JP2000121879A - Optical connection component and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A highly flexible optical connection that can easily connect optical components such as an optical element, an optical circuit package, and an optical circuit device and can accommodate a large number of optical fibers. Provided are a component and a method for manufacturing the component. An optical connection component includes a flexible film-like base material 1 having a two-dimensional plane, and a plurality of flexible resin protective layers 2 and 8 provided on both surfaces of the film-like base material. , A plurality of optical fibers 4 having an end portion for optical connection to an end portion are wired on at least one surface of the film-shaped base material 1 and fixed by the resin protective layer 2. In this optical connection component, an optical fiber is wired on one surface of a film-like base material, a first resin protective layer is formed thereon, and then the same as the resin protective layer on the other surface of the film-like base material. Alternatively, it is manufactured by forming a second resin protective layer made of a different resin material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical device, an optical circuit package, and an optical connection device for interconnecting optical devices, components, and devices used for optical communication and optical information processing such as optical circuit devices. Optical wiring board) and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in connection of a plurality of optical elements in an optical circuit package, between a plurality of optical circuit packages, or in optical connection of an optical circuit device on which the optical circuit package is mounted, an optical element or an optical circuit package is generally used. An optical connector is arranged at an end of an optical circuit device or the like and is connected to each other by an optical fiber. In this case, since the optical fibers need to be arranged with an extra length, for example, on the optical circuit package or inside and / or the back of the optical circuit device, complicated wiring by the optical fibers is formed in a bird's nest, Or at present, they are congested and occupy a large space. For an optical connection method that requires a great deal of space and connection labor for such complicated wiring, an optical fiber is arbitrarily wired on a two-dimensional plane to solve these problems easily. A method has been proposed. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2574611, there has been proposed an optical connecting part that uses a sheet or substrate coated with an adhesive and fixes an optical fiber thereby.

Incidentally, the optical connecting part described in Japanese Patent No. 2574611 is manufactured by using
An optical fiber is laid with a pressure-sensitive adhesive on a polymer film substrate (base layer) made of flexible Mylar or Kapton having a thickness of 0 μm or a fiber jacket to form a wiring pattern. Is coated with a material similar to the material used for the base material to obtain an optical connecting part. However, in the optical connection component manufactured by this method, although a flexible layer having a small stretch is provided above and below a layer having a thickness of several hundreds μm to several mm composed of an optical fiber and an adhesive, these polymer substrates are provided. Since the polymer substrate is exposed on the surface layer, there is a problem that the flexibility required by the optical connection component is reduced. In the optical connecting part described in Japanese Patent No. 2574611, a tab extending long is provided in the optical connecting part in order to avoid the difficulty of the optical connecting work due to such rigidity. Elongation increases the location of the connection portion and also complicates the manufacture of the optical connection component.

Further, US Pat. No. 5,292,390 discloses a method of filling an optical fiber wiring layer laid with thermoplastic polyurethane for the purpose of fixing and protecting an optical fiber. However, even in this method,
Although it has plasticity, it uses a Kapton film with small elongation as the base material of the adhesive layer and the thermoplastic polyurethane layer that fixes the optical fiber.
The optical fiber wiring layer is sandwiched between these films,
And because the Kapton film is exposed on the surface,
The problem of low flexibility has not been solved. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-68853 discloses that an optical fiber is laid on a laminate in which a film base and an adhesive layer are provided with a compressible layer, and an optical fiber wiring layer is sandwiched between the laminates. It is shown to make a connecting part. However, the layer having compressibility in the present invention is provided for the purpose of relieving the pressure applied to the optical fiber at the time of producing the optical connection part, and a film base material exists on the surface layer of the laminate on both sides sandwiching the optical fiber wiring. However, the problem that the flexibility of the optical connection component is reduced has not been solved.

[0005] As described above, in the conventional optical connection component in which an optical fiber using a flexible base material is laid and wired,
On both sides of the two-dimensionally wired optical fiber layer, a film base material such as Mylar or Kapton is provided. Therefore, such a film substrate is provided on both sides of the optical fiber wiring layer having a thickness of several hundred μm to several mm, and since it is exposed on the surface layer, the flexibility of the optical connection part is significantly reduced. However, it is necessary to provide a long and thin tab for optical connection. Further, in the connection between the optical elements on the optical circuit package and the connection between the optical circuit packages, if the space for installing the optical connection component is narrow, the flexibility,
Cannot be used due to lack of flexibility.

On the other hand, when a large number of optical fibers are to be connected and accommodated in a limited space, optical connecting parts such as an optical wiring board are effective and indispensable parts. When the number of optical fibers increases, it becomes difficult to accommodate all the optical fibers on one plane of the base material. The reason is that if a larger number of optical fibers are to be accommodated on one plane of the base material, the laid optical fibers will converge and the overlapping portions of the optical fibers will increase. This is because the contact area with the pressure-sensitive adhesive for fixing the laying line is reduced, and the laying line with high positional accuracy cannot be formed. In addition, when a larger number of optical fibers are accommodated in a single plane, the density of the terminal portion provided for optical connection to the end increases, and the space required for connector connection and the like cannot be physically secured. Occurs. In order to solve such a problem, it is effective to laminate a base material on which optical fibers are wired. However, since laminating loses flexibility, it has the necessary flexibility as an optical wiring board, and In fact, a multilayer optical wiring board has not yet been obtained. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-68853 describes an example in which optical fibers are laid on both sides of a laminate provided with a layer having compressibility. It is provided for the purpose of alleviating such pressure, and is not intended to accommodate a larger number of optical fibers.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a flexible connection that can easily connect optical components such as optical elements, optical circuit packages, and optical circuit devices as described above, and can accommodate a large number of optical fibers. An object of the present invention is to provide a high optical connection component and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0008]

