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Patent US5708741 - Method and apparatus for coupling optical fibers to an optical integrated ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsThis invention is directed to a apparatus for coupling an optical fiber end holder at houses an end portion of one or more optical fibers in a spaced arrangement, to respective optical waveguides coupled to an optical integrated circuit (OIC) housed in an OIC unit. The apparatus includes a bridge member...http://www.google.com/patents/US5708741?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5708741 - Method and apparatus for coupling optical fibers to an optical integrated circuitAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS5708741 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 08/580,419Publication dateJan 13, 1998Filing dateDec 28, 1995Priority dateDec 28, 1995Fee statusLapsedPublication number08580419, 580419, US 5708741 A, US 5708741A, US-A-5708741, US5708741 A, US5708741AInventorsGeorge Frank DeVeauOriginal AssigneeLucent Technologies Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (13), Referenced by (29), Classifications (13), Legal Events (8) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetMethod and apparatus for coupling optical fibers to an optical integrated circuitUS 5708741 AAbstract This invention is directed to a apparatus for coupling an optical fiber end holder at houses an end portion of one or more optical fibers in a spaced arrangement, to respective optical waveguides coupled to an optical integrated circuit (OIC) housed in an OIC unit. The apparatus includes a bridge member situated to extend across an interface between end surfaces of the holder and the unit. The apparatus also includes a shim layer with a first side that contacts the bridge member and a second side that contacts portions of the holder and the unit adjacent their respective ends surfaces. The shim layer, when in its uncured, liquid state, allows the ends of the optical fibers and the optical waveguides exposed in the ends surfaces of the holder and unit, respectively, to be aligned. In its cured, sold state, the shim substance fixes the postional relationship of the holder and the unit relative to the bridge member and thus also fixes the alignment of the end of the optical fiber relative to the optical waveguides. Preferably, a refractive index matching substance is situated between the ends surfaces of the unit and holder. The index matching substance is preferably a material that can withstand high temperature and humidity conditions so that the interconnection assembly of this invention is reliable and durable compared to previously known devices, particularly those devices that use epoxy between an optical fiber and an optical waveguide of an OIC.
I claim: 1. An apparatus for coupling at least one optical fiber to an optical integrated circuit (OIC), the apparatus comprising:an optical fibber array (OFA), housing an end portion of at least one optical fiber, and having an end surface at which the end of the at least one optical fiber is exposed and substantially flush with the end surface of OFA; an OIC assembly having an OIC with at least one integrated optical device and at least one integrated optical waveguide coupled to the at least one integrated optical device, the OIC assembly having an end surface at which the at least one optical waveguide is exposed and substantially flush with the end surface of the OIC assembly, the end surface of the OIC assembly arranged to oppose the end surface of the OFA; a bridge member positioned to overlap a portion of the OFA and a portion of the OIC assembly; and a shim layer in contact with a surface of the bridge member and in contact with respective surfaces of the OFA and the OIC assembly that are transverse to respective end surfaces of the OFA and the OIC assembly, the shim layer fixing the position of the OFA relative to the bridge member and the position of the OIC assembly relative to the bridge member so that the end of the optical fiber is substantially aligned with the end of the optical waveguide. 2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:a refractive index matching substance disposed between and in contact with the end surfaces of the OFA and the OIC assembly, and having a refractive index substantially matched to respective refractive indices of the optical fiber and the optical waveguide. 3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the index matching substance is a curable substance having an uncured, liquid state to allow rough alignment of the ends of the optical fiber and the optical waveguide, and a cured state in which the index matching substance is tacky and adheres to the ends of the OIC assembly and the OFA, the index matching substance having a relatively low modulus of elasticity in its cured state to allow for free adjustment of the alignment of the optical fiber and optical waveguide ends.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This invention is related to U.S. Ser. Nos. 08/421,105, 08/421,274 and 08/421,339 filed Apr. 13, 1995 and invented by George F. DeVeau.
