Abstract:
The invention discloses a compact, reliable, and miniaturized opto-electronic interface module for high-speed communication systems and a method of assembling thereof. The device comprises a microlens element, sandwiched between a photodetector with a working area having a diameter of 3 to 12 μm, and a glass ferrules with an optical fiber inserted into the ferrules. The end face of the optical fiber is spaced from the microlens at a distance that ensures accurate focusing of the light beam emitted from the fiber to the center of the photodetector. Automatic alignment of the optical fiber with the microlens is ensured at a stage of assembling due to a snug fit of the lens into the opening of the ferrule. The output lead wire of the photodetector is connected to a digital logic via a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) with the use of microwave-stripline technique for matching impedance to ensure efficient transfer/conversion of optical signals to electrical. The optical and electrical components of the module can be organized in an array or a matrix pattern. An increase in bit rate of transmission through the interface is ensured due to decrease in the dimensions of light-receiving areas of the photodetectors and due to a special geometry of self-aligned light-guiding, light-focusing, and light-transmitting components of the device.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of optical fiber communication systems, in particular to optical to electronic interfaces for high-speed communication systems and to a method of assembling thereof. The device of the invention may find application as an interface between an optical communication line, such as DSL, a fiber communication system, and a data acquisition system, such as a personal computer, telephone, or the like.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Fiber optic communication technology has been developing at a rapid pace. One of the problems, which the optical communication systems confronts with an increase in the bandwidth demand, is an interface between lines of a multiple-channel optical communication system, such as, e.g., a long-distance fiber optic transport line, where it is desirable to increase distances between repeaters for cost-efficient signal transmission, or a digital subscriber line (DSL), and a data-acquisition system, such as, e.g., a personal computer. Such an interface has to satisfy bandwidth requirements with respect to reduced noise, as well as to provide an improved reliability of data transmission and constantly increasing data exchange rates between the multiple-channel communication systems and the data receiving terminals. For example, strict requirements to reliability of data transmission demand that a bit/error ratio (a unit according to Bell Core Specification) be within the range of less than 10 −12  and that the speed of data transmission be at the level of 2.5 Gbits/sec, typically up to 10 Gbits/sec, and even up to 40 Gbits/sec.  
           [0003]    However, the design of existing opto-electronic interfaces currently used for data voice and video transmission stays behind modern technical capabilities of data transmission and data acquisition systems, while the bandwidth demand constantly increases.  
           [0004]    In addition to high technical requirements to characteristics of the transmitting-receiving units, in order to maintain competitive positions, the optical to electronic interfaces must comply with the current industrial trend toward miniaturization of the electronic and optical components for high-density packaging and at the same time to allow a decrease in the production cost. For example, there is a need for higher number of communication lines versus cabinet space requirement availability.  
           [0005]    An example of an opto-electronic interface of the aforementioned type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,704 issued to M. S. Lebby et al. in 1995. The device of this patent comprises a connector with alignment means, such as pins, and with a central opening or openings for insertion of an optical fiber (fibers). The alignment pins are inserted into the guide openings on the mating surface of a photodetector holder that supports a photodetector (photodetectors), which is (are) aligned with the optical fiber core (cores). The device of the aforementioned patent is designed for a photodetector such as a photodiode (a-i-n photodiode), or the like with the surface of the working area comparable with the cross section or the outer diameter of the optical fiber clad. It can be assumed that the diameter of the optical fiber clad should be within the range of 50 to 150 μm, while the optical fiber core may have a diameter of 4 to 9 μm.  