The optical connecting part of the present invention is provided with a resin protective layer on both front and back sides, and is sandwiched between the resin protective layers without exposing a film-like base material such as Mylar or Kapton. It exists. That is, the optical connection component of the present invention has a flexible film-shaped base material having a two-dimensional plane, and a plurality of flexible resin protective layers provided on both sides of the film-shaped base material. A plurality of optical fibers each having an end portion for optically connecting to an end are wired on the film-like base material and fixed by a resin protective layer. In the optical connection component of the present invention, a plurality of flexible film-like substrates may be present. In that case, each film-shaped substrate is sandwiched between resin protective layers to form a laminate.

In the present invention, the optical connecting part having one film-like base material is provided on one surface of a flexible film-like base material having a two-dimensional flat surface with a terminal portion for optically connecting to an end of an optical fiber. A plurality of optical fibers are wired so as to have a first resin protective layer having flexibility so that the wired optical fibers are fixed, and then, on the other surface of the film-like base material, A method comprising forming a flexible second resin protective layer made of the same or different resin material as the resin protective layer, or forming the first resin protective layer as described above, On the other surface of the material, a plurality of optical fibers are wired so as to have an end portion for optically connecting to the end of the optical fiber, and the same or different from the resin protective layer so that the wired optical fiber is fixed. Made of resin material It can be prepared by a method consisting of forming a second resin protective layer having FLEXIBLE.

Further, in the present invention, the optical connection component having two film-shaped substrates is a flexible material having a two-dimensional plane on one resin protective layer of the optical connection component manufactured as described above. A plurality of optical fibers are laminated by bonding or the like, and a plurality of optical fibers are wired on the film-shaped substrate so as to have an end portion for optical connection to an end of the optical fiber. Is fixed,
It can be manufactured by a method in which a flexible third resin protective layer is formed to form a laminate. By repeatedly performing the step of forming the third resin protective layer, a laminated structure including a plurality of resin base layers and a plurality of resin protective layers to which optical fibers are fixed is formed. An optical connecting part in which the film-like base material exists can be produced.

In the optical connecting part having a plurality of film-like base materials, the optical protective part having one film-like base material prepared as described above is bonded to the resin protective layers. It can also be manufactured by forming a laminate. Further, the resin protective layer of the present invention may be provided by providing a weir-like material on the periphery or near the periphery of the film-like base material, filling the inner portion of the formed weir-like material with a resin material, and solidifying it. it can.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially crushed plan view of an example of the optical connection component of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a case where there is one film-like substrate.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another example in the case where there is one film-shaped substrate. 1 and 2, a plurality of optical fibers 4 are wired on one surface of a flexible film-like substrate 1 having a two-dimensional plane via an adhesive layer 3.
Are fixed by the first resin protective layer 2 having flexibility. On the other surface of the film-like base material 1, a flexible second resin protective layer 8 made of the same or different material as the resin material of the first resin protective layer 2 is provided. An end of the optical fiber 4 is a terminal portion 5 for optical connection, and an optical component 6, for example, an optical connector is connected. Note that the terminal portion 5 and the optical component 6 may be integrated. Reference numeral 7 denotes a weir-like material provided for forming a resin protective layer.

In FIG. 3, a plurality of optical fibers 4 are wired on both surfaces of a film-like base material 1 with an adhesive layer 3 interposed therebetween. Is fixed by the resin protective layer 8.

FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 are cross-sectional views of an example of the optical connection component of the present invention in which a plurality of film-like substrates are present. In FIG. 4, a second film-like base material 1a is laminated on the surface of the second resin protective layer 8 of the optical connection component shown in FIG. 2 via an adhesive layer 3, and a plurality of light The fiber 4 is wired and fixed by a third resin protective layer 9 having flexibility. FIG. 5 shows a case where the two optical connection parts A and B shown in FIG. 2 are laminated to form a laminate, and the respective second resin protective layers 8 and 8 is stuck. FIG. 6 shows a case where two optical connection parts A and B shown in FIG. 3 are laminated to form a laminate, and the first resin of one of the optical connection parts via the adhesive layer 3. The protective layer 2 and the second resin protective layer 8 of the other optical connection component are adhered.

FIG. 7 shows a case where three film-shaped substrates are present. The surface of the third resin protective layer 9 of the optical component shown in FIG. 3 are laminated, and a plurality of optical fibers 4
Is wired and has a flexible fourth resin protective layer 1
Fixed by 0.

In the optical connecting part of the present invention, the flexible film-like base material having a two-dimensional plane for supporting the wired optical fiber is not particularly limited.
For example, a glass-epoxy resin composite substrate, a polyester film, a polyimide film, silicone or urethane rubber or foam, etc., having a certain degree of flexibility and being a substrate used in ordinary electronic components and electrical components Anything can be used.

