JPH0897513A - Manufacture of microscopic optical component - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make it possible to manufacture easily a microscopic optical component on the same substrate as a substrate with a semiconductor light-emitting element formed thereon. CONSTITUTION: In a method of manufacturing a microscopic optical component, which forms the microscopic optical component 3, which condenses or guides outgoing light from a semiconductor light-emitting element 2, on the same substrate as a substrate 10 with the element 2 formed thereon, the substrate 10 is made to position in a photo-setting resin or thermosetting resin solution and while a hardening optical beam is emitted on the substrate 10, the substrate 10 is moved along the emission direction of the optical beam, whereby the component 3 is formed on the substrate 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a micro optical component for forming a micro optical component for collecting or guiding light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element on the same substrate on which the semiconductor light emitting element is formed. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A method of manufacturing such a micro optical component is a micro optical component such as a lens or an optical waveguide that collects or guides light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element on the same substrate on which the semiconductor light emitting element is formed. This is for forming the optical semiconductor component to make it smaller and more integrated. As a method of manufacturing a micro optical component, conventionally, after forming a thick film of a desired material that transmits the emitted light of the semiconductor light emitting element by a sparring method or the like on the substrate on which the semiconductor light emitting element is formed, the thick film,
There has been a method of forming by etching into a shape according to the purpose of collecting or guiding the emitted light of the semiconductor light emitting element.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, it is not easy to produce a thick film having a sufficient thickness due to the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the substrate and the constituent material of the minute optical component, and However, as the thick film becomes thicker, it becomes more difficult to perform etching into a desired shape with high accuracy, so that it is not easy to manufacture a micro optical component. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the first
The purpose of is to make it possible to easily fabricate a micro optical component on the same substrate on which the semiconductor light emitting device is fabricated. The second purpose is to achieve the first purpose while enabling the function of the micro-optical component to be manufactured to be further improved.

[0004]

A method of manufacturing a micro-optical component according to the present invention includes a micro-optical component for collecting or guiding light emitted from a semiconductor light-emitting element on the same substrate on which a semiconductor light-emitting element is formed. The first feature is that the substrate is placed in a solution of a photocurable resin or a thermosetting resin, and the substrate is irradiated with a curing light beam while the substrate is The point is that the minute optical component is formed on the substrate by moving along the irradiation direction of the curing light beam. The second feature is that, in the first feature, the material composition of the photocurable resin or the thermosetting resin is changed with the movement of the substrate in the irradiation direction of the curing light beam.

[0005]

According to the first feature of the present invention, the substrate on which the semiconductor light emitting element is formed is placed in a solution of a photocurable resin or a thermosetting resin, and a curing light beam such as a laser beam is applied to the micro-optical system. Irradiate toward the formation site of the parts. The portion irradiated with the curing light beam is cured by a photochemical reaction in the case of a photocurable resin, and is cured by the thermal energy of the curing light beam in the case of a thermosetting resin. In this state, if the substrate is moved along the irradiation direction of the curing light beam while changing the irradiation position or the beam shape of the curing light beam as necessary, a portion adjacent to the already cured portion is newly added. Harden and go. In this way, a micro-optical component having a desired shape can be manufactured at a desired position on the substrate by using the cured photocurable resin or thermosetting resin.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the substrate is moved along the irradiation direction of the curing light beam while curing the photocurable resin or the thermosetting resin, for example, the photocurable resin or The material composition of the photocurable resin or the thermosetting resin is changed by replacing the thermosetting resin with that of a different type or by mixing with a different type and changing the mixing ratio. In this way, when the material composition of the photocurable resin or the thermosetting resin is changed, the refractive index of the cured micro-optical component is changed along the moving direction of the substrate in accordance with the change of the material composition. It changes in the thickness direction of the micro optical component. If the refractive index can be changed in the thickness direction of the micro optical component, for example, an optical waveguide for confining the emitted light of the semiconductor light emitting element can be formed in the thickness direction of the micro optical component, or the thickness direction of the micro optical component can be changed. Also in, it is possible to have a function such as having a lens-like effect.