           [0006]    Furthermore, provision of guide pins and holes will not allow miniaturization of the opto-electronic interface. This is because in order to ensure reliable insertion of the pins into the guide openings, the pins must be sufficiently strong and rigid, and this is impossible without increasing the diameter of the pins. Furthermore, the guide pins must be located on both sides of the photodetector, and a distance between them increases the overall dimensions of the interface as a whole. In this device, alignment of the optical fiber with the sensor is carried out through the use of the aforementioned alignment pins and guide openings. The manufacture of these elements is complicated and expensive. Once these alignment elements are produced, they do not allow any adjustment in the position of optical fibers with respect to the photodetector. Furthermore, optical signal losses are higher in molded plastic waveguides or light pipes. Although U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,704 also described an embodiment for a plurality of optical fibers connectable to a plurality of photodetectors, for the same reasons as described above, such a device is not suitable for packing a large amount of optical fibers into a small space which may be required, e.g., for a connector to a port of a portable computer.  
           [0007]    Furthermore, some modern photodetector arrays have sensors with a very small photosensitive area (typically 3 to 10 μm). With commercially available single-mode optical fibers, it would be impossible to ensure efficient coupling of photons to the photosensitive area of the device of the aforementioned patent without the use of a special focusing system.  
         OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, compact, and reliable opto-electronic interface which is suitable for mass production, can be produced in a miniaturized modular form suitable for connection to a port of a personal computer, suitable for use in conjunction with high-speed voice data and video data transmission systems, facilitates focusing of optical beams emitted from the ends of optical fibers onto a very small photoreceiving areas, ensures automatic alignment of optical fibers with photodetectors during assembling, and functions as a combined mechanical holder of a fiber and a device for precision focusing onto the center of the photodetector. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1A is a sectional view that illustrates coupling of the optical fiber with a miniature photodetector in accordance with the principle of the present invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1B is a sectional view along the line  1 B- 1 B of FIG. 1A.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2A is a simplified plan view of a unit consisting of the interface device of the invention and a substrate with a hybrid circuitry of commercially produced electrical components.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2B is a view similar to FIG. 2A for the arrangement with a trans-impedance amplifier formed on the substrate in combination with a photodetector.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to the one of FIG. 1A for an array-type interface.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating electrical connections between the components of the device of the invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a top view of interface modules of the invention for optical and electrical components arranged in a matrix form.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional view of a matrix-type interface module of the present invention with pin/slot connections with a hybrid circuitry.  
     
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]    The invention discloses a compact, reliable, and miniaturized opto-electronic interface module for high-speed communication systems and a method of assembling thereof. The device comprises a microlens element, sandwiched between a photodetector with a working area having a diameter of 3 to 12 μm, and glass ferrules with optical fibers inserted into the ferrules. The end face of each optical fiber is spaced from the microlens at a distance that ensures accurate focusing of the light beam emitted from the fiber to the center of the photodetector. Automatic alignment of the optical fiber with the microlens is ensured at a stage of assembling due to a snug fit of the lens into the opening of the ferrule. The output lead wire of the photodetector with integrated pre-amplifier is connected to a digital logic via a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) with the use of microwave-stripline technique for matching impedance to ensure efficient transfer/conversion of optical signals to electrical. In the case of photodetectors with integrated TIA, the outputs of the TIA are converted for connection to the digital clock-generating circuit. The entire assembly is encapsulated into a molded casing for use as a module with standard interface features such as sockets and pins for connection to personal computers, communication cabinets, or the like. An increase in bit rate of transmission through the interface is ensured due to decrease in the dimensions of light-receiving areas of the photodetectors and due to a special geometry of self-aligned light-guiding, light-focusing, and light-transmitting components of the device. This results in stable and efficient coupling of photons to laser diodes and amplifiers over a wide range of operation temperatures.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]    An opto-electronic interface module of the present invention is schematically shown in FIGS.  1 - 4 , where FIG. 1A is a sectional view illustrating coupling of the optical fiber to a miniature photodetector in accordance with the principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a simplified plan view of a unit consisting of the interface device of the invention and a substrate with a hybrid circuitry of commercially produced electrical components, FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to the one of FIG. 1A for an array-type interface, and FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating electrical connections between the components of the device of the invention.  