Optical integrated circuits (OICs) are increasingly being used in the telecommunications industry to process signals carried on optical fibers. OICs can include devices such as 1 division multiplexers, filters, optical amplifiers, lasers or other optical devices integrated on a substrate. The OICs are coupled to optical waveguides integrated on the substrate, that transmit signals to and from the optical devices of the OIC.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention overcomes the disadvantages noted above. In accordance with this invention, an apparatus is provided for coupling an optical fiber end holder (that can be an optical fiber array) housing an end portion of at least one optical fiber, to an optical integrated circuit unit (that can be an OIC assembly) having at least one integrated optical device and at least one integrated optical waveguide coupled to the optical device. The end surface of the holder exposes the end of the optical fiber and the end of the unit exposes an end of the optical waveguide. The apparatus includes a bridge member situated to extend across an interface between an end surface of the holder and an end surface of the unit. A shim layer having a first side in contact with the bridge member and a second side in contact with the holder and the unit, fixes the position of the holder and unit relative to the bridge member so that the ends of the optical fiber and waveguide are substantially aligned.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, a substrate 1, preferably made from silicon, has an optical integrated circuits (OICs) integration area 2 in which are formed a plurality of OICs 3 (only a few of which are specifically indicated in FIG. 1). The OICs 3 have optical waveguides 4 (only a few of which are specifically indicated in FIG. 1) which serve to transmit optical signals to and from respective OICs 3. The OICs 3 and their respective optical waveguides 4 can be separated from the remaining of the silica substrate 1 by dicing along dice lines 5.
Preferably, before dicing, a protective plate 7 is adhered to the substrate 1 on the side of the substrate 1 on which the OICs 3 and their respective waveguides 4 are formed as shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, the protective plate 7 is made of a relatively hard substance to protect the OICs and their respective optical waveguides 4. For example, the protective plate 7 can be a borosilicate glass (i. e., pyrex�) or silicon or other suitable material. Importantly, the protective plate 7 should have a thermal coefficient of expansion substantially similar to the substrate 1. In other words, the difference in thermal coefficients of expansion between the materials composing the substrate 1 and the protective plate 7 should be less than 2 closer. For example, borosilicate glass has a thermal coefficient of expansion 3.25.times.10.sup.-6 cm/cm/ thermal coefficient of expansion of 3.24.times.10.sup.-6 cm/cm/ for a difference in thermal coefficient values of about 10 cm/cm/ described in this document uses silica-glass frames with thermal coefficients of expansion of 0.55.times.10.sup.-6 cm/cm/ silica and about 3.25.times.10.sup.-6 cm/cm/ difference in thermal coefficient of expansion values of about 2.7.times.10.sup.-6 cm/cm/ thermal coefficient of expansion values which can destroy adhesive bonds used to form the optical fiber array when the optical fiber array of the prior art device is subjected to temperatures and/or humidity conditions different from those in which the prior art device was fabricated. This invention reduces or eliminates the destruction of adhesive bonds by selecting materials with substantially similar thermal coefficients of expansion to form the substrate 1 and the protective plate 7.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional diagrams of a method for forming an optical fiber array 10. In FIG. 5A, the fast and second parts 12, 13 are selected and formed from materials such as silicon, ceramic or boresilicate glass (i.e., pyrex�) which have the same or substantially similar thermal coefficients of expansion. The first and second parts 12, 13 have corresponding spaced, parallel alignment grooves 14, preferably spaced at 250 micron intervals to conform to industry standard optical fiber spacings, which can be readily formed using photolithography and/or etching or selective deposition techniques if the first and second parts 12, 13 are made of silicon. However, the first and second parts 12, 13 can be formed of other materials such as borosilicate glass in which the alignment grooves 14 can be formed by selective deposition of borosilicate glass or by mechanical etching using a diamond scribe, for example. The ends 11a of the optical fibers 11 are exposed at one end of the topical fiber array 10, as shown in FIG. 4. Importantly, the first and second parts 12, 13 should be selected and formed from materials with substantially similar thermal coefficients of expansion either with the same materials or different materials such as silicon and borosilicate glass which have substantially similar thermal coefficients of expansion as previously explained with respect to the substrate 1 and the protective plate 7. The first and second parts 12, 13 serve to hold the end portions of the optical fibers 11 in a laterally spaced, parallel relationship. The first and second parts 12, 13 also serve to protect the end portions of the optical fibers 11 and also are preferably sufficiently large to allow the optical fiber array 10 to be gripped either between fingers or in a micropositioner used to align the optical fiber ends 11a with respective ends of the optical waveguides 4 of an OIC 3 housed in an OIC assembly. The optical fiber array 10, and accordingly the first and second parts 12, 13 should be sufficiently large in length and width to allow for a relatively strong adhesive bond to be formed to hold the first and second parts 12, 13 together. The