Abstract:
A first light waveguide is formed, and second and third light waveguides are respectively connected to the first light waveguide at first and second positions. A first coupler for effecting tight branching and/or combining is arranged near the first position, and a second coupler for effecting light branching and/or combining is arranged near the second position. An optical amplifier is arranged on the first light waveguide between the first and second positions for compensating for a light loss of a light wave caused by each of the first and second coupler.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an optical device for use in opto-electronic integrated circuits and the like which are needed in fields of optical communication and the like, and particularly, to an optical device with an optical coupler formed in a light waveguide for effecting light wave branching and/or combining and an optical amplifier which is suitable for use in opto-electronic integrated circuits having a plurality of transmitter and/or receiver portions for optical communication and similar devices or systems. 
     2. Related Background Art 
     In recent years, there has been proposed a structure in which a V-shaped groove is formed at a crossing part of crisscross waveguides as shown in FIG. 1 to build a coupler 71 for controlling transmission and reflection of light waves and in which the combining and/or branching of the light waves are conducted between a main waveguide 74 and two sub-waveguides 72 and 73 connected to the main waveguide 74. 
     In FIG. 1, optical amplifier portions 75 and 76 are arranged in the main waveguide 74 that forms a bus line, and the sub-waveguides 72 and 73 are respectively connected to receiver and transmitter portions (not shown) via optical fibers 77 and 78. The optical amplifier portions 75 and 76 respectively are composed of traveling-wave type lasers for directly amplifying a light signal on the main waveguide 75. The optical fibers 77 and 78 are respectively coupled to the sub-waveguides 72 and 73 by using butt coupling. Ratios of the light branching and combining are adjusted by controlling the light electro-magnetic field profile in the waveguide and the groove depth of the coupler 71. The groove can be formed by etching using fine working techniques such as Ga-focused ion beam (FIB) and reactive ion beam etching (RIBE). 
     Further, in FIG. 1, reference numerals 81 and 82 are optical fibers forming the bus line, and reference numerals 83a-83d are antireflection coats. In the structure of FIG. 1, multiplexed light signals are transmitted from the transmitter portion (not shown) and propagated through the optical fibers 81 and 82 in opposite directions via the optical coupler 71, and parts of light signals propagated through the optical fibers 81 and 82 are branched by the optical coupler 71 to be guided to the receiver portion (not shown) through the sub-waveguide 72 and the optical fiber 77. The light signal thus received by the receiver portion is demultiplexed and detected to generate desired information. 
     The structure of FIG. 1, however, has the following drawbacks. First of all, high process accuracies such as positional accuracy and depth control accuracy are needed for the coupler 71, and hence its yield and reproducibility are lowered. That is, strict accuracy is needed to the process since the manner of the light combining and branching is determined from the formation of the coupler 71 relative to a field profile of the light wave propagated through the light waveguides 72-74. 
     Further, in the structure of FIG. 1, while it is possible to perform the coupling of the light wave at equal ratio from the sub-waveguides 72 and 73 (the transmitter and receiver parts are connected thereto) to the main waveguide 74 or bus line in opposite directions, the branching ratio from the main waveguide 74 to the sub-waveguide 72 is different from that from the main waveguide 74 to the sub-waveguide 73. That is, compared with the branching ratio (e.g., -3 dB) toward a lower portion (i.e., a closed side) of the V-shaped coupler 71, the branching ratio (e.g., -6 dB) toward an upper portion (an open side) of the V-shaped coupler 71 is small. As a result, it becomes impossible to branch the light wave propagated through the main waveguide 74 into light waves propagated through the sub-waveguides 72 and 73 with equal intensity. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical device with an optical coupler and an optical amplifier for flexibly and properly adjusting an apparent branching and/or combining ratio of the optical coupler. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a light branching and/or combining method for flexibly and properly adjusting an apparent branching and/or combining ratio using an optical amplifier. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide an optical communication system including an optical node which is composed of the optical device of the present invention. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, an optical device comprises a first light waveguide for guiding a light wave, a second light waveguide for guiding a light wave which is connected to the first light waveguide at a first position, a third light waveguide for guiding a light wave which is connected to the first light waveguide at a second position different from the first position, a first light branching and/or combining device arranged near the first position, a second light branching and/or combining device arranged near the second position and an optical amplifier arranged on the first light waveguide guiding means between the first and second positions for compensating for a light loss of the light wave caused by each of the first and second light branching and/or combining device 6. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, an optical device comprises a first light waveguide means for guiding a light wave, a second light waveguide for guiding a light wave which is connected to the first light waveguide at a first position, a third light waveguide for guiding a light wave, a fourth light waveguide for guiding a light wave which is connected to the third light waveguide at a second position different from the first position, a fifth light waveguide for guiding a light wave which extends between the first and second positions, a first light branching and/or combining device arranged near the first position, a second light branching and/or combining device arranged near the second position and an optical amplifier arranged on the fifth light waveguide between the first and second positions for compensating for a light loss of the light wave caused by each of the first and second light branching and/or combining devices. An amplification factor of the optical amplifier is set so that the wave light propagated through one of the first, second, third and fourth light waveguides is branched into the others of the first, second, third and fourth light waveguides with the same intensity. 
