JP3433586B2 - Optical waveguide and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an optical waveguide and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the fields of communication, measurement and information processing,
Research on optical circuits with advanced and new functions using light is being actively conducted. Among the materials to be researched, organic materials (especially polymer materials) have the feature that they are easy to manufacture. For example, using the injection molding method,
Diffraction gratings, lenses, etc. can be manufactured with high productivity. There is also a method of forming an optical component by forming a groove and then burying an organic material in the groove. As a method for forming the groove, injection molding, embossing, NC processing, laser processing, dry etching, photopolymerization, etc. are used. As a method for embedding the organic material in the groove, a general organic material film forming method is used.

FIG. 5 is a process diagram showing a conventional method for manufacturing an optical waveguide.

First, a mold (not shown) having an inverted pattern of the waveguide core ridge is prepared in advance by photolithography and dry etching. A metal mold is pressed against the lower polymer clad 1 to transfer the waveguide core ridge pattern (substantially concave sectional shape portion) 2 (FIG. 5A).

After removing the mold, the core polymer 3 is applied on the lower polymer clad 1 by spin coating (FIG. 5 (b)).

The core polymer 3 is thermoset together with the polymer cladding 1 (FIG. 5 (c)).

The excess polymer 3a for the waveguide core, which overflows from the waveguide core ridge pattern 2, is polished and removed to obtain a polymer core 4 (FIG. 5 (d)).

An optical waveguide is manufactured by forming the upper cladding polymer 5 on the polished surface (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-11).
39304).

[0009]

However, since many organic materials have low hardness, it is difficult to make the surface of the surplus organic material into a mirror state after polishing. As a result, the propagation loss of the manufactured optical waveguide increases.

Since the height of the waveguide core is determined by the polishing amount, it is necessary to control the polishing amount accurately.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide an optical waveguide having a small propagation loss and requiring no polishing, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a central concave portion formed on a substrate and a central concave portion.
The lower polymer clad having a groove having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section formed of an end having a substantially convex shape and a core having a substantially rectangular cross section embedded in the substantially concave shape are provided .
The upper side of the Limaclad must not be covered by the upper polymeric cladding.
A waveguide that, the depth of the substantially concave-shaped portion is the co
It is characterized by being larger than the height of a.

[0013] In addition to the above structure present invention, cross-sectional width of the cross-sectional width Wridge and the substantially concave shaped portion of the substantially convex-shaped portion Wcore
May satisfy the following expression: Bridge ≧ 2 × Wcore.

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

To achieve the above object, the present invention providescross section
The shape is almost W-shapedMoldLowerPress into polymer clad
KickIt consists of a central concave portion and both end convex portions.
The depth of the concave portion is larger than the predetermined core height.
Groove with a substantially inverted W-shaped cross sectionInto the polymer claddingFormation
ThenThe groove is formedWas doneLowerFor core on polymer clad
After applying the polymer material ofThe cured poly
The upper side without polishing the materialCovered with polymer claddingU
AlsoOf.

[0018]

[0019]

[0020]

[0021]

[0022]

Since the waveguide core pattern can be formed by forming the mold and forming the film once, the number of manufacturing steps is reduced.
Further, since the polymer clad is only applied and then cured and not polished, the interface between the core and the clad is sufficiently smooth, so that scattering loss due to interface irregularity is reduced.

When the relative refractive index difference Δ between the core and the clad of the waveguide is 0.3% or more, the clad thickness Wridge is set to 2-3 times the core thickness Wcore so that the light propagating through the core is Leakage is greatly reduced. Therefore, an optical waveguide with a small propagation loss can be obtained.

In optical signal processing, it is necessary to exchange optical signals by optical coupling between two or more waveguides. By having at least one part for guiding light and a part for optically coupling between the optical waveguides, which is formed in the clad having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section, it is possible to manufacture an optical circuit for performing complicated signal processing. Become.

Two or more waveguides are provided because the cross-sectional width Wridge of the substantially convex-shaped portions at both ends of the substantially W-shaped cross-section of the portion to be optically coupled is not more than the cross-sectional width Wcore of the substantially concave central portion. In between, it becomes possible to optically couple through the excess polymer portion. Further, when the light is optically coupled through the excess polymer portion, the light coupling state varies depending on the shape of the excess polymer. Therefore, direct optical coupling between the optical waveguides is required to accurately control the optical coupling. At least two of the light coupling parts
By combining the substantially convex-shaped portions between the two waveguide cores to form one substantially convex-shaped portion, it becomes possible to form an optical waveguide coupling portion that directly optically couples.

