting the optical fibers to an optical element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional optical fiber array used for connecting an optical fiber to an optical element is composed of a V-groove substrate 50 and an upper substrate 51 as shown in FIG. 50 has an optical fiber storage groove for storing bare fiber
52 and a counterbore for accommodating the optical fiber coating 53
And a counterbore 54 for accommodating the covering portion of the optical fiber is also formed on the lower surface of the upper substrate 51.

However, in such a conventional optical fiber array, the counterbore portions 53 and 54 need to be subjected to ultrasonic processing on ceramics or the like, which increases the processing time and cost. The end of the optical fiber may not get on the optical fiber storage groove 52 correctly,
There is a problem that a positional shift may occur between the V-groove substrate 50 and the upper substrate 51.

In order to solve such a problem, the present inventor has previously invented an optical fiber array having a structure as shown in FIG. 6, and has filed an application as Japanese Patent Application No. 4-142682. In this method, an optical fiber housing groove 7 is formed in an upper plane 4 and a V-groove substrate 1 having a lower plane 6 provided on the upper plane 4 via a step 5 to fix a bare fiber placed on the upper plane 4. It is composed of a fiber fixing substrate 2 and an upper substrate 3 which is placed on the lower flat surface 6 and fixes the covering portion of the optical fiber. The processing is easier than that of FIG. 5, the positioning of the upper substrate 3 with respect to the V-groove substrate 1 can be easily performed.

However, for practical use, it has been found that this optical fiber array has the following problems. The positioning of the upper substrate 3 with respect to the V-groove substrate 1
Although it can be easily performed in the vertical direction by using, the positioning in the horizontal direction takes time. Since it is necessary to polish the end face at right angles to the optical fiber storage groove 7, the polishing is performed using the end face of the V-groove substrate 1 as a reference plane. You need to be outside. However, if the upper substrate 3 is slightly displaced and its end surface comes out, the polishing reference surface cannot be secured accurately, resulting in a poor polishing angle. The adhesive bonding the upper substrate 3 to the V-groove substrate 1 easily oozes out on the reference surface, and easily removes chips when it is removed by post-processing.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the optical fiber array of the prior application, can greatly reduce the number of assembling steps, does not have a defective polishing angle, and does not bleed the adhesive. The present invention has been completed in order to provide a method for manufacturing an optical fiber array that can also prevent chipping failure caused by dispensing.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a wafer having several groups of optical fiber receiving grooves and step grooves formed at right angles to the grooves. Manufacture the lower surface of the horizontally long upper integrated substrate
Form the sheath storage groove at the position corresponding to each optical fiber storage groove.
And aligning the upper integrated substrate with the step groove.
After bonding, and then inserting the optical fiber into the optical fiber storage groove of each group, the upper surface is fixed with an optical fiber fixing substrate, and after polishing the end face, it is cut in a direction parallel to the optical fiber storage groove to form a chip. It is characterized by the following.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments. First, as shown in FIG. 1, a single ceramic wafer is placed on the upper surface of a glass plate 8 with wax 9.
10 is fixed, and several groups of optical fiber storage grooves 11 are formed on the upper surface of the wafer 10 in parallel. In this embodiment, four groups of optical fiber storage grooves 11 corresponding to five-core optical fibers are formed. This groove processing can be performed accurately and efficiently by a grinding wheel. Next, these optical fiber storage grooves
A step groove 13 is formed so as to have a step 12 in a direction perpendicular to 11. Although the number is two rows in the embodiment, it can be arbitrarily increased or decreased and may be one row. As a result, a wafer as shown in FIG. 1 is obtained. However, the method of manufacturing such a wafer is not limited to the embodiment, and a method such as forming a plurality of groups of optical fiber storage grooves 11 in parallel on the wafer 10 having the step grooves 13 may be employed.

Separately, a horizontally long upper integrated substrate 14 as shown in FIG. 2 is prepared. This upper integrated substrate 14
Is formed by integrating a plurality of upper substrates 15 as shown in FIG. 4. In the embodiment, the upper substrate 15 has a shape in which the 2 × 4 upper substrates 15 are integrated. Each upper substrate 15 has a gate shape, and the lower surface at the center thereof corresponds to the above-mentioned optical fiber housing groove 11,
A coating portion storage groove for storing the coating portion of the optical fiber is formed. In this embodiment, a semicircular resin injection groove 17 is formed in each upper substrate 15. If the resin injection groove 17 is formed in an R shape as described above, the contraction stress generated when the adhesive is cured can be reduced, and the occurrence of cracks can be prevented. However, the resin injection groove 17 is not an essential requirement of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper integrated substrate 14 is accurately bonded and fixed to the step groove 13 of the wafer 10 using an adhesive such as an epoxy resin. Then, in the embodiment, the upper integrated substrate 14 and the wafer 10 are then perpendicular to the optical fiber accommodation groove 11 as shown by a chain line in FIG.
And at the same time. As a result, an elongated intermediate product as shown in the lower part of FIG. 3 is obtained.