     According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a light branching and/or combining method comprises the steps of branching a first light wave into second and third light waves, amplifying at least one of the second and third light waves, branching the amplified light wave into fourth and fifth light waves. 
     According to yet another aspect of the present invention, an optical communication system comprises a plurality of optical nodes each comprising an optical device including a first light waveguide for guiding a light wave, a second light waveguide for guiding a light wave which is connected to the first light waveguide at a first position, a third light waveguide for guiding a light wave which is connected to the first light waveguide at a second position different from the first position, a first light branching and/or combining device arranged near the first position, a second light branching and/or combining device arranged near the second position and an optical amplifier arranged on the first light waveguide between the first and second positions for compensating for a light loss of the light wave caused by each of the first and second light branching and/or combining device, and a light transmission line for connecting the optical nodes. The light transmission line is connected to the first light waveguide. 
     These advantages and others will be more readily understood in connection with the following detailed description, claims and drawing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art device. 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A--A&#39; of FIG. 2. 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line B--B&#39; of FIG. 2, 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A--A&#39; of FIG. 5. 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line B--B&#39; of FIG. 5. 
     FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an optical communication system including an optical decive of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of a first embodiment of the present invention which is an optical semiconductor device. FIG. 3 is an 3--&#39; cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a 4--4&#39; cross-sectional view of FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, reference numerals 10a and 10b are respectively etched grooves each forming an optical coupler or a light combining and/or branching device, reference numeral 11 is an optical amplifier portion which operates by a current injection a little below its threshold thereinto, reference numeral 12 is a sub-waveguide for guiding a light wave to a receiver part (not shown) for light detection, reference numeral 13 is a sub-waveguide for guiding a light wave transmitted from a transmitter part (not shown) and reference numeral 14 is a main waveguide which intersects each of the sub-waveguides 12 and 13 in a T-shaped configuration. 
     The fabrication process of the first embodiment is performed as follows: 
     As is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a first clad layer 2 of an AlGaAs layer, an active layer 3 of a GaAs layer, a second clad layer 4 of an AlGaAs layer and a cap layer 5 of a GaAs layer are successively grown in this order on a substrate 1 of an n-type GaAs layer by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. When necessary, a buffer layer of a GaAs layer may be layered at a boundary between the substrate 1 and the first clad layer 2. Thicknesses of the first and second clad layers 2 and 4 are respectively 1 μm, and a thickness of the active layer 3 is approximately 0.1 μm. 
     Next, a desired pattern having a width of 3 μm corresponding to the pattern of the main waveguide 14 and the sub-waveguides 12 and 13 shown in FIG. 2 is formed on the cap layer 5 by photolithography. A ridge or rib portion (see FIG. 3) is then formed by reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) method, and thus a stripe structure for confinement in a lateral direction is built. The three-dimensional channel waveguides 12, 13 and 14 are formed in such a manner. 
     An insulating film 6 of SiN is then deposited on the substrate 1 having the ridge portion by plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and a pattern of a window for a current injection is formed by photolithography. Thereafter, the Si x  N y  insulating layer 6 is etched by RIBE to form the current injection window. A Cr-Au ohmic electrode 8 which functions as an upper electrode of the optical amplifier portion 11 is then formed by vacuum deposition method, and an AuGe-Au electrode 7 which functions as an n-type ohmic electrode 7 is deposited on the bottom surface of the substrate 1 after the GaAs substrate 1 is lapped to the thickness of 100 μm. A thermal treatment is performed to obtain ohmic contacts of the n and p-type electrodes 7 and 8, and the optical amplifier portion 11 is thus fabricated. 
     Further, 45° mirrors or total reflection mirrors for performing internal total reflections with respect to opposite directions are formed by fabricating etched grooves 10a and 10b by RIBE. The etched grooves 10a and 10b respectively have two end surfaces forming right angles therebetween, vertically extending to a lower part of the active layer 3, forming angles φ=45° relative to light wave propagation directions and horizontally extending from central points of the branching and/or combining portions of the ridge waveguide 14. The etched grooves 10a and 10b are respectively formed at opposite extending sides of the main waveguide 14 to each other. 