It is necessary to produce an organic core film of several μm to several hundreds of μm depending on the core height of the waveguide. The required core film thickness can be obtained by using either the spin coating method or the dip coating method as the method of filling the polymer material into the substantially concave portion at the center of the groove having the substantially inverted W-shaped cross section.

By using any one of polymethylmethacrylate, polyimide and polycarbonate epoxy resin as the polymer material of the core, the use etc. (or heat resistance,
An optical waveguide suitable for light absorption at hygroscopicity, cost, wavelength used) can be manufactured.

The surface shape after the core polymer is applied by the spin coating method or the dip coating method depends on the surface tension of the applied film. When the surface tension is high, the polymer film adheres to the side surfaces of the two substantially concave portions, and it becomes impossible to form a core having a substantially rectangular cross section. Therefore, the surface tension must be less than a certain value. Here, since the surface tension and the viscosity are in a proportional relationship,
There is a maximum value for the viscosity of the core polymer used in the present invention. By limiting the viscosity of the polymer material to about 5 Pa · s or less, the surface tension of the core film is reduced, and it becomes easy to form a core having a substantially rectangular cross section of the waveguide.

By forming the optical waveguide pattern by a single embossing, steps such as polishing and double injection forming are unnecessary, and the optical waveguide can be manufactured with high productivity.

The core width of the waveguide and the processing accuracy of the core differ depending on the purpose of use of the optical waveguide. By forming the mold by electron beam lithography, etching, NC processing, or the like, it is possible to select a manufacturing method of the optical waveguide in consideration of processing cost, processing accuracy, processing time, and the like.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the optical waveguide of the present invention.

In the figure, a groove 11 having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section is formed on the upper surface of the lower polymer clad 10. A polymer core 13a having a substantially rectangular cross-section is formed in a substantially concave-shaped portion 12 at the center of the groove 11 having a substantially W-shaped cross section.
The upper side of the lower polymer clad 10 is the upper side of the polymer clad 1.
4 and the excess polymer 13b is present in the gap between the polymer clads 10 and 14. Reference numeral 15 is a substantially convex-shaped portion of the groove 11 having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section. That is, the groove 11 having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross-section has the substantially concave-shaped portions 12 and 2.
And one substantially convex-shaped portion 15.

Next, a method of manufacturing the optical waveguide shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a process chart showing a method of manufacturing the optical waveguide shown in FIG. Regarding the surplus polymer 13b,
It is enlarged in the thickness direction for easy understanding.

Fluorinated polymethylmethacrylate is applied onto a 1 mm thick SiO ₂ substrate (not shown) by spin coating and dried to form a lower polymer clad having a thickness of 20 μm. Next, the lower polymer clad 10 is heated together with the substrate to 150 ° C., and a die is pressed to form a pattern of grooves 11 having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section on the upper surface of the lower polymer clad 10 (FIG. )).

A core polymer material (for example, polymethylmethacrylate) 13 is applied onto this pattern by spin coating (FIG. 2C).

When the polymethylmethacrylate 13 is applied and cured by heating at 150 ° C., the core polymer material 13 shrinks. At this time, the action of the two substantially convex-shaped portions 16 of the pattern of the groove 11 having the substantially inverted W-shaped cross-sectional shape is performed.
3a is formed in a substantially rectangular cross section. The upper polymer clad 1 and the upper polymer clad 1 on the polymer core 13a.
An embedded optical waveguide is formed by spin-coating and heat-curing 4.

Here, the width of the polymer core of the formed optical waveguide is 10 μm and the height is 10 μm, and the widths of the substantially convex portions 15 on both sides thereof are 30 μm and the height is 10 μm (FIG. 2 (d )).

As the polymer material for the waveguide, various materials can be used depending on the use environment and purpose. Table 1 shows the features of waveguides made of various materials by the above method.

[0042]

[Table 1]

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views showing another embodiment of the optical waveguide of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a top view of the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer,
FIG.3 (b) is the AA sectional view taken on the line. FIG. 4A is a top view of another optical multiplexer / demultiplexer, and FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along line BB thereof.

In the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), two sets of grooves 21, 22 having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section are formed on the lower polymer clad 20. The groove 21 includes a substantially concave-shaped portion 23 and two substantially convex-shaped portions 24 formed on both sides of the substantially concave-shaped portion 23. The groove 22 includes a substantially concave-shaped portion 25 and two substantially convex-shaped portions 26 formed on both sides of the substantially concave-shaped portion 25. Polymer cores 27a and 27b each having a substantially rectangular cross section are formed on both of the substantially concave portions 23 and 25, respectively. The upper side of the lower polymer clad 20 is covered with an upper polymer clad 28, and a surplus polymer 27c is interposed in the gap between the polymer clads 20 and 28.