optical fiber array 10, and hence the fast and second parts 12, 13 should also be sufficiently wide to house the end portions of the optical fibers 11 spaced at intervals, for example, of 250 microns. The optical fiber array 10 should also be sufficiently large in height so that the optical fiber array 10 is not easily broken. For example, the optical fiber array 10 can have a length of about one centimeter, a width of about four millimeters to house twelve optical fibers 11, and a height of from two to four centimeters. In other words, the first and second parts 12, 13 should each be formed to be about one centimeter in length, about four millimeters wide and from one to two millimeters in height. The first and second parts 12, 13 can be formed by grinding, polishing or cutting respective material pieces, or by molding the first and second pieces to conform to these dimensions. Of course, other dimensions for the optical fiber array 10 and/or numbers of optical fibers 11 can be used without departing from the scope of this invention. Preferably, the alignment grooves 14 have angled sides which tend to center the end potions of the optical fibers 11 in the alignment grooves 14. A layer of adhesive 15 is applied to a surface of one of the first and second parts 12, 13 and the end potions of the optical fibers 11 are positioned in respective alignment grooves 14 of one of the first and second parts 12, 13. When the first and second parts 12, 13 are joined together, the end portions of the optical fibers 11 are held between corresponding alignment grooves 14 of the first and second parts 12, 13, and the adhesive 15 contacts the fast and second parts 12, 13 and the optical fibers 11. The adhesive 15 is then cured to form the optical fiber array 10 as shown in FIG. 5B. If at least one of the fast and second parts 12, 13 is transparent to UV light, the adhesive 15 can be a IJV curable adhesive cured by application of UV light. Alternatively, the adhesive 15 can be a thermally-cured or a room-temperature-cured variety of adhesive in which case the adhesive 15 is cured by the application of heat with an appropriate temperature.
FIGS. 6A-6F are diagrams of a second preferred method of this invention for making an optical fiber array 10. In FIG. 6A, a mold release substance 16 such as Teflon� is applied to an alignment member 17 for aligning the end potions of the optical fibers 11. The alignment member 17 can be made from ceramic, silicon, glass or other material and has highly precise alignment grooves 14 formed by etching or mechanical cutting of the alignment member 17. An alignment member 17 of a ceramic variety is commercially available from MGK-Locke of Nagoya, Japan. Preferably, the alignment grooves 14 are formed at 250 micron intervals and thus conform to industry-stand spacings of the optical fibers 11. In FIG. 6B, end potions of the optical fibers 11 are positioned in respective alignment grooves 14 and ad adhesive layer 15 is applied to the surface of the alignment member 17 and the end portions of the optical fibers 11 as shown in FIG. 6B, or is applied to the opposing surface of the first part 12. The first part 12, preferably formed of a material transparent to UV light such as borosilicate glass, is brought together with the alignment member 17 so that the adhesive 15 is squeezed out to form a relatively thin layer between the alignment member 17 and the first part 12. In FIG. 6C, UV light is generated from a source and passes through the first part 12 to irradiate the adhesive 15. Alternatively, if the alignment member 17 is formed from a material transparent to UV light, the first part 12 need not be made of a material transparent to UV light because the LIV light can be irradiated on the adhesive 15 through the alignment member 17 in this case. The irradiation of the adhesive 15 causes the adhesive 15 to cure and hold the end portions of the optical fiber 11 in the spaced, parallel relationship defined by the alignment grooves 14. The end portions of the optical fibers 11 are thus adhered to the first part 12. Alternatively, the adhesive 15 can be of a thermally-cured or room-temperature-cured variety cured by the application of heat with an appropriate temperature in which case the first part 12 and the alignment member 17 can be made of materials that are not transparent to UV light. In FIG. 6D, the first part 12 with attached end portions of the optical fibers 11 is pulled away from the alignment member 17. Due to the application of the mold release substance 16, the adhesive layer 15 and the end portions of the optical fibers 11 do not adhere to the alignment member 17 and thus are readily pulled away and separated from the alignment member 17. In FIG. 6E, the first part 12 is positioned to oppose a surface of the second part 13 to which an uncured adhesive layer is applied. Importantly, the first and second parts 12, 13 are selected to be materials with the same or substantially similar thermal coefficients of expansion for reasons previously explained. The first and second parts 12, 13 can be formed with appropriate dimensions by grinding, polishing or cutting respective larger pieces of materials, or by molding the first and second parts 12, 13 with appropriate dimensions from respective materials. The first and second parts 12, 13 are brought together so that the adhesive 15 and the end portions of the optical fibers 11 attached to the first part 12, make contact with the adhesive 15 applied to the second part 13. Preferably, the second part 13 is made of a substance transparent to UV light. In FIG. 6F, the uncured adhesive 15 is irradiated with UV light generated from a UV light source, to cure the adhesive 15. Alternatively, the second part 13 can be formed of a material opaque to UV light, in which case the UV light can be shined through the first part 12 to cure the adhesive 15. The resulting configuration of the optical fiber array 10 is shown in FIG. 6F.