         [0019]    As shown in FIG. 1A, the opto-electronic interface module of the present invention, which hereafter will be referred to simply as a “device”, consists of a microlens element  20 , which has a convex microlens  22  and which is sandwiched between a tubular glass ferrule  24  and a sensor-holding holder  26  with a photodetector  28  such as a photodiode. The backside of the microlens element is designated by reference numeral  39 . The sensor-holding holder  26  may comprise, e.g., a silicon wafer type substrate with electric circuitry (for temperature sensing, impedance matching interface, thermoelectric cooling elements) formed, e.g., by metallization, as well as with temperature sensors formed by photolithography for direct monitoring of temperature under low-temperature conditions, etc. The backside of the holder  26  may be used as a ground shield for RF shielding (not shown). The entire optoelectronic assembly, consisting of the ferrule  24 , the microlens element  20 , and the photodetector  28  with the circuitry, etc., can be integrated into a package with a PC board with necessary electronics, e.g., for low-speed metro application.  
         [0020]    Arrangement of the aforementioned components of a package are shown in FIG. 1B, which is a sectional view along the line  1 B- 1 B of FIG. 1A. This is a simplified view, which is shown only as an example since many other arrangements are possible. In this drawing, the small circular area  29  inside the photodetector  28  designates an active planar zone of the photodetector made, e.g., of InP. Reference numerals  33   a  and  33   b  designate matching electroconductive stripes that connect the active zone  29  of the photodetector  28  with a power supply source (not shown) and a pre-amplifier  33   f  (shown conventionally), respectively. Connection to the power supply is carried out via a wire hole  33   c , while connection to the pre-amplifier is carried out via a capacitor  33   d  and a wire hole  33   e . The linear stripes are shown conventionally since for impedance matching they may have other configurations such as serpentine, S-shaped, or other forms. Symbol “G” designates a ground bus.  
         [0021]    As seen in FIG. 1B, the pre- amplifier  33   f  can also be formed on the back surface of the photodetector  28 ′ or on the holder  26 ′.  
         [0022]    As shown in FIG. 1A, an optical fiber  30  is inserted into a central opening  32  of the ferrule  24 . The end face  34  of the optical fiber  30  is spaced from the nearest point of the microlens  22  at a distance “d” that ensures focusing of an optical beam IB onto the center of the active area  29  of the photodetector  28 .  
         [0023]    The microlens element  20  can be made of an optical material such as glass, quartz, or an optical plastic and may have a thickness that depends on the location of the focal plane of the microlens  22  for focusing a light beam IB emitted from the end face  34  of the fiber  30 . The microlens  22 , formed on the side of the microlens element  20  that faces the ferrule  24 , may be an aspheric circular microlens, a cylindrical microlens, or a lens of any other type, provided that it projects from the plane of the microlens element  20 . The microlens  22  should have a base diameter “D” equal to the diameter of the central opening  32  of the glass ferrule. The central opening  32  of the glass ferrule is fit on the part of the microlens  22  which projects above the upper surface  37  of the microlens element  20  so that the ferrule is self-aligned and centered on the lens coaxially with the optical axis X-X of an optical fiber  30  inserted into the central opening  32  of the ferrule.  
         [0024]    As shown in FIG. 1A, the buffer layer  23   a  of the optical fiber is stripped off and the cladding layer  33  is inserted into the central opening  32  of the ferrule. For protection of the fiber from bending and breaking in the area of connection thereof to the ferrule  24 , a rubber sleeve  23   b  can be fitted onto the buffer layer  23   a . The end face of the buffer layer  23   a  is glued to the upper end face of the ferrule  24  by a glue layer  23   c.    
         [0025]    The base of the ferrule opening  32  may have a flared edge  32   a  to facilitate fitting onto the lens surface while maintaining perpendicularity of the optical axis X-X to the microlens element  20  and providing axial alignment of the optical axis to the ferrule end surface  36  and to the flat surface  37  of the lens element  20  with a minimum air-gap between them. This is important to allow for good and strong bonding between the ferrule  24  and lens element  20 .  
