Patent ID: 6690845
Filing Date: 2004-02-10
Classification: G02B,H01L,H05K

Abstract:
An opto-electronic module comprising:a holding unit having a central body and a plurality of sheet portions extending from said central body and separated from one another by a plurality of gaps; a plurality of opto-electronic layers, each layer having one or more edges, at least one of said layers having one or more opto-electronic devices, and one or more optical waveguides, at least two of said layers each further comprising a waveguide which has an end near an edge of said layer, said layers being disposed over and above one another with at least one of their edges aligned to one another, the at least one aligned edge of each layer being inserted into a gap of the holding unit; a plurality of Z-connector arrays, each array being disposed between two adjacent opto-electronic layers and having an arrangement of Z-connector segments, said Z-connector segments being held by said plurality of sheet portions of said holding unit, said plurality of Z-connector arrays being disposed such that the arrangement of Z-connector segments are aligned to one another to provide a plurality of Z-direction waveguides, at least one said Z-direction waveguide comprising a Z-connector segment from each of said Z-connector arrays; a first vertical optical coupler disposed on a first one of said opto-electronic layers and coupling light between a waveguide of said first one of said opto-electronic layers and a first one of said Z-connector segments; and a second vertical optical coupler disposed on a second one of said opto-electronic layers and coupling light between a waveguide of said second one of said opto-electronic layers and a second one of said Z-connector segments.