     Finally, end surfaces of the instant device are formed by cleavage, antireflection coats 15a and 15b are formed by depositing ZrO 2  on the cleaved end surfaces by electron beam (EB) deposition method, and the electrodes 7 and 8 are drawn out by wire bonding. 
     The operation of the first embodiment is as follows. A light wave 17 which enters the sub-waveguide 13 is branched into two light waves 18a and 18b propagated through the main waveguide 14 in opposite directions by the coupler 10b with intensities of -6 dB. While the light wave 18a is emitted from the main waveguide 14 maintaining its intensity, the light wave 18b is further subjected to a light loss of -6 dB when passing through the coupler 10a. Therefore, the amplification factor of the optical amplifier portion 11 is set to compensate for such light loss. Thus, the light waves 18a and 18b can be propagated through the main waveguide 14 in the opposite directions and emitted with the same intensities. 
     On the other hand, light waves 16a and 16b incident on the main waveguide 14 from opposite directions are respectively branched by the coupler 10a to create a light wave 19 propagated through the sub-waveguide 12. At this time, the light wave 16a is subjected to the light loss of -6 dB mentioned above when passing through the coupler 10b. However, the light waves 16a and 16b propagated through the main waveguide 14 in the opposite directions can be propagated through the sub-waveguide 12 with the same intensities by properly setting the amplification factor of the optical amplifier portion 11 as mentioned above. 
     In this embodiment, the couplers 10a and 10b or the combining and/or branching devices are formed by a wave front splitting type coupler with respect to a horizontal direction (i.e., an extension direction of the substrate 1 on which the channel waveguide structure is formed). As a result, no strict depth control accuracy is needed so long as the depth of the end surfaces of the etched grooves 10a and 10b extend beyond the active layer 3 as shown in FIG. 4. 
     The ridge waveguide is adopted in this embodiment, but a refractive index type waveguide or similar waveguide may be used as a channel waveguide. 
     Further, in the first embodiment, the light waves 16a and 16b incident on the main waveguide 14 can be branched into the light wave 19 propagated through the sub-waveguide 12 and a light wave propagated through the sub-waveguide 13 with the same intensities owing to the amplifier portion 11, respectively. Moreover, the light waves 16a and 16b incident on the main waveguide 14 can be emitted from the main waveguide 14 in opposite directions maintaining their intensities at a sufficiently high level, and the light wave 17 from the sub-waveguide 13 can be guided to the receiver portion through the sub-waveguide 12 to be monitored. 
     FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, transmitter and receiver portions 23 and 24 are formed on a common semiconductor substrate 41 as well as optical amplifiers 22, 25a and 25b. FIGS. 6 and 7 are respectively 6--6&#39; cross-sectional and 7--7&#39; cross-sectional views of FIG. 5. 
     In FIG. 5, there are provided optical couplers 21a and 21b having the same structure as those of the first embodiment, the optical amplifiers 22, 25a and 25b which operate by the current injection below threshold, the transmitter portion 23 which consists of a distributed feedback (DFB) type laser, the receiver portion 24 having a photodetector of a semiconductor laser structure which operates by the application of a reverse bias voltage, a main waveguide 26 forming a bus line, sub-waveguides 32 and 33 having slant ends and antireflection coats 31a and 31b formed on end surfaces of the instant device and having the same layer structure as those of the first embodiment. 
     As is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a buffer layer 42 of an n-type GaAs layer, a first clad layer 43 of an AlGaAs layer, an active layer 44, a second clad layer 45 of a p-type AlGaAs layer and a cap layer 46 of a p-type GaAs layer are successively grown in this order on the substrate 41 of an n-type GaAs layer. Further, an insulating film 47 of SiN layer, an Au-Cr electrode 48 which functions as a p-type ohmic electrode and an AuGe-Cr electrode 49 which functions as an n-type ohmic electrode are formed. 
     The operation of the second embodiment is as follows. A light wave 27 transmitted from the transmitter portion 23 is branched into two light waves 28a and 28b propagated through the main waveguide 26 in opposite directions by the coupler 21b. The light wave 28b is amplified by the optical amplifier 25b and is emitted through the antireflection coat 31b. On the other hand, the light wave 28a is subjected to a light loss of -6 dB when passing through the coupler 21a. Therefore, after being amplified by the optical amplifier 22 which has the amplification factor to compensate for such light loss, the light wave 28a is further amplified by the optical amplifier 25a which has the same amplification factor as that of the optical amplifier 25b and is emitted through the antireflection factor 31b with the same intensity as that of the light wave 28b amplified by the optical amplifier 25b. A part of the light wave 28a is branched by the coupler 21 a to generate a light wave 30 and the light wave 30 is guided to the receiver portion 24. It is hence possible to monitor a signal component of the light wave 28a by the receiver portion 24. 