In FIG. 8D, adhesive 15 is applied to a surface of at least one of the fast and second parts 12, 13 and the first part 12 is joined together with the second part 13. Significantly, the first and second parts 12, 13 are selected and formed from respective materials that have substantially similar thermal coefficients of expansion either with the same or different materials (such as herosilicate glass and silicon), for reasons previously explained in this document. The uncured portion of the adhesive layer 15 is then cured by the application of UV light or a temperature appropriate to set the adhesive 15, depending upon the type of adhesive 15 used. If a UV curable adhesive 15 is used, at least one of the first and second parts 12, 13 should be of a substance which is transparent to UV light, such as boresilicate glass (i.e., pyrex�).
A refractive index matching substance 23 is applied to one or both of the end surfaces 21, 22 for the optical fiber/waveguide interface at each end of the OIC assembly 19 and the two optical fiber arrays 10. The index matching substance 23 is applied in sufficient quantity that the substance contacts and forms a continuous interface between the ends of the optical fibers 11 and their respective optical waveguides 4 when the end surfaces 21 are joined to respective end surfaces 22. Preferably, the substance 23 has a refractive index that is closely matched to the respective refractive indices of the optical fibers 11 and the optical waveguides 4 to minimize reflection of light travelling through the optical fiber/refractive index matching substance/optical waveguide interfaces formed between the end surfaces 22 and the respective end surfaces 21 of the two optical fiber arrays 10. Preferably, the refractive index matching substance 23 has a relatively low modulus of elasticity so that the end surfaces 21 can be moved relative to respective end surfaces 22 after the substance 23 is cured to allow for fine adjustment of the alignment of the optical fibers 11 with respective optical waveguides 4. Also, the substance 23 is preferably liquid and relatively untacky when uncured, but tacky and polymerized when cured so that the substance 23 adheres to the end surfaces 21, 22 and does not tend to flow out from between the end surfaces 21, 22 under force of gravity. Preferably, the substance 23 is a mixture of General Electric example, at 100 degrees Celsius for two minutes.
The shim substance 25 has relatively low shrinkage, preferably less than 0.1% by volume, between its uncured, liquid state and its cured, solid state. The low shrinkage criterion is important for the shim substance 25 because the shim substance serves to fix the position of the optical fiber array 10 relative to a bridge member 24, and also serves to fix the position of the OIC assembly 19 relative to a bridge member 24, so that the optical fibers 11 are fixed in alignment with the optical waveguides 4. If a substance with a shrinkage that is too high is used, the substance could shift the optical fibers 11 out of alignment with respective optical waveguides 4. Some examples of suitable materials for the shim substance 25 include Murray Hill MH 77A� filled with silica or silicon to 82%, for example, by volume that is commercially available from AT&T Corporation, and a substance known as Master Bond� EP 65HT-1�. Both the Murray Hill MH 77A� and EP 65HT-1� substances are heat-curable. The Murray Hill MH 77A� and EP 65HT-1� substances are adhesive and so hold the bridge members 24 to respective surfaces of the optical fiber arrays 10 and the OIC assembly 19. However, the shim substance 25 does not have to be an adhesive substance because retention springs 26 can be used to hold the bridge members 24 together with the optical fiber arrays 10 and the OIC assembly 19.