The optical fiber to be wired in the present invention is appropriately selected and used according to the application purpose of the optical connecting part. For example, a single mode optical fiber or a multi-mode optical fiber made of quartz or plastic is preferably used. You. Preferably, the optical fiber is a carbon-coated optical fiber. In general, the major factors that determine the life of an optical fiber are the intrusion of water and hydrogen in the atmosphere.However, the carbon-coated optical fiber suppresses the intrusion of water and hydrogen, resulting in high reliability and long life. is there. Further, in the optical connecting component of the present invention, since a cable sheath that provides environmental resistance performance such as a normal optical cable is not provided, it is more effective to use a highly reliable carbon-coated optical fiber.

The simplest method of wiring the optical fiber in the present invention is to provide a wiring by providing an adhesive layer on a film-like base material. However, the optical fiber wiring method is appropriately selected according to the purpose of application. The optical fiber may be wired so as to have an end portion for optical connection at the end. For example, an optical fiber can be wired by providing a projection or a concave shape on a film-like base material, or can be wired by providing an adhesive layer on the outer sheath of the optical fiber.

As the adhesive constituting the adhesive layer for wiring the optical fiber, any adhesive having an adhesive force for maintaining the shape of the optical fiber corresponding to the tension generated by bending the optical fiber to be wired can be used. , Anything can be used,
For example, urethane type, acrylic type, epoxy type, nylon type, phenol type, polyimide type, vinyl type, silicone type, rubber type, fluorinated epoxy type, fluorinated acrylic type etc. various pressure sensitive adhesives (adhesives), Thermoplastic adhesive,
Thermosetting adhesives can be used. A pressure-sensitive adhesive and a thermoplastic adhesive are preferably used from the viewpoint of ease of wiring the optical fiber.

The resin constituting the flexible resin protective layer in the optical connecting part of the present invention is not particularly limited, but a gel or rubber organic material, an ultraviolet curable resin, an electron beam A curable resin such as a curable resin or a thermosetting resin having flexibility, a thermoplastic resin having flexibility, or the like is used. More specifically, examples of the gel-like organic material include a silicone-based gel, an acrylic-based resin gel, and a fluororesin-based gel. Examples of the rubber-like organic material include silicone-based rubber, urethane-based rubber, and fluorine-based organic material. Rubber, acrylic rubber, ethylene-acrylic rubber,
SBR, BR, NBR, chloroprene rubber, and the like. Examples of the flexible curable resin include an epoxy resin, an ultraviolet curable adhesive, and a silicone resin. Examples of the flexible thermoplastic resin include resins constituting a hot melt adhesive such as acrylic resins such as polyvinyl acetate and polyethyl methacrylate, vinylidene chloride resins, polyvinyl butyral resins, and polyamide resins.

If necessary, a protective layer may be provided on the resin protective layer serving as the surface of the optical connection component as long as the flexibility required for using the optical connection component is not impaired. As the protective layer, for example, a silicone-based hard coat material is used.

In the optical connecting part of the present invention, usually,
For connection with the optical connector, an optical fiber extends from a desired position (port) on the end face of the optical connection component to form a termination portion, to which the optical connector is connected or connected to the optical connector. Fusion spliced with the optical fiber.
The optical connector connected to the optical connection component of the present invention is not particularly limited, but a single-core or multi-core small optical connector is preferably selected. For example, MPO optical connector, MT optical connector, MU optical connector, FPC optical connector (NTT
R & D, Vol. 45 No. 6, 589) or V-groove parts used for optical connection. In addition,
The method of connecting the optical connector is not limited at all, and the terminal portion and the optical connector may be integrated.

In the present invention, an optical connecting part having one film-like substrate is produced as follows. For example, first, an optical fiber is wired in a desired pattern on one surface of a flexible film-like base material having a two-dimensional plane using the above-mentioned adhesive. At that time, so that the end of the optical fiber is a terminal portion for optical connection with an optical connector or the like,
It is pulled out from the film substrate. In addition, as a method of providing an adhesive layer, on a film-like substrate, in a state where the adhesive is directly or dissolved in a solvent to form a coating solution,
Roll coating, bar coating, blade coating, casting, dispenser coating, spray coating, application by a method such as screen printing to provide an adhesive layer, and an adhesive layer previously formed on a peelable film A method is employed in which an adhesive sheet is attached to the above-mentioned film-like base material, and thereafter, the peelable film is removed. The thickness of the adhesive layer may be appropriately selected and used depending on the diameter of the optical fiber to be wired, but is usually 1 μm to 1 mm, preferably 5 μm to 500 μm.
More preferably, it is set in the range of 10 to 300 μm.

A first resin protective layer is formed on the optical fiber wired as described above using a resin material for forming a flexible resin protective layer, and then a film-like substrate is formed. On the other surface, a second resin protective layer having flexibility is formed using the same or different resin material as the resin protective layer. Or after forming the first resin protective layer as described above, on the other surface of the film-like base material, a plurality of optical fibers are wired so as to have an end portion for optically connecting to an end of the optical fiber, A flexible second resin protection layer is formed using the same or different resin material as the resin protection layer so that the wired optical fiber is fixed in a buried state.