     A light wave 29a incident on the left end of the main waveguide 26 through the antireflection coat 31a arrives at the coupler 21a after being amplified by the optical amplifier 25a. A part of the light wave 29a is reflected by the coupler 21a, and its signal component is detected by the receiver portion 24. The light wave 29a passing through the coupler 21a is emitted through the antireflection coat 31b after passing through the optical amplifier portion 22, the coupler 21b and the optical amplifier portion 25b. 
     On the other hand, a light wave 29b incident on the right end of the main waveguide 26 through the antireflection coat 31b reaches coupler 21b after being amplified by the optical amplifier 25b. At this time, the light wave 29b transmitted through the coupler 21b is subjected to a light loss of -6 dB. Therefore, after being amplified by the optical amplifier 22 which has the amplification factor to compensate for such light loss, the light wave 29b is branched by the coupler 21a and is detected by the receiver portion 24 with the same intensity as that of the light wave 29a. The light wave 29b passing through the coupler 21a is then amplified by the optical amplifier 25a and is emitted through the antireflection coat 31a with the same intensity as that of the light wave 29a emitted through the antireflection coat 31b. 
     In this embodiment, parts of the light waves 29a and 29b are respectively branched by the coupler 21b and are guided towards the transmitter portion 23, and therefore, it is necessary to insert an isolator (not shown) for stabilizing the oscillation frequency of the transmitter portion 23. In this case, an isolator having a well-known structure may be used. 
     When the amplification factors of the optical amplifiers 25a and 25b are set so that light losses caused by the couplers 21a and 21b, coupling losses caused at the right and left end surfaces of the main waveguide 26 and propagation losses caused by the main waveguide 26 are compensated for, the device can function as a light transmission and receiving node that has no apparent losses. In this case, multi-stage connection of the nodes can also be adopted. 
     In the second embodiment, resonator surfaces of the laser of the transmitter portion 23 are formed by the DFB structure, but, the resonator surfaces may also be formed with cleaved surfaces or etched surfaces formed by etching such as RIBE process, reactive ion etching (RIE) process and focused ion beam etching (FIBE) process. 
     In the above-discussed embodiments, the active region is formed with a double-hetero (DH) structure, but the active region may also be formed with a single quantum well (SQW) structure, a multiple quantum well (MQW) structure or similar structure 
     In the above-discussed embodiments, the channel waveguide is formed by a ridge wave structure, but the waveguide may also be formed with a burying hetero-stripe (BH) structure, a channel-substrate planer stripe (CPS) structure or similar structure. Further, an index waveguide type laser and a gain waveguide type laser such as those of a stripe electrode type and a proton bombard type may be effectively used. 
     As to materials of the semiconductor, InP-InGaAs series and AlGaInP series may be used as well as the above GaAs-AlGaAs series. 
     As explained in the foregoing, an optical amplifier portion is interposed between at least two couplers or bi-directional branching and/or combining devices in the optical device of the present invention. Therefore, light waves propagated through a main or first waveguide in opposite directions and light waves propagated through second and third waveguides connected to the first waveguide in opposite dierections can be combined at desired intensity ratios. Further, the coupler performs the splitting of the wave front at least in a horizontal direction, and in this case the process accuracy in a depth direction can be tolerated and the coupler can be fabricated only with a positional accuracy in the horizontal direction. 
     FIG. 8 shows a block diagram illustrating an optical communication system in which the embodiment of FIG. 2 or FIG. 5 is used as an optical node or a combination of an optical node, a photodetector and a laser light source. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 166 is an optical fiber for transmitting light signals. A plurality of end offices 168 1 , 168 2 , . . . , 168 n  are connected to the fiber 166 through optical nodes 167 1 , 167 2 , . . . , 167 n . respectively. To the respective end offices, are connected terminals 169 1 , 169 2 , . . . , 169 n  which include a keyboard, a display device, etc. In each end office, there are provided a light signal transmitter consisting of a laser light source (LD) 162 and a modulator (MOD) 163 and a light signal receiver consisting of a photodetector (PHD) 180 and a demodulator (DEM) 181. These transmitter and receiver are controlled by a controller (CONT) 164 according to instructions from the terminal 169 1 . The first embodiment of the present invention can be used as the optical node 167 1 , 167 2 , . . . , 167 n . In this case, an optical amplifier may be inserted between the optical nodes 167. The second embodiment of the present invention can be used as an optical device in which the node 167, the photodetector 180 and tile laser light source 162 are integrated on a common substrate. 
     As an access control system, carrier sense multiple access (CSMA)/collision detection (CD), token passing system or the like can be utilized. The optical device of the present invention can, of course, be used in any type of an optical communication system (such as a loop type and a star type). 
     While the present invention has been described with respect to what is presently considered to be the preferred embodiment, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. The present invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.