The optical multiplexer / demultiplexer shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) is formed by joining two sets of grooves 31 and 32 having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section on the lower polymer clad 30. ing. The groove 31 includes a substantially concave portion 33 and two substantially convex portions 34 formed on both sides of the substantially concave portion 33. The groove 32 includes a substantially concave portion 35 and two substantially convex portions 36 formed on both sides of the substantially concave portion 35. Polymer cores 37a and 37b each having a substantially rectangular cross section are formed on both of the substantially concave portions 33 and 35, respectively. The upper side of the lower polymer clad 30 is covered with the upper polymer clad 38, and a surplus polymer 37c is interposed in the gap between the both polymer clads 30 and 38.

Both optical multiplexers / demultiplexers were manufactured by the same method as the embodiment shown in FIG. All of the optical multiplexers / demultiplexers showed the same optical characteristics as the optical multiplexer / demultiplexer produced by dry etching.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the spin coating method is used for forming the polymer film. Generally, the maximum film thickness (limit film thickness) that can be formed by one-time film formation is 10 μm by the spin coating method, though it depends on the viscosity of the polymer solution and the forming conditions (atmosphere, temperature, rotation speed or pulling speed).
It is about 100 μm by the dip coating method. Further, in the vicinity of the condition of the limit film thickness, an in-plane distribution of the film thickness is likely to occur and it is difficult to form a high quality film. Therefore, it is desirable to use the dip coating method when the core size of the waveguide is 20 μm or more. Further, in order to suppress the in-plane distribution of the film thickness to 5% or less even in the film formation of about 10 μm, it is preferable to form the two-layer film formation of 5 μm.

As a method of manufacturing the mold, dry etching was used in the embodiment shown in FIGS. The dry etching method is very effective when the core width is narrow and the core height is not so large (10 cores each).
μm). However, as the etching depth (= core height) increases (about 100 μm), the shape (verticality) of the etched side surface becomes worse. In such a case, the electron beam lithographic method can be used to fabricate a mold having good verticality on the etched side surface. When the etching depth and etching width (= core width) are both large (100
If a machining method such as NC processing is used, it is possible to manufacture a die at low cost.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects are exhibited.

On both sides of the substantially concave-shaped portion for the waveguide core, substantially convex-shaped portions higher than the surface of the clad are provided , that is, substantially convex-shaped portions.
By making the depth of the concave portion larger than the height of the waveguide core, it is possible to form a polymer core having a substantially rectangular cross section in one step without polishing the excess polymer cladding. Moreover, since no polishing or the like is performed, the propagation loss of the waveguide is reduced. Furthermore, once one die is manufactured, the optical waveguide can be easily mass-produced without going through complicated steps. In short, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an optical waveguide having a small propagation loss and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0052]

In an optical waveguide including a clad formed on a substrate and having a groove having a substantially concave cross section, and a core embedded in the groove and having a substantially rectangular cross section, a cross section perpendicular to the propagation direction of the light beam of the core. Since the clad has a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section, it is possible to realize an optical waveguide having a small propagation loss and a method for manufacturing the optical waveguide.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an optical waveguide of the present invention.

2A to 2D are process diagrams showing a method for manufacturing the optical waveguide shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the optical waveguide of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing still another embodiment of the optical waveguide of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a process chart showing a conventional method of manufacturing an optical waveguide.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Clad (lower polymer clad) 11 Groove (substantially inverted W-shaped cross section) 13a core (polymer core) 13b surplus polymer 14 Upper polymer clad

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/122 G02B 6/13

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A central substantially concave portion formed on a substrate and both
The lower polymer clad having a groove having a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section formed of an end having a substantially convex shape and a core having a substantially rectangular cross section embedded in the substantially concave shape are provided .
The upper side of the Limaclad must not be covered by the upper polymeric cladding.
A waveguide that, the depth of the substantially concave-shaped portion is the co
An optical waveguide characterized by being larger than the height of a . 2. A relationship between the upper Symbol substantially convex-shaped portion of the cross-sectional width Wridge and cross-sectional width Wcore the <br/> substantially concave shaped portion satisfies the following equation Wridge ≧ 2 × Wcore claim 1 optical described Waveguide. 3. A die having a substantially W-shaped cross section is attached to a lower polymer.
By pressing it against the clad, the concave part at the center and the convex parts at both ends
The shape of the substantially concave shape is a predetermined depth.
Grooves with a substantially inverted W-shaped cross section that is larger than the height
Lower polymer mold formed on the clad and having the grooves
Apply the core polymer material on the
The top polymer without polishing the cured polymer material.
A method of manufacturing an optical waveguide covered with a clad .