JPH09203822A - Optical fiber alignment body - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: The present invention provides a structure of an optical fiber alignment component in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged and fixed by a holding substrate. SOLUTION: As an optical fiber alignment body structure for holding and fixing a large number of optical fibers, an alignment substrate having through holes arranged two-dimensionally for inserting and positioning the optical fibers is electro-discharge machined to a conductive material. Was formed by forming a through hole. In addition, by preparing a plurality of aligned substrates and inserting an optical fiber into each aligned substrate, the stability of the parallelism of the optical fibers in the optical axis direction was secured. A plurality of common guide pins were used to align the aligned substrates.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of an optical fiber alignment component in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged and fixed by a holding substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A structure for aligning and fixing a plurality of optical fibers in a two-dimensional manner while keeping the optical axes parallel to each other has a structure in which a large number of holes are formed at desired positions in a holding substrate holding the optical fibers. There is a structure in which it is formed and the end of the optical fiber is inserted into the hole. A substrate for holding an optical fiber has been proposed in the case of using silicon anisotropic etching or in a method of forming holes by photoetching a photosensitive glass. In this method, the position of the end face of the optical fiber is uniquely determined by the position of the hole formed in the holding substrate. When a photosensitive glass substrate is used, it is difficult to obtain the positional accuracy of the two-dimensional array of the optical fiber alignment body of this kind in the manufacturing process. Further, it is not possible to increase the thickness of the holding substrate due to the restrictions on the process of forming the holes. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to hold and fix a large number of optical fibers in parallel so that their optical axis directions coincide with each other. Further, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 5, using a substrate in which optical fiber guide grooves such as V grooves are provided at each pitch of the optical fibers, the optical fibers are arranged in multiple stages so as to be installed in the guide grooves. There is also a method of stacking. In this case,
Since the optical fiber is fixed by the guide groove, the parallelism between the fibers in the optical axis direction of the optical fiber can be accurately ensured. However, according to this method, the accuracy of the thickness of the grooved substrate is insufficient, and when the optical fibers are stacked, there is a drawback that the alignment error of the optical fibers accumulates in the height direction. was there. The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional structure, and in particular, a plurality of holes are formed at desired positions in a holding substrate that holds an optical fiber, and the end of the optical fiber is placed in the hole. It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure in which an optical fiber alignment body having a structure in which a part is inserted can be manufactured with high accuracy by an easy and practical means.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is to solve these problems, and an alignment substrate having two-dimensionally arranged through holes for inserting and positioning an optical fiber is made of a conductive material. A through hole was formed by electrical discharge machining. In addition, the stability of parallelism in the optical axis direction was secured by preparing a plurality of aligned substrates and inserting an optical fiber into each aligned substrate. Furthermore, to align the aligned substrates,
Multiple common guide pins were used.