         [0026]    The base diameter “D” of the microlens and hence the diameter of the central opening  32  of the glass ferrule can be slightly, e.g., by 1 μm, greater than the diameter of the fiber cladding equal to 125 μm, if a standard optical fiber is inserted into the opening  32 . Depending on the wavelength of the transmission, a typical fiber core of a single-mode fiber has a diameter within the range of 3 μm to 9 μm. In the case of a polarization-maintaining single-mode fiber, the characteristic transfer dimensions of the core  31  also falls into the same interval of 3 μm to 9 μm. Less than 1 micron tolerance on the diameter of the ferrule opening  32  (which is typically of 126 μm) and on the outer diameters of the fiber cladding and the base diameter “D” of the microlens should ensure tight fit of the ferrule on the lens and of the fiber inside the central opening  32 . It is important for the end face of the ferrule  24  to have a high degree of flatness to ensure perpendicularity of the optical axis to the end face of the ferrule.  
         [0027]    The optical fiber  30  can be fixed to the ferrule  24  by glue, e.g., UV curable glue, or by means of YAG-laser welding.  
         [0028]    Since the ferrule  24  is fit with its opening  32  onto the microlens  22 , the latter functions as a centering and aligning element for the ferrule  24 , so that after fitting onto the microlens with the end face  36  of the ferrule in contact with the surface of the microlens element  20 , the longitudinal axis of the ferrule, and hence of the optical fiber  30 , is oriented strictly perpendicular to the plane of the microlens element and hence coaxially with the optical axis X-X of the microlens  22 .  
         [0029]    The ferrule  24  is fixed to the microlens element by means of a layer  38  of glue, preferably, UV-curable glue, such as Norland  61  or equivalent available from the manufacturers.  
         [0030]    For efficient coupling, the lower surface of the photodetector  28  is attached to the flat surface of the holder  26  via a thin layer  40   a  of a glue (preferably thinner than 5 μm). The microlens assembly (which includes the microlens  20 , the ferrule  24 , etc.) is then attached to the upper flat surface of the holder  26  via a thin layer  40   b  (preferably thinner than 5 μm), which is optically matched to the lens element  20 . Parallelism of the microlens element  20 , holder  26 , and photodetector  28  to each other is ensured by utilizing spacers  27  and  29 . These spacers have a calibrated height of about 160 μm. The thickness of the photodetector is about 150 μm.  
         [0031]    If necessary, the assembling can be carried out without the use of the spacers, since the surface of the holder  26  is produced with high flatness, and the supporting surfaces of the photodetector  28  are strictly parallel to each other and are relatively large (about 1 mm×0.7 mm).  
         [0032]    The photodetector  28  may be a photodiode. It may have an active area as small as 3 to 12 μm. It should be noted that the beam spot focused on the surface of the active area  29  of the photodetector  28  has a diameter equal approximately to the half of the diameter of the active area  29 . The focal point F of the microlens  22  is located in the center of the aforementioned active area  29  of the photodetector  28 .  
         [0033]    The assembling, focusing, and fixation of the aforementioned components of the optical unit shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B will be now described with reference to FIG. 2A and 2B, which are simplified plan views of units made in accordance with two different embodiments of a device of the invention consisting of the holder  26  ( 26 ′) and a substrate  46  ( 46 ′) with a hybrid circuitry which interconnects commercially produced electrical components such as a trans-impedance amplifier  60  ( 60 ′), a digitization/clock generator unit  70  ( 70 ′), and an output digital amplifier  72  ( 72 ′). The difference between the embodiments of FIGS. 2A and 2B consists in that in the case of FIG. 2A the trans-impedance amplifier  60  is formed on a substrate  46  with a hybrid circuitry, while in the case of FIG. 2B the trans-impedance amplifier  60 ′ is formed on the holder  26 ′ in combination with photodetector  28 ′.  