FIG. 17 is an apparatus 27 for aligning the optical fibers 11 in an optical fiber array 10 with the optical waveguides 4 of the OIC assembly 19. The optical fiber arrays 10 and the OIC assembly 19 are mounted in respective micropositioners 28, 29, 30. The micropositioners 28, 29, 30 can be devices such as those commercially available from Melles-Griot�, Inc. of Cambridge, England. Preferably, the micropositioner 29 is a roll-stage capable of rotating about a horizontal axis extending from the left-hand to right-hand sides of FIG. 17, or, in other words, along an axis parallel with the length of the interconnection assembly 20 in FIG. 17. The micropositioners 28, 30 are preferably x-y-z stages capable of freely positioning respective optical fiber arrays 10 in three-dimensional. A laser source 31 is coupled to the ends of the optical fibers 11 and can selectively generate laser light in any selected optical fiber 11. The laser source 25 intensity-modulates the laser light at a predetermined frequency and generates an electric signal indicative of the modulation frequency of the laser light. The laser source 31 is coupled to provide the electric signal indicating the modulation frequency of the laser light, to a lock-in amplifier 32. The laser light generated by the laser source 31 passes through a selected optical fiber 11 to the optical fiber/index matching substance/optical waveguide interface between the optical fiber array 10 nearest in terms of the optical transmission path to the laser source 25, and the end surface 22 of the OIC assembly 19 contacting this optical fiber array 10. Laser light scattered from the optical fiber/index matching substance/optical waveguide interface is detected by a light detector 33 arranged in proximity to the optical fiber/substance/optical waveguide interface. The light detector 33 generates a signal based on the scattered light that is supplied to the lock-in amplifier 32 via a switch 34 which is set by the operator. Preferably, the laser source 31 modulates the laser light at a frequency which is not significantly present in room light, for example, at a frequency of 2 KHz. The lock-in amplifier 32 receives the signal generated by the laser source 31 and uses this signal to detect only light generated at the modulation frequency of the laser light generated by the source 31. Based on the amount of light scattered from the optical fiber/substance/optical waveguide interface that is detected by the light detector 33, the lock-in amplifier 32 generates a display 35 indicating the amount of scattered light. By manipulating the micropositioners 28, 29 until the light scattered from the optical fiber/substance/optical waveguide interface is a minimum, the selected optical waveguide can be aligned with a respective optical fiber. Preferably, the optical waveguide and fiber selected for alignment are near, but not at, one side of the interconnection assembly 20 as shown in FIG. 15. The switch 34 is then switched to supply the light signal generated by a light detector 36 arranged in proximity to the optical waveguide/substance/optical fiber interface that is furthest, optically speaking, from the laser source 31, to the lock-in amplifier 32. By manipulating the micropositioner 30 until the display 35 indicates that the scattered light is a minimum, the selected optical fiber 11 is aligned with a respective optical waveguide 4. The laser source 31 is then controlled to generate light in all optical fibers 11 and the alignment is maximized for both of the optical fiber/substance/optical waveguide interfaces repeating the above procedure, by using the aligned optical fiber and optical waveguide as a pivot axis and rotating the optical fiber array relative to the optical waveguide array. Once proper alignment of the optical fibers 11 relative to respective waveguides 4 is achieved, the substances 23 are allowed to cure 5. The shim substance 25 is applied to surfaces of the bridge member 24 and/or surfaces of the optical fiber arrays 10 and the OIC assembly 19 near the end surfaces 21, 22 and the bridge members 24 are joined to respective surfaces of the optical fiber arrays 10 and the OIC assembly 19, thus forming shim layers 25 therebetween. Alignment is then repeated for each of the optical fiber/substance/optical waveguide interfaces, preferably using the above described procedure, and the substance 25 is allowed to cure.
In operation, the interconnection assembly 20 of this invention, whether with or without the protective assembly of FIG. 20, is coupled between predetermined devices, depending upon the type of OIC 3 housed in the interconnection assembly. For example, of the OIC 3 is a WDM, dense wavelength division multiplexer (DWDM) or other multiplexer, or switch, the interconnection assembly can be coupled in or between optical transmission switching networks and a telephone, computer or other network, to perform switching of optical signals if the OIC 3 is a 1 the 1 monitoring apparatus to monitor the quality of signal transmission on a particular optical fiber or channel carried by the optical fiber, without interrupting optical signal transmission or can split an optical fiber to be provided to several destinations such as networks, telephones, computers and/or homes. In addition, the OIC 3 can be a filter to eliminate noise components of an optical signal. Further, the OIC 3 can include a combination of the devices mentioned above.
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(FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK), AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:018584/0446Effective date: 20061130Jun 16, 2005FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Jun 28, 2001FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Apr 5, 2001ASAssignmentOwner name: THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT, TEXFree format text: CONDITIONAL ASSIGNMENT OF AND SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS;ASSIGNOR:LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. (DE CORPORATION);REEL/FRAME:011722/0048Effective date: 20010222Owner name: THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT P.O.Mar 14, 1996ASAssignmentOwner name: LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC., NEW JERSEYFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:DEVEAU, GEORGE FRANK;REEL/FRAME:007843/0256Effective date: 19960308RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google