Here, the thickness of the resin protective layer when the optical fiber is wired is appropriately selected depending on the diameter of the optical fiber to be wired and the number of the overlapping optical fibers to protect the optical fiber.
What is necessary is just to make it fixed. Usually, a thickness of (optical fiber diameter) × (number of overlapping fibers) or more is required. Also,
When the optical fiber is not wired, the thickness of the resin protective layer is
Depending on the purpose of using the optical connection component, the film-shaped substrate may be appropriately selected and used with a film thickness that reduces the rigidity, but is usually about 1 μm to several cm, preferably 1 μm to several cm.
0 μm to 10 mm, more preferably 30 μm to 1 mm
Is set in the range.

The simplest method of providing a resin protective layer on a film-like base material is to provide a weir-like material at or near the periphery of the above-mentioned film-like base material and to provide a resin material on the inner part of the formed weir-like material. And then solidify. For example, a method of dissolving a resin material in an appropriate solvent to form a coating liquid, dripping and drying the liquid, a method of dripping a liquid-state thermosetting resin and heating and curing, a liquid-state moisture-curable resin or anaerobic A method of dropping a thermosetting resin and curing at room temperature by giving moisture or blocking gas, a method of dropping a thermoplastic resin melted by heating and solidifying by cooling, a weir-like material of a solid-state resin material The resin protective layer can be formed by, for example, filling the inner portion of the resin, heating and melting the resin, and then solidifying the resin.

Usually, the weir-like material may be provided at or near the periphery of the film-shaped substrate over the entire periphery thereof. However, when mounting optical components such as an optical connector, an optical module, and an optical device near the periphery of the film-shaped base material, when the optical components play a role as a weir-like material, the optical components are mounted. It is not necessary to provide a weir-like material in the part which was done.

The material constituting the weir-like material is not particularly limited, and may be suitably selected according to the application purpose of the optical connection part. In particular, polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, etc. A nonwoven fabric made of an organic fiber, a nonwoven fabric made of a glass fiber, and a sealing agent (filler) made of a silicone, epoxy, urethane, or acrylic resin are preferably used. Weirs are
The size and shape are not limited as long as the resin material filled inside does not flow out.

Further, in the present invention, an optical connecting part having two film-like substrates can be produced as follows. That is, an adhesive layer is provided on one of the resin protective layers of the optical connection component manufactured as described above, and a second film-like substrate is attached thereto. Is provided with an adhesive layer on the exposed surface, and an optical fiber is wired thereon in a desired pattern. Next, using a resin material that is the same as or different from the resin material used for the first or second resin protective layer, a flexible third resin protective layer is formed to fix the wired optical fiber. I do. As a result, it is possible to form a laminate including two film-shaped substrates and three resin protective layers. Further, by repeatedly performing the step of forming the third resin protective layer, it is possible to manufacture an optical connection component having a large number of film-like base materials on which optical fibers are wired.

Further, a film-like base material in which adhesive layers are provided on both sides in advance may be used. By sticking the adhesive layer to a resin protective layer, an optical fiber having an optically connectable optical fiber layer having a multilayer structure can be used. It is also possible to produce connecting parts.

Further, a plurality of optical connection parts in which the film-like base material is sandwiched between flexible resin protective layers by the above-described method are prepared in advance, and the resin protective layers of the plurality of optical connection parts are combined. Can be formed to form a laminate. For example, by directly providing an adhesive layer on the surface of the resin protective layer of the one optical connection component, or by transferring the adhesive layer to the resin protective layer surface using an adhesive sheet provided with an adhesive layer in advance, An optical connection component having an optically connectable optical fiber layer having a multilayer structure can also be manufactured by providing an adhesive layer, placing another optical connection component on the adhesive layer, and affixing the adhesive layer. By repeating the above operation, it is also possible to produce an optical connection component composed of a laminate having a multilayer structure.

In the optical connecting part of the present invention produced as described above, an optical part such as an optical connector or an optical module is joined to the terminal part of the drawn optical fiber. For example, the end of the optical fiber that has been subjected to the end face treatment to be connected to the optical connector is connected to the optical connector, or an optical fiber end face fixed to the optical connector,
The end face of each optical fiber pulled out from the optical fiber wiring member is fusion-spliced.

[0033]

The present invention will be described below with reference to examples.
The present invention is not limited to this. Example 1 A film-like substrate (size 210 mm × 297 mm) was prepared by coating an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive on one surface of a polyimide film having a thickness of 125 μm so as to have a thickness of 100 μm. To this, an optical fiber core wire (Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., carbon coated optical fiber, 250 μm diameter) was wired per port (portion where the optical fiber was taken out from the optical connection member) as follows. That is, 16 optical fibers are arranged in parallel at a pitch of 300 μm, and 8 ports each (each port is composed of 16 optical fibers) are 25 mm on both sides of the short side of the polyimide film.
Fabricated at pitch. Each optical fiber is wired from one short side to the other short side of the polyimide film, and the wiring to each port on both sides is a desired free access wiring (128) for each optical fiber by design. The wiring was adjusted so that the maximum number of overlaps was three.