         [0034]    Since the assembling procedure for the arrangements of FIGS. 2A and 2B are almost identical, the assembling will be further described only for the embodiment of FIG. 2A.  
         [0035]    An electric pattern for electrical connections of the photodiode  28  to the trans-impedance amplifier  60  is formed by photolithography on the surface of the holder  26 . At the same time, the impedance matching stripes, such as  33   a  and  33   b , are formed on the surface of the photodetector  28 . The electrical components of the unit are connected to appropriate devices located on the backside of the holder  26  via wire holes, such as  33   e  and  33   c  (FIG. 1B).  
         [0036]    Then a thin layer  40   a  of a UV curable glue is applied onto the surface of a holder  26 . The photodetector  28  is placed onto the glue layer  40   a  for attaching to the holder  26 . At the same time, the electric terminals  33   c  and  33   e  of the photodetector  28  are brought in contact with the terminals on the surface of the holder  26  for connection to electrical components of the package. In other words, the photodiode  28  is placed onto the holder  26  to a marked position in which the output terminals  50  and  51  of the holder  26  are aligned to the terminals  52  and  53  of the trans-impedance amplifier  60  on the substrate  46  (FIG. 2A).  
         [0037]    For high-frequency operation of the system, e.g., with the frequency of about  40  GHz, the output of the photodetector  28  must be impedance-matched to the input on terminals  52  and  53  of the trans-impedance amplifier  60  and to input on terminals  55  and  57  of the digitization unit  70  via the trans-impedance amplifier  60 . The high-frequency operation is also ensured due to the use of microstrips  50 ,  51 ,  52 ,  53 ,  55 , and  57  between the components shown in FIG. 2.  
         [0038]    Alignment of microstrips with the respective terminals and subsequent connections between the terminals, e.g., in points  54  and  56 , e.g., by YAG-laser welding or soldering, are carried out under a microscope or with the use of a computer-controlled vision system (not shown).  
         [0039]    After connecting the photodetector holder  26  to the hybrid circuitry substrate  46 , the electronics is subjected to DC and RF testing of performance characteristics of the interface in a special test chamber (not shown), and the electrical pulses converted from optical pulses by the photodetector  28  are modulated at the operating frequency. Once the stripline interconnections passed the test, a microlens assembly consisting of the microlens element  20 , ferrule  24  with the fiber  30 , etc. is attached to the photodetector unit. This connection is performed with self-alignment of the optical fiber relative to the active area  29  of the photodetector  28 . The alignment procedure consists in the following. The projection of the microlens  22  is aligned with the position of the working area of the photodiode  28  under a microscope. In other words, the center of the microlens  22  is aligned with the center of the working area of the photodiode  28 . Once the alignment is achieved, the components are interconnected by curing the glue layer  40   b , which has been preliminarily applied to the surface of the photodetector  28 . The glue of the layer  40   b  must index-matched to the material of the lens element. Some of the glue covers the electric circuitry and thus protects it from humidity, dust, etc.  
         [0040]    After connection of the microlens element  20  to the holder  26  is completed, the unit is again tested for operation. Once it passed the test, the glass ferrule  24  is positioned on the lens  22 .  
         [0041]    As has been describe above, the ferrule  24  fits with its flared or straight opening  32  onto the microlens  22  with a tight fit, so that the microlens  22  functions as a centering and aligning element for the ferrule  24 . After fitting onto the microlens  22  with the end face  36  of the ferrule in contact with the surface of the microlens element  20 , the longitudinal axis of the ferrule  24 , and hence of the optical fiber  30 , is oriented strictly perpendicular to the plane of the microlens element and hence coaxially with the optical axis X-X of the microlens  22 . After the alignment, a layer  38  of a glue, e.g., a UV-curable or heat-curable glue, is applied onto the outside perimeter of the ferrule in the area of contact of the ferrule  24  with the surface of the lens element  20 , whereby the ferrule is glued to the lens element by UV radiation of the layer  38 .  
