# US 12,222,567 B2 · Optical circuit module

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- Number: US 12,222,567 B2
- Document ID: US12222567B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/778,253
- Filed: 2019-11-28
- Published: 2022-12-22
- Granted: 2025-02-11
- Earliest claimed: 2019-11-28
- Assignees: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
- Applicants: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
- Inventors: Yuichiro Ikuma; Yusuke Nasu; Takashi Yamada
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12222567B2

## CPC

- G02B 6/30: for use between fibre and thin-film device
- G02B 6/4243: {Mounting of the optical light guide into a groove (mounting optical light guides into a groove in general G02B6/3636)}
- G02B 6/3652: {the additional structures being prepositioning mounting areas, allowing only movement in one dimension, e.g. grooves, trenches or vias in the microbench surface, i.e. self aligning supporting carriers}
- G02B 6/4249: {comprising arrays of active devices and fibres}
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

An optical circuit module in which an optical fiber array and an optical circuit substrate are connected, the optical fiber array including a groove substrate in which a groove for optical fiber alignment is formed, a pressing plate stacked on and bonded to the groove substrate, and an optical fiber bonded to and fixed in the groove of the groove substrate, and the optical circuit substrate including an input/output waveguide. In a connection surface of the optical circuit module, an area of a common portion in a cross section of the optical circuit substrate and the pressing plate is larger than an area of a common portion in a cross section of the optical circuit substrate and the groove substrate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An optical circuit module comprising:
an optical fiber fixing structure in which an optical fiber array and an optical circuit substrate are connected, the optical fiber array including a groove substrate in which a groove for optical fiber alignment is formed, a pressing plate stacked on and bonded to the groove substrate, and an optical fiber bonded to and fixed in the groove of the groove substrate, and the optical circuit substrate including an input/output waveguide,
wherein, in a connection surface of the optical circuit module, an area of a common portion in a cross section of the optical circuit substrate and the pressing plate when seen in a direction of an optical axis is larger than an area of a common portion in a cross section of the optical circuit substrate and the groove substrate when seen in the direction of the optical axis.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The optical circuit module according to claim 1, wherein the pressing plate of the optical fiber array is disposed on a substrate end surface side below a waveguide layer of the optical circuit substrate, the groove substrate is disposed on the pressing plate with an opening portion of a groove facing a side of the pressing plate and is bonded by an adhesive with the optical fiber interposed therebetween, and
an end surface of the optical circuit substrate is bonded to the pressing plate of the optical fiber array with an optical adhesive.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The optical circuit module according to claim 1, wherein an area of the common portion of the optical circuit substrate and the groove substrate is zero.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The optical circuit module according to claim 1, wherein a groove width of the groove substrate is narrow so that a core of the optical fiber is exposed from the groove.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The optical circuit module according to claim 1, wherein a core material of the input/output waveguide is silicon.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The optical circuit module according to claim 1, wherein a depth from a surface of the optical circuit substrate to the input/output waveguide is less than 10 μm.