Thereafter, a weir-like material having a width of 5 mm and a thickness of 1 mm was formed using a nonwoven fabric made of polypropylene fiber (P100SW-00X, manufactured by Tonen Tapyrus Co., Ltd.) on the periphery of the polyimide film on which the optical fiber was wired. Then
A silicone gel coating solution (SE-1880, manufactured by Dow Corning Toray Co., Ltd.) was dropped on the inside thereof, and the silicone gel was cured at 120 ° C. for 1 hour to form a first resin protective layer. Was fixed by the resin protective layer. Next, a second resin protective layer was formed on the back surface of the polyimide film. That is, a nonwoven fabric made of polypropylene fiber (PO40SW-00, manufactured by Tonen Tapils Co., Ltd.)
X) was used to form a weir-like material having a width of 5 mm and a thickness of 0.45 mm, and a silicone gel coating solution (SE-1880, manufactured by Dow Corning Toray Co., Ltd.) was dropped inside the weir-like material. The second resin protective layer was formed by curing the silicone gel under the conditions, and an optical wiring board having a thickness of 1.7 mm was manufactured. Thereafter, an MU connector was connected to the end of the drawn optical fiber to obtain an optical wiring board as a final product.

In this optical wiring board, since the polyimide film is sandwiched between the flexible resin protective layers formed of silicone gel, the rigidity of the polyimide film is reduced, and the polyimide film is flexible and flexible. It was flat without any problems such as curling. Therefore, even when a very fragile optical fiber whose surface has been stripped to be connected to an optical connector and whose coating has been removed is connected to the MU connector, the uncoated optical fiber must be connected to the MU connector without being damaged. Was completed.

When this optical wiring board is used for connection between boards in a rack in a very limited space, the optical wiring board is flexible and flexible.
The connection between the optical connector attached to the optical wiring board and the optical connector drawn out from the wiring in the board could be easily performed. Further, the produced optical wiring board is radius 1
When bent 180 ° at a curvature of 5 mm, the optical wiring board could be easily bent without being broken, and no damage was left on the optical fiber.

When the loss of all the connected optical fibers was measured, the loss including the connection loss of the optical connector was reduced to 0.1.
It was 7 dB or less. In addition, the fabricated optical wiring board was subjected to a high-temperature and high-humidity test of leaving at 5,000C for 90 hours at 75 ° C and a temperature cycle test of -40 ° C to 75 ° C for 500 times. It was 0.2 dB or less, which proved that it could be sufficiently used as an optical connection part.

Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, each port is composed of eight optical fibers, an MT connector (8-fiber optical connector) is used instead of the MU connector, and only one end of the MT fiber is connected before the optical fiber is wired. Using a connector connected, instead of a polypropylene nonwoven fabric, a nylon nonwoven fabric having a width of 5 mm and a thickness of 500 μm (NO50SS-00 manufactured by Tonen Tapils Co., Ltd.)
X), as a resin protective layer material, an epoxy resin (Epolite 400E, manufactured by Kyoei Yushi Co., Ltd.) and a curing agent equivalent to the epoxy resin (Epomate B0, manufactured by Yuka Shell Co., Ltd.
02) using an epoxy resin coating solution consisting of
After curing for a time, the wiring conditions of the optical fibers were the same as in Example 1 except that the total number of all the optical fibers was 64 and the maximum overlap of the optical fibers was 2.
An optical wiring board of 2 mm was produced.

Thereafter, an MT connector was connected to the end of the drawn optical fiber to produce an optical wiring board as a final product. In this optical wiring board, since the polyimide film is sandwiched between the plastic epoxy resin protective layers, the rigidity of the polyimide film is relaxed, and it is supple, flexible, and flat without any problems such as curling. Was. Therefore, the end face treatment to connect to the optical connector,
Even when eight cores of the very fragile optical fiber with the coating removed were connected to the MT connector at the same time, the optical fiber with the coating removed could be connected to the MT connector without damage.

Since this optical wiring board is flexible and flexible, it was used for connection between boards in a rack in a very limited space, and was attached to the optical wiring board. The connection between the optical connector and the optical connector drawn out of the wiring in the board could be easily implemented. Further, the produced optical wiring board is radius 20 mm.
When bent at 180 ° with no curvature, no damage was left on the optical wiring board and the optical fiber.

When the loss of all the connected optical fibers was measured, the loss including the connection loss of the optical connector was reduced to 0.
It was 6 dB or less. In addition, the fabricated optical wiring board was subjected to a high-temperature and high-humidity test of leaving at 5,000C for 90 hours at 75 ° C and a temperature cycle test of -40 ° C to 75 ° C for 500 times. It was 0.3 dB or less, which proved that it could be sufficiently used as an optical connection part.

Example 3 An acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive was applied to both sides of a polyimide film having a thickness of 125 μm so as to have a thickness of 100 μm, and a release film was adhered to one side of the film base (size 21).
0 mm x 297 mm). On one side of this polyimide film, an optical fiber was wired in the same manner as in Example 1, and then, instead of a polypropylene nonwoven fabric, a silicone-based filler (manufactured by Konishi Co., Ltd., bus bond) was used, and a width of 1 mm was applied to the periphery of the polyimide film. A weir-like material having a height of 0.5 mm and a height of 1 mm was prepared, and a silicone rubber coating solution (YE-5822, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) was dropped inside the weir-like material.
The resin was cured at 1 ° C. for 1 hour to form a first resin protective layer, and the optical fiber was fixed in a buried state.