         [0042]    An optical fiber  30  is prepared for insertion into the ferrule  24  by stripping the fiber buffer (not shown), and cleaving the core  31  and cladding  33  flat. The treated end of the fiber  30  is then inserted into the central hole  32  of the ferrule  24 .  
         [0043]    The fiber  30  is inserted until the end face  34  of the optical fiber  30  touches the lens  22 , and the fiber  30  is moved up by means of a micropositioning mechanism (not shown) for a distance “d” required for focusing the beam  1 B emitted from the end face  34  of the fiber to the center F of the photodetector  28 .  
         [0044]    The above description related to an opto-electronic interface module consisting of a single optical fiber and a single photodetector with an appropriate coupling and electrical connections. FIG. 3 shows an opto-electronic interface module that contains an array of photodetectors coupled to a plurality of optical fibers inserted into the central openings of the ferrules also arranged into an array.  
         [0045]    More specifically, the device of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 3 has an array  80  of individual photodetectors  82   a ,  82   b,  . . .  82   n  mounted on the surface  84  of a substrate  86 . The substrate  86  supports a lens array  88  made of quartz, glass, etc., with individual microlenses  90   a ,  90   b , . . .  90   n  formed on the surface  92  of the microlens array  88 , e.g., by photolithography. The pitch between the microlenses  90   a ,  90   b , . . .  90   n  is equal to the pitch between the individual photodetectors  82   a ,  82   b , . . .  82   n . The microlens array  88  is connected to the array  80  of individual photodetectors via a layer  94  of an index-matched material such as UV-curable glue. Reference numerals  96   a ,  96   b , . . .  96   n  designate a plurality of glass or quartz ferrules self-aligned with the microlenses  90   a ,  90   b , . . .  90   n  and containing optical fibers  98   a ,  98   b , . . .  98   n  which may be connected to fibers, e.g., of a multiple-fiber communication line.  
         [0046]    The materials, functions of components, assembling, and alignment procedures for individual microlenses, photodetectors, and other components of the array-type interface shown in FIG. 3 are the same as have been described in connection with the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, including all impedance matching means.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 4 is a simplified electric circuit of the system of FIG. 3. In FIG. 4, reference numerals  100   a ,  100   b , . . .  100   n  designate trans-impedance amplifiers connected between photodetectors  82   a ,  82   b,  . . .  82   n  and a digital logic circuit  102 . The trans-impedance amplifiers  100   a ,  100   b , . . .  100   n  are connected to output terminals of respective photodetectors  82   a ,  82   b,  . . .  82   n  via stripline connectors  104   a ,  104   a ′,  104   b ,  104   b ′ . . .  104   n ,  104   n ′. Similarly, the trans-impedance amplifiers  100   a ,  100   b , . . .  100   n  are connected to the digital logic circuit  102  via RC circuits  106   a ,  106   b , . . .  106   n  and stripline connectors  108   a ,  108   b , . . .  108   n . Similar to the previous embodiment, all electrical components are mounted on respective substrates and their terminals are interconnected via electrical circuitry patterns formed by photolithography.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the invention, where the optical and electrical components are arranged in a matrix form. For convenience of electrical connections, the matrices of photodetectors and optical components are formed by a plurality, e.g., four arrays of the type described in the second embodiment. Since the optical matrix has the same configuration as the matrix of the electrical components, only the latter is shown in FIG. 5. More specifically, a photodetector matrix  110  is formed by four arrays  112   a ,  112   b ,  112   c , and  12   d  of the type shown in FIG. 4, which for convenience of access are arranged on the peripheries of a square-shaped configuration with output terminals  1   14   a ,  1   14   b ,  114   c ,  114   d ,  114   e , . . .  114   n  of photodetectors  116   a ,  116   b ,  116   c ,  116   d ,  116   e,  . . .  116   n . Reference numerals  118   a ,  118   b ,  118   c , and  188   d  designate arrays of trans-impedance amplifiers. Each array  118   a ,  118   b ,  118   c , and  188   d  is connected with a respective multiline digital logic circuit (only the digital logic circuit  120   d  is shown In FIG. 5). It is understood that the number of communication lines in each multiline logic circuit corresponds to the number of photodetectors in each photodetector array.  