Next, when a multi-core (five-core in this embodiment) optical fiber is inserted from the groove for accommodating the covering portion between the upper integrated substrate 14 and the wafer 10, the bare fiber portion at the tip of each optical fiber is accurately formed. The wafer enters the optical fiber storage groove 11 of the wafer 10 while being positioned. After the bare fiber portion is housed in the optical fiber housing groove 11 in this manner, an optical fiber fixing substrate 16 as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the optical fiber fixing substrate 16 has four pieces which are separated.
By using the individual optical fiber fixing substrates 16 in this manner, the bare fiber portion can be accurately fixed regardless of the optical fiber storage groove 11 and the variation in the optical fiber diameter.
However, a deviation of about 2 to 10 μm may be allowed depending on the application, and in such a case, an optical fiber fixing substrate 16 in which four sheets are continuous can be used.

Through the above steps, the shape shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. Next, the end face is polished. In this embodiment, four end faces can be simultaneously polished, and the polishing time can be greatly reduced. After completion of the polishing, the upper integrated substrate 14 and the wafer 10 are simultaneously cut in a direction parallel to the optical fiber accommodating groove 11 into chips as shown by a chain line in FIG. As a result, the optical fiber storage groove 11
The bare fiber portion is accommodated in the optical fiber fixing substrate 16 and fixed by the optical fiber fixing substrate 16.
Thus, a plurality of optical fiber arrays with optical fibers fixed by the upper substrate 15 from which the optical fibers are cut can be obtained at the same time. This optical fiber array is used in the same manner as in the prior art to connect an optical fiber with another optical device.

[0013]

As described above, according to the method for manufacturing an optical fiber array of the present invention, the following many advantages can be obtained as compared with the conventional method. Conventionally, the upper substrate 3 was separately processed and cut one by one. In contrast, in the present invention, a large number of optical fiber arrays can be manufactured by cutting the upper integrated substrate 14 at a time. Man-hours and time can be greatly reduced. In particular, the work of fixing the individual upper substrates 3 that required a lot of work in processing is eliminated, and the assembling time can be greatly reduced. Upper integrated substrate 14 and optical fiber fixed substrate on wafer 10
Since the whole is cut after bonding and bonding, the gap between the three of the V-groove substrate from which the wafer 10 is cut, the upper substrate 15 from which the upper integrated substrate 14 is cut, and the optical fiber fixing substrate 16 is completely eliminated. Can be eliminated. Since the cutting is performed after the assembly is completed, the protrusion of the adhesive can be completely eliminated. For this reason, there is no chip and scratches due to the adhesive removal work, and strength deterioration,
A clean product without deterioration in appearance can be obtained. Since several pieces can be polished at a time, the number of polishing operations can be greatly reduced. The workability can be improved because several pieces can be assembled at once,
The adjustment of the optical fiber fixing substrate 16 can be absorbed by cutting the lateral displacement up to the cutting width (for example, 1 mm). When the continuous optical fiber fixing substrate 16 can be used, the number of steps can be further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state where a groove is formed in a wafer.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where an upper integrated substrate is bonded to a wafer.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a bonded wafer and an upper integrated substrate are cut in a direction perpendicular to an optical fiber housing groove, and an optical fiber fixing substrate.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where the bonded wafer, the upper integrated substrate, and the optical fiber fixing substrate are cut into chips.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional optical fiber array.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an optical fiber array of the prior application.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Wafer 11 Optical fiber storage groove 13 Step groove 14 Upper integrated substrate 16 Optical fiber fixing substrate

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wafer having a plurality of groups of optical fiber storage grooves and a step groove formed at right angles to the plurality of optical fiber storage grooves is manufactured, and each of the optical fibers on the lower surface of a horizontally long upper integrated substrate is manufactured.
Forming the covering part storage groove at the position corresponding to the iva storage groove,
Positioning and bonding the upper integrated substrate to the step groove ,
Next, after inserting an optical fiber into the optical fiber storage groove of each group, the upper surface is fixed with an optical fiber fixing substrate, and after polishing the end face, it is cut in a direction parallel to the optical fiber storage groove to form a chip. A method of manufacturing an optical fiber array.