Thereafter, the release film on the back surface of the polyimide film was removed, and the total number of optical fibers was 64 and the maximum overlap of the optical fibers was 2 on the adhesive layer.
Sixty-four free-access wirings were performed so as to form a book. Thereafter, a weir-like material having a width of 0.8 mm and a height of 500 μm was formed using a silicone-based filler (manufactured by Konishi Co., Ltd., bus bond) on the periphery of the polyimide film on which the optical fiber was wired. Next, a silicone rubber coating solution (YE-5822, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) was dropped on the inside thereof,
Curing at 100 ° C. for 1 hour to form a second resin protective layer, fixing the optical fiber in a buried state, and having a thickness of 1.8
mm optical wiring board was produced.

Thereafter, an MU connector was connected to the end of the drawn optical fiber to produce an optical wiring board as a final product. In this optical wiring board, since the polyimide film is sandwiched between the resin protective layers made of plastic silicone rubber, the rigidity of the polyimide film is relaxed, and it is flexible and flexible, and there is no problem such as curling. It was flat. Therefore, even when a very fragile optical fiber whose surface has been stripped to be connected to an optical connector and whose coating has been removed is connected to the MU connector, the uncoated optical fiber must be connected to the MU connector without being damaged. Was completed.

Since this optical wiring board is flexible, flexible and flat, it is used for connection between boards in a rack in a very limited space.
The connection between the optical connector attached to the optical wiring board and the optical connector drawn out from the wiring in the board could be easily performed. Further, the produced optical wiring board is radius 2
When bent 180 ° at a curvature of 0 mm, an optical wiring board,
No damage was left on the optical fiber.

When the loss of all the connected optical fibers was measured, the loss including the connection loss of the optical connector was reduced to 0.1.
It was 8 dB or less. In addition, the fabricated optical wiring board was subjected to a high-temperature and high-humidity test of leaving at 5,000C for 90 hours at 75 ° C and a temperature cycle test of -40 ° C to 75 ° C for 500 times. It was 0.4 dB or less, which proved that it could be sufficiently used as an optical connection part.

Example 4 In Example 1, instead of the silicone gel coating solution,
Silicone rubber coating solution (YE-5, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.)
822), and an optical connection part was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the composition was cured at 100 ° C. for 1 hour.

Next, a second polyimide film having a thickness of 125 μm was prepared, and a silicone-based pressure-sensitive adhesive coating solution (SD4590 / BY2, manufactured by Dow Corning Toray Co., Ltd.) was provided on both surfaces thereof.
4-741 / SRX212 / toluene = 100 / 1.0
/0.9/50 (parts by weight)) and dried at 100 ° C. for 3 minutes to form an adhesive layer having a thickness of 50 μm. Adhered film substrate (size 210mm
× 297 mm). After this second polyimide film was adhered to one surface of the optical connection component produced as described above, the release film on the back surface of the second polyimide film was removed. On the exposed surface of the polyimide film, an optical fiber core wire (a carbon-coated optical fiber manufactured by Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., 250 μm diameter) was wired per port (portion where the optical fiber was taken out from the optical connection member) as follows. That is, 16 optical fibers are arranged in parallel at a pitch of 300 μm, and 8
Ports (each port is composed of 16 optical fibers) 25m
It was produced at m pitch. Each optical fiber is wired from one short side to the other short side of the polyimide film, and the wiring to each port on both sides is a desired free access wiring (128) for each optical fiber by design. The wiring was adjusted so that the maximum number of overlaps was three.

Thereafter, a nonwoven fabric made of polypropylene fiber (P100SW-00X, manufactured by Tonen Tapils Co., Ltd.) is provided on the periphery of the second polyimide film on which the optical fiber is wired.
Was used to form a weir-like material having a width of 5 mm and a thickness of 1 mm. Next, a silicone rubber coating solution (TSE399, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) was dropped on the inside, and the silicone rubber was cured at 25 ° C. for 24 hours to form a third resin protective layer. An optical connection part having a thickness of 3 mm was produced by fixing the resin in a state of being buried in the resin protective layer. Thereafter, an MU connector was connected to the end of the drawn optical fiber to obtain an optical wiring board as a final product.

In this optical wiring board, since the polyimide film is sandwiched between the flexible resin protective layers made of silicone rubber, the rigidity of the polyimide film is reduced, and the polyimide film is flexible and flexible. It was flat without any problems. Therefore, even when a very fragile optical fiber whose surface has been stripped to be connected to an optical connector and whose coating has been removed is connected to the MU connector, the uncoated optical fiber must be connected to the MU connector without being damaged. Was completed.

When this optical wiring board is used for connection between boards in a rack in a very limited space, the optical wiring board is flexible and flexible.
The connection between the optical connector attached to the optical wiring board and the optical connector drawn out from the wiring in the board could be easily performed. Further, the produced optical wiring board is radius 3
When the optical wiring board was bent 180 ° at a curvature of 0 mm, the optical wiring board could be easily bent without being broken, and no damage was left on the optical fiber.