         [0049]    The interface module of the present invention can be produced in the form of a standard replaceable module of the type shown in FIG. 6 with pin/slot connections for interface with hybrid circuitry such as circuitry on the substrate  46  (FIG. 2A) that consists of commercially produced electrical components. FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional view of the interface module  122  of the present invention. The interface  122  consists of four photodetector arrays  124   a ,  124   b ,  124   c , and  124   d . Each photodetector array has the same construction as the one shown in FIG. 3. For example, the photodetector array  124   c  has an array of ferrules  126   a ,  126   b ,  126   c ,  126   d , fitted with a tight fit onto respective lenses (not shown), which in turn are connected with respective photodetectors (not shown). Reference numerals  128   a ,  128   b , 128   c ,  128   d  designate output terminals of respective photodetectors. The entire module, including stripline bridges, can be encapsulated into a molded plastic shell which encapsulates all optical and electrical components of the interface module, except for the optical fibers and the outputs of the photodetectors.  
         [0050]    The principle of operation of the electro-optical interface of the invention is the same for all the embodiments described above. Therefore the operation of the device will be described only with reference to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. A light signal is supplied to the optical fiber  30  from an optical data transmission system (not shown). A light beam  1 B is emitted from the end face  34  of the optical fiber  30  and propagates with divergence onto the surface of the microlens  22  of the microlens element  20 . Since the thickness of the microlens element  20  is selected so that the beam is focused onto the surface of the backside  39  of the microlens element, the beam will also be focused onto the center F of the working area  29  of the photodetector  28 , which is in contact, via a very thin optically matched glue layer  40   a , with the surface  39 . The photodetector  28  converts the optical signal into an electrical signal which is generated on the output stripline terminals  50  and  51  (FIG. 2A) electrically connected with the photodetector  28 . The electrical signal is sent through the stripline terminals  50  and  51  and the TIA  57  to the digital logic circuit  102  (FIG. 4). The stripline terminals  50  and  51 , as well as the stripline connectors  52 ,  53  and  55 ,  57 , etc., and the TIA ensure impedance matching between the interface module and the electric signal receiving bus (not shown).  
         [0051]    Thus it has been shown that the present invention provides a simple, compact, and reliable opto-electronic interface which is suitable for mass production, can be produced in a miniaturized module form suitable for connection to a port of a personal computer, suitable for use in conjunction with high-speed voice data and video data transmission systems, facilitates focusing of optical beams emitted from the ends of optical fibers onto a very small photoreceiving areas, ensures automatic alignment of optical fibers with photodetectors during assembling, and functions as a combined mechanical holder of a fiber and a device for precision focusing onto the center of the photodetector.  
         [0052]    Although the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific embodiments, it is understood that these embodiments should be construed as limiting the scope of application of the invention and that any modifications and changes are possible, provided they do not depart from the scope of patent claims. For example, the photodetector can be formed on a substrate together with the circuitry by means of planar technology. In the case of an array and matrix-type construction, flatness on the surface of the photodetector substrate mating with the surface of the lens substrate can be achieved by CMP planarization. The optical and electrical components may have different arrangements in arrays and matrices. The output terminals may have different configurations such as pins, holes, slits, etc. The interface module of the present invention can be used for interconnecting various optical data transmitting and electrical data receiving systems and can be utilized in personal computers, cellular telephones, TV sets, etc. The stripline interconnection technique can be carried out by various methods, provided that they ensure matching of impedances on the input and output sides.