[0007]

According to the first feature, as described above, by curing the photocurable resin or the thermosetting resin with the curing light beam, the same substrate as the substrate on which the semiconductor light emitting device is manufactured can be provided. It has become possible to easily manufacture a micro optical component having a sufficient thickness and a desired shape. Second above
According to the characteristics, as described above, by changing the refractive index in the thickness direction of the micro optical component, the micro optical component can be given various functions, thereby further improving the function of the micro optical component to be manufactured. While being able to do so, it is possible to obtain the effect of the first feature.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a method of manufacturing a condenser lens integrated type semiconductor laser device to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a condenser lens integrated semiconductor laser device 1 manufactured by applying the present invention is the same as an n-type GaAs substrate 10 on which an AlGaAs semiconductor laser device 2 which is a semiconductor light emitting device is formed. On the front side of the light emitting end face FA of the semiconductor laser element 2 on the substrate in the light emitting direction, a micro collimator lens 3 which is a micro optical component that collects the emitted light of the semiconductor laser element 2 and converts it into parallel light is formed. is there.

The laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser element 2 originally has a beam shape that spreads radially, but is emitted from the semiconductor laser device 1 in a state of being converted into parallel light by the micro-collimator lens 3. By emitting the laser light converted into parallel light in this way, it can be applied to various optical devices without the need for an external collimator lens and adjustment of its mounting position.

A method of manufacturing the semiconductor laser device 1 having the above structure will be described below. First, as shown in the sectional view of FIG.
The n-type GaAs is formed on the substrate 10 of the n-type GaAs in a wafer state.
The buffer layer 20, the n-type AlGaAs clad layer 21, the undoped AlGaAs active layer 22, the p-type AlGaAs clad layer 23, and the p-type GaAs cap layer 24 are MBE.
Method, MO-CVD method, liquid phase growth method or the like, epitaxial growth is performed, and a SiO ₂ film 25 is further laminated on the p-type GaAs cap layer 24 by the CVD method or the like to form the substrate 10.
The n-side electrode 26 on the side and the p-side electrode 27 on the SiO ₂ film 25 side.
Are formed by a vacuum deposition method or the like.

Before the p-side electrode 27 is formed, the SiO ₂ film 25 is etched and removed in a stripe shape extending in the direction of the cavity of the semiconductor laser device 2 shown by the arrow A in FIG. At the portion removed by etching, the p-side electrode 27 and the p-type GaAs cap layer 24 are in contact with each other. Therefore, when a forward voltage is applied between the n-side electrode 26 and the p-side electrode 27, a current is injected through the stripe-shaped etched and removed portion.

Next, by dry etching from the p-side electrode 27 side, a trench TR having a sectional shape shown in FIG. 3 and extending in a direction perpendicular to the resonator direction shown by arrow A is formed. Groove TR
Is a depth reaching the substrate 10, the side surface of the trench TR is perpendicular to the undoped AlGaAs active layer 22, and the side surface of the trench TR is the light emitting end face F of the semiconductor laser element 2.
It becomes A. After forming the groove TR, the micro-collimator lens 3 shown in FIG. 4 is manufactured by the resin optical component manufacturing apparatus LM shown in FIG.

The resin optical component device LM is a He-Cd device.
A laser beam emitted from an ultraviolet laser 40 such as a laser or an Ar laser is guided by an optical fiber 43 so that the optical fiber 43 is placed near the liquid surface of a solution of a photo-curable resin such as an epoxy resin or a urethane acrylate resin contained in a container 41. The light beam for curing is condensed by the lens 42 provided at the end portion on the emission side to cure the photocurable resin near the liquid surface. Lens 4
2 can be freely moved by a triaxial NC table 44 whose position can be controlled in the three axes of X, Y and Z, and the focusing position of the laser light can be arbitrarily moved.