When the optical loss of the manufactured optical wiring board was measured, including the connection loss of the optical connector,
It was 0.5 dB or less. In addition, the fabricated optical wiring board was subjected to a high-temperature and high-humidity test of leaving at 5,000C for 90 hours at 75 ° C and a temperature cycle test of -40 ° C to 75 ° C for 500 times. It was 0.2 dB or less, which proved that it could be sufficiently used as an optical connection part.

Example 5 In Example 1, instead of the silicone gel coating solution,
Silicone rubber coating solution (TSE3, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.)
99), an optical connection component having a structure in which a polyimide film is sandwiched between first and second resin protective layers is performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the polyimide film is cured at 25 ° C. for 24 hours. Two were produced.

Next, a silicone-based pressure-sensitive adhesive coating solution (manufactured by Dow Corning Toray Co., Ltd., SD4590 / BY24-741 / SRX) was applied to the second resin protective layer of one of the optical connection parts.
212 / toluene = 100 / 1.0 / 0.9 / 50 (parts by weight)) by a dispenser coating method, and dried at 100 ° C. for 3 minutes.
A μm adhesive layer was formed. Another optical connection component was superposed and adhered thereon, thereby producing an optical connection component composed of a laminate having a thickness of 3.5 mm. Thereafter, an MU connector was connected to the end of the drawn optical fiber to produce an optical wiring board as a final product.

In this optical wiring board, since the polyimide film is sandwiched between the flexible resin protective layers made of silicone rubber, the rigidity of the polyimide film is reduced, and the flexible and flexible polyimide film is curled. It was flat without any problems. Therefore, even when a very fragile optical fiber whose surface has been stripped to be connected to an optical connector and whose coating has been removed is connected to the MU connector, the uncoated optical fiber must be connected to the MU connector without being damaged. Was completed.

Further, since this optical wiring board is flexible, flexible and flat, it is used for connection between boards in a rack in a very limited space.
The connection between the optical connector attached to the optical wiring board and the optical connector drawn out from the wiring in the board could be easily performed. Further, the produced optical wiring board is radius 3
When bent 180 ° at a curvature of 5 mm, an optical wiring board,
No damage was left on the optical fiber.

When the optical loss of the manufactured optical wiring board was measured, including the connection loss of the optical connector,
It was 0.8 dB or less. In addition, the fabricated optical wiring board was subjected to a high-temperature and high-humidity test of leaving at 5,000C for 90 hours at 75 ° C and a temperature cycle test of -40 ° C to 75 ° C for 500 times. It was 0.5 dB or less, which proved that it could be sufficiently used as an optical connection part.

Example 6 In the same manner as in Example 3, two optical connection parts having a polyimide film sandwiched between the first and second resin protective layers and having optical fiber wiring on both sides of the polyimide film were produced. .

Next, a silicone-based pressure-sensitive adhesive coating solution (SD4590 / BY24-741 / SRX, manufactured by Dow Corning Toray Co., Ltd.) was applied to the second resin protective layer of one of the optical connection parts.
212 / toluene = 100 / 1.0 / 0.9 / 50 (parts by weight)) by a dispenser coating method, and dried at 100 ° C. for 3 minutes.
A μm adhesive layer was formed. Another optical connection component was superimposed thereon and adhered to produce an optical connection component composed of a laminated body having a thickness of 3.7 mm. Thereafter, an MU connector was connected to the end of the drawn optical fiber to produce an optical wiring board as a final product.

In this optical wiring board, since the polyimide film is sandwiched between the flexible resin protective layers made of silicone rubber, the rigidity of the polyimide film is reduced, and the flexible and flexible polyimide film is curled. It was flat without any problems. Therefore, even when a very fragile optical fiber whose surface has been stripped to be connected to an optical connector and whose coating has been removed is connected to the MU connector, the uncoated optical fiber must be connected to the MU connector without being damaged. Was completed.

Since this optical wiring board is flexible, flexible and flat, it is used for connection between boards in a rack in a very limited space.
The connection between the optical connector attached to the optical wiring board and the optical connector drawn out from the wiring in the board could be easily performed. Further, the produced optical wiring board is radius 3
When bent 180 ° at a curvature of 5 mm, an optical wiring board,
No damage was left on the optical fiber.

When the optical loss of the manufactured optical wiring board was measured, including the connection loss of the optical connector,
It was 0.6 dB or less. In addition, the fabricated optical wiring board was subjected to a high-temperature and high-humidity test of leaving at 5,000C for 90 hours at 75 ° C and a temperature cycle test of -40 ° C to 75 ° C for 500 times. It was 0.4 dB or less, which proved that it could be sufficiently used as an optical connection part.

[0063]

As described above, in the optical connecting part of the present invention, even when a somewhat rigid film-like base material is used, it is sandwiched between the flexible resin protective layers and is not exposed to the surface layer. Therefore, the rigidity of the film-shaped substrate is reduced,
It becomes supple and flexible. That is, the optical connection component of the present invention, even when using a film substrate such as Mylar or Kapton that is flexible but does not stretch,
Since it is sandwiched between flexible resin protective layers without being exposed to the surface, the rigidity of the film-like base material is increased due to the presence of the flexible and stretchable resin protective layer on the surface. Is alleviated, and the flexibility of the optical connection component itself is greatly enhanced. Therefore, even when the end portion of the optical fiber drawn out from the optical connection component of the present invention and subjected to end face treatment for connection with the optical component to remove the coating is connected to an optical component such as an optical connector, the coating is not applied. Without damaging the very fragile optical fiber being removed
It can be easily connected to optical components such as optical connectors,
The yield in the production of optical connection parts is significantly improved compared to the prior art.