[0004]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire alignment substrate of an optical fiber alignment body according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, an example of the configuration of an aligned substrate is shown in which the optical fibers are aligned in four rows and four columns, four in the horizontal direction and four in the vertical direction. A silicon single crystal substrate was used as the conductive material for the alignment substrate 11. Since electric discharge machining is possible as long as other conductive materials are used, metallic materials such as stainless steel, conductive ceramics, etc. are also possible. Through holes 12 having an inner diameter of 127 microns were formed in 4 rows and 4 columns on a silicon substrate by electrical discharge machining. The positional accuracy of the center of the through hole was ± 3 microns. An outer diameter of 1 is provided in each through hole formed in the aligned substrate.
A 25 micron optical fiber was passed through and secured with an adhesive. Since the silicon substrate does not transmit light, a thermosetting epoxy adhesive was used as the adhesive. When such a substrate is used, it is generally recognized that the positional deviation during assembly of the optical fiber for positioning and fixing is independent without accumulating, but it has been conventionally recognized that the two-dimensional shape is accurate with the accuracy of micron unit. It was difficult to form a plurality of through-holes, but it became possible by using an aligned substrate machined by electrical discharge machining.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a front view of another embodiment of an alignment substrate used in the optical fiber alignment structure according to the present invention. Guide holes 23 for aligning aligned substrates are provided at four locations on the outer periphery of the through holes 22 arranged in 4 rows and 4 columns. An optical fiber alignment body constructed by using the alignment substrate is shown in FIG. The two aligning substrates 21 and 31 having the same structure have guide holes 23.
Are connected by four guide pins 41 penetrating therethrough. By penetrating the optical fiber through the plurality of aligned substrates, the advantage that the parallelism of the optical fiber is improved can be obtained. Regarding the number and position of the guide holes, in order to achieve the purpose of forming the plurality of aligned substrates for alignment, it is necessary to arrange at least three guide holes so that they are not aligned. Regarding the number and arrangement of guide holes,
If the above configuration is not adopted, the two aligned substrates are
It is not easy to fix in the state of being parallel and orthogonal to the guide pin. FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the optical fiber alignment body according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a plurality of aligned substrates 51, 52, and 53 having the same structure are further installed between the two aligned substrates 21 and 31, and the parallelism of the optical fibers to be aligned and the strength of the entire optical fiber alignment body are set. We are trying to improve FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the structure of the aligned substrate according to the present invention. The shape of the through hole 12 for an optical fiber formed in the alignment substrate 11 needs to have a uniform hole diameter in the longitudinal direction, but a part of the entrance side has a hole diameter of the optical fiber substrate. The structure has a tapered shape 14 so that it can be easily inserted therein. By adopting such a structure, it is possible to reduce chipping of the optical fiber when the optical fiber is inserted into the alignment substrate. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, for the same purpose as the embodiment of FIG. 6, a part of the entrance of the through hole has a curved surface 15 as a sectional shape. In this embodiment, an example having an R surface is shown.

[0006]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the processing accuracy of the alignment substrate and the fixed substrate necessary for producing the two-dimensional array optical fiber array, and to provide an optical fiber array having sufficient accuracy. It can be easily manufactured, and the optical fiber alignment body at a lower cost can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of an alignment substrate that constitutes an optical fiber alignment body according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall front view showing another embodiment of an alignment substrate that constitutes an optical fiber alignment body according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber alignment body configured by using the alignment substrate according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view showing another embodiment of the optical fiber alignment body according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional optical fiber alignment body.

FIG. 6 is an overall cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the optical fiber alignment substrate according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an overall cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the optical fiber alignment substrate according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 21, 31, 51, 52, 53 Optical fiber alignment substrate 12, 13, 14, 15, 22 Optical fiber through hole 31 Optical fiber 23 Guide hole 41 Guide pin

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber aligning body for two-dimensionally aligning the positions of end faces of an optical fiber, wherein an alignment substrate having a two-dimensional circular through hole for inserting and positioning an optical fiber is electrically conductive. An optical fiber alignment body made of a material, wherein the circular through hole is formed by electric discharge machining. 2. An optical fiber aligning body for two-dimensionally aligning the positions of end faces of an optical fiber, wherein a circular through hole for inserting and positioning an optical fiber is two-dimensionally formed in a hole of an alignment substrate. Is an optical fiber alignment body having a taper shape with a diameter larger than the through hole in the insertion direction of the optical fiber. 3. An optical fiber aligning body for two-dimensionally aligning the positions of the end faces of an optical fiber, wherein an alignment substrate having a two-dimensional circular through hole for inserting and positioning the optical fiber is substantially horizontal. 3. The optical fiber alignment body according to claim 2, wherein the optical fibers are positioned and fixed by arranging the optical fibers in the direction. 4. An optical fiber aligning body, wherein the optical fibers are positioned and fixed by using a plurality of alignment substrates in which circular through holes for inserting and positioning a plurality of optical fibers are two-dimensionally formed. The alignment board is provided with a guide pin hole for aligning the plurality of alignment boards, and the guide pin is inserted into the guide pin hole to align the plurality of alignment boards. Item 3. The optical fiber alignment body according to item 3.