JPH05150143A - Optical connector with built-in circuit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Eliminates stress on the connector body due to temperature changes and facilitates assembly. [Structure] The connector body 2 itself is made of a semiconductor material, and the circuit 6 is made of this semiconductor material.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical connector incorporating a semiconductor circuit such as a memory or a sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an optical communication line, a connector is indispensable due to its structure, and the number of lines becomes enormous as the line becomes longer. In efficiently operating and managing such a huge amount of equipment, for example, the Theological Theory (BI), J74-
BI, 1. A track facility management system as reported in pp48-57 (1991) has been developed. In other words, attach parts such as memory to the optical connector and store the important information for line design, maintenance and operation such as connection / connection status, installation location, installation time, type, material, structure, etc. in the memory. A system has been developed in which information is taken out by a controller, communicated, and managed by a host computer.

In this case, the optical connector includes a memory and an A /
A structure having an IC component such as a D converter mounted therein has been conventionally proposed. That is, one of the optical connectors shown in FIG. 2 has a connector main body 2 for guiding and fixing the optical fiber 1, and a positioning guide hole 3 for the other one connector in which the connector main body 2 is integrated. A mold portion 4 is provided, and an IC component 5 is attached to the connector body 2 as shown in FIG. 3, for example.

[0004]

However, since the IC component 5 attached to the connector body 2 is itself a heating element, and the thermal expansion coefficient of the IC component and the adhesive material and the connector body 2 are different, There is a problem that stress is applied to the connector main body 2 due to partial heating of the main body 2 and stress on the optical fiber 1, resulting in an increase in connection loss.

Further, there is a problem that the number of manufacturing steps becomes complicated when manufacturing the optical connector such as bonding the IC component 5.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an optical connector with a built-in circuit which has a small connection loss and a small number of assembling steps.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an optical connector body for holding an optical fiber and joining its end faces with a semiconductor material, and a circuit is formed in the semiconductor material itself. Is formed.

[0008]

Since the connector body is made of a semiconductor material on which the circuit itself is formed, the stress due to the difference in material is eliminated, and separate IC parts are not attached as in the conventional case, and the assembly is facilitated.

[0009]

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 1, the same parts as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 1, a connector body 2 for guiding and fixing the optical fiber 1
Is itself made of a semiconductor material such as Si or GaAs. An IC circuit 6 such as a memory or a sensor is formed on the surface of the connector body 2 which is a semiconductor material. The terminals 7 of the IC circuit 6 are attached and formed so as to project from the connector body 2. This I
The formation of the C circuit 6 is performed by a known semiconductor manufacturing technique. In this way, the circuit and the connector body 2 are integrally formed.

FIG. 4 shows the splice loss ratio according to temperature between the conventional example and the example. In the present example, the loss increases as the temperature becomes lower or higher with the room temperature of 25 ° C. as a reference. In the example, the loss is not increased and the value is almost constant.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to form a circuit in the connector body itself, no stress is generated due to a difference in thermal expansion coefficient, no increase in connection loss, and the same. The material can be packaged and the assembly work is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector body of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of one side of the optical connector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional connector body.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram of a connection loss ratio with respect to temperature.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 optical fiber 2 connector body 6 IC circuit 7 terminal

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshiaki Kakinai 1 Taya-cho, Sakae-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Yokohama Works (72) Inventor Kazuto Saito 1 Taya-cho, Sakae-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Sumitomo Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Yokohama Works (72) Inventor Fumio Otsuki 1-1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical connector with a built-in circuit in which an optical connector body for holding an optical fiber and joining its end faces to each other is formed of a semiconductor material, and a circuit is formed on the semiconductor material itself.