US 5,499,309 AGranted

Method of fabricating optical component including first and second optical waveguide chips having opposed inclined surfaces

AssigneeNGK Insulators, Ltd.

InventorsYoshinari Kozuka, Yukihisa Osugi, Masashi Fukuyama

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Abstract

A V groove and guide grooves are defined in a ceramic substrate, and an optical fiber is fixedly disposed in the V groove by the ceramic substrate and a cover, thereby producing a first optical waveguide chip. A V groove and guide grooves are also defined in another ceramic substrate, and an optical fiber is fixedly disposed in the V groove by the ceramic substrate and a cover, thereby producing a second optical waveguide chip. The first optical waveguide chip has an end face inclined to the direction of propagation of light through the optical fiber thereof, and the second optical waveguide chip also has an end face inclined to the direction of propagation of light through the optical fiber thereof. The first and second optical waveguide chips are positioned relatively to each other by guide pins intimately placed in the guide grooves, and the inclined end faces extend substantially parallel to each other with an air layer interposed therebetween. An optical component such as an optical transmission/reception module thus produced can easily be reduced in size and cost, and fabricated in an integrated configuration.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A method of fabricating an optical component, comprising the steps of:

forming a first optical waveguide chip having a first optical waveguide;
forming a second optical waveguide chip having a second optical waveguide and different from said first optical waveguide chip;
processing said first optical waveguide chip to form a first end face thereof at which an end of said first optical waveguide is exposed;
polishing said first optical waveguide chip to an optical finish to incline a second end face thereof at which an opposite end of said first optical waveguide is exposed, to a direction in which light is propagated through said first optical waveguide;
processing said second optical waveguide chip to form a third end face thereof at which an end of said second optical waveguide is exposed;
polishing said second optical waveguide chip to an optical finish to incline a fourth end face thereof at which an opposite end of said second optical waveguide is exposed, to a direction in which light is propagated through said second optical waveguide;
and
positioning said first optical waveguide chip and said second optical waveguide chip relative to each other such that said second and fourth end faces extend substantially parallel to each other with a layer interposed therebetween which has a refractive index that is different from the refractive index of at least one of said first and second optical waveguides, said first and second optical waveguides being optically coupled to each other such that a portion of light propagated from said first optical waveguide to said second optical waveguide is reflected out of at least one of the first and second optical waveguide chips by at least one of said second end face of said first optical waveguide chip and said fourth end face of said second optical waveguide chip, the reflected light propagating through a light transmissive portion of at least one of said optical waveguide chips.

5 more elements

A method of fabricating an optical component, comprising the steps of:

forming a first optical waveguide chip having a first optical waveguide;
forming a second optical waveguide chip having a second optical waveguide which has a refractive index different from the refractive index of said first optical waveguide, and different from said first optical waveguide chip;
processing said first optical waveguide chip to form a first end face thereof at which an end of said first optical waveguide is exposed;
polishing said first optical waveguide chip to an optical finish to incline a second end face thereof at which an opposite end of said first optical waveguide is exposed, to a direction in which light is propagated through said first optical waveguide;
processing said second optical waveguide chip to form a third end face thereof at which an end of said second optical waveguide is exposed;
polishing said second optical waveguide chip to an optical finish to incline a fourth end face thereof at which an opposite end of said second optical waveguide is exposed, to a direction in which light is propagated through said second optical waveguide;
and
positioning said first optical waveguide chip and said second optical waveguide chip relative to each other such that said second and fourth end faces extend substantially parallel to each other, the ends of said first and second optical waveguides which are exposed at said second and fourth end faces being held in direct contact with each other and being optically coupled to each other such that a portion of light propagated from said first optical waveguide to said second optical waveguide is reflected out of at least one of the first and second optical waveguide chips by at least one of said second end face of said first optical waveguide chip and said fourth end face of said second optical waveguide chip, the reflected light propagating through a light transmissive portion of at least one of said optical waveguide chips.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.