Further, in the optical connecting part of the present invention,
Since there is a resin protective layer on both sides, and especially when the resin protective layer is made of the same resin material, curling caused by a difference in linear expansion coefficient of the resin material even when heat-cured during production. And the like, and the flatness is maintained. Therefore, even if the optical fiber drawn from the obtained optical connection component is connected to an optical component such as an optical connector,
Optical components such as optical connectors are not subjected to extra stress, and light loss due to connection is very small.

Also, in connection between boards in a very limited space, for example, in a rack, due to its flexibility and flatness, an optical component such as an optical connector attached to the optical connection component and wiring in the board are not connected. The connection with the drawn-out optical component such as the optical connector can be easily performed, and the workability is remarkably improved. Further, there is no need to prepare a long tab for facilitating the connection, the manufacture of the component is easy, and the mounting does not take up a large space. Furthermore, since it is possible to easily form a multilayer and accommodate a large number of optical fibers, the optical fiber is useful as a high-density optical wiring board.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken plan view of an example of an optical connection component of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the optical connection component of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of another example of the optical connection component of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another example of the optical connection component of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another example of the optical connection component of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another example of the optical connection component of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another example of the optical connecting component of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1a, 1b: film-like base material, 2: first resin protective layer, 3: adhesive layer, 4: optical fiber, 5: terminal portion, 6
... optical components such as optical connectors and optical modules, 7 ... dams, 8 ... second resin protective layers, 9 ... third resin protective layers,
10: fourth resin protective layer.

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Sukekawa 3-1 Yosoba-cho, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture Inside the Technical Research Laboratory of Hamakawa Paper Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tatsushi Kobayashi 3-1 Yosoba-cho, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture (72) Kouichi Arishima, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor, Mamoru Hirayama 3-19 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A film base comprising: a flexible film base having a two-dimensional plane; and a plurality of flexible resin protective layers provided on both sides of the film base. An optical connecting part, wherein a plurality of optical fibers each having an end portion for optically connecting to an end are wired on at least one surface of the material and fixed by a resin protective layer. 2. Two or more flexible film-like substrates each having a two-dimensional plane, and a plurality of flexible resin protective layers provided on and between the film-like substrates. A plurality of optical fibers having an end portion for optical connection to an end portion are wired on at least one surface of each film-shaped base material, are fixed by a resin protective layer, and each film-shaped base material is An optical connecting part, wherein a laminated body is formed between protective layers. 3. The optical connection component according to claim 1, wherein the resin protective layer is formed of a gel-like or rubber-like organic material. 4. The optical connection component according to claim 1, wherein the resin protective layer is formed of a curable resin having flexibility. 5. The optical connecting component according to claim 1, wherein the resin protective layer is formed of a thermoplastic resin having flexibility. 6. A plurality of optical fibers are wired on one surface of a flexible film-shaped base material having a two-dimensional plane so as to have an end portion for optically connecting to an end of the optical fiber. Forming a first resin protective layer having flexibility so that the fiber is fixed, and then, on the other surface of the film-like base material, having flexibility made of the same or different resin material as the resin protective layer. A method for manufacturing an optical connection component, comprising forming a second resin protective layer. 7. A plurality of optical fibers are wired on one surface of a flexible film-like base material having a two-dimensional plane so as to have an end portion for optically connecting to an end of the optical fiber. A first resin protective layer having flexibility is formed so that the fiber is fixed, and then a plurality of end portions for optically connecting to an end of the optical fiber are formed on the other surface of the film-like base material. And a flexible second resin protection layer made of the same or different resin material as the resin protection layer is formed so that the wired optical fiber is fixed. How to make optical connection parts. 8. An optical connection component is produced by the production method according to claim 6 or 7, and a flexible film-like base material having a two-dimensional plane is provided on one resin protective layer of the optical connection component. Laminate and wire a plurality of optical fibers on the film-shaped substrate so as to have an end portion for optically connecting to the end of the optical fiber, and flexible so that the wired optical fiber is fixed. Forming a third resin protective layer having the following to form a laminate. 9. An optical connection component is manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 6, and the third resin protection layer according to claim 8 is formed on one resin protection layer of the optical connection component. A method for producing an optical connection component, comprising: forming a laminated structure including a plurality of film-shaped substrates and a plurality of resin protective layers to which optical fibers are fixed by repeating the steps of: 10. A plurality of film-like substrates by producing a plurality of optical connection parts by the production method according to claim 6 or 7 and sticking resin protective layers of the plurality of optical connection parts together. And forming a laminate comprising a plurality of resin protective layers to which optical fibers are fixed. 11. The method according to claim 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10, wherein the resin protective layer is provided at or near the periphery of the flexible film-shaped substrate. A method for producing an optical connection component, characterized in that the component is formed by filling a resin material inside an object.