The support base 45 for supporting the substrate 10 forming the optical component is position-controllable in the Z-axis, that is, in the vertical direction.
The axis NC table 46 is configured to be vertically movable. 3-axis NC table 44, 1-axis NC table 46
The operation of the shutter 47 that opens and closes the optical path of the emitted light of the ultraviolet laser 40 is controlled by the controller 48. When manufacturing the micro-collimator lens 3 on the substrate 10, the substrate 10 processed up to the stage shown in FIG. 3 is placed on the support base 45 of the resin optical component manufacturing apparatus LM with the groove TR forming side as the upper surface.

The laser light is irradiated onto the substrate 10 in a state where the bottom surface of the groove TR of the substrate 10 is slightly submerged below the liquid surface of the photocurable resin, and thus the laser light is irradiated on the triaxial NC table 44. While scanning in the horizontal plane, at the same time, the substrate 10 is lowered by the uniaxial NC table 46 along the irradiation direction of the laser light. As a result, the photocurable resin that has been irradiated with the ultraviolet laser light cures near the liquid surface, and the microcollimator lens 3 is gradually formed on the substrate 10. The shape of the micro-collimator lens 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 is registered in the controller 48 in advance. The controller 48 indicates that the micro-collimator lens 3 having the registered shape is in a direction perpendicular to the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. Triaxial NC to be formed in a state of being aligned at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of TR
It controls the operation of the table and the 1-axis NC table 46.

When the formation of the macro-collimator lens 3 is completed, the semiconductor laser device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is completed by performing element isolation for separating the semiconductor laser device 1 from the GaAs substrate 10 in a wafer state. In the element isolation, in the direction perpendicular to the cavity direction of the semiconductor laser element 2, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the arrow A in FIG. 4, the position indicated by the arrow B in FIG. Separation is performed at the intermediate position of the formation portion, and separation is performed at the intermediate position of the micro-collimator lenses 3 arranged at equal intervals in the resonator direction of the semiconductor laser element 2, that is, in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

[Other Embodiments] Other embodiments will be listed below. In the above-described embodiment, the micro-optical component is manufactured in a state where the photo-curable resin is stored in the container 41. However, the photo-curable resin is gently flowed to switch the photo-curable resin of different material composition. Alternatively, the photo-curable resins having different material configurations may be mixed and the mixing ratio may be changed to form the micro optical component.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the photo-curable resin is irradiated with the laser beam of the ultraviolet ray to be cured to form the micro optical component. However, the thermosetting resin such as polyester is used for the carbon dioxide gas laser, the YAG laser or the like. It may be configured to be cured by thermal energy of an infrared laser.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the micro-collimator lens 3 for converting the emitted light of the semiconductor laser element 2 into parallel light is manufactured as a minute optical component is illustrated, but an optical waveguide having an arbitrary shape is formed, etc. , Various micro optical components can be manufactured.

In the above embodiment, the case where the AlGaAs semiconductor laser device 2 is manufactured as the semiconductor light emitting device is illustrated. However, instead of the AlGaAs semiconductor laser device 2, an InGaAsP semiconductor laser device or GaP semiconductor laser device is used. A semiconductor light emitting element such as a light emitting diode of a system may be manufactured.

In the above-described embodiment, the resin optical component manufacturing apparatus LM is configured to lower the substrate 10 for manufacturing the micro optical component along the irradiation direction of the laser light.
A configuration may be adopted in which the bottom surface of the container 41 is formed of a transparent body, and laser light is emitted from the bottom surface side of the container 41 to raise the substrate 10 to form the micro optical component.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the laser beam is scanned in the horizontal plane to manufacture the micro optical component having a desired shape. However, a mask having an opening of a desired shape is installed in the optical path of the laser beam, A configuration in which the substrate 10 is moved along the laser light irradiation direction while the image of the mask is formed on the substrate 10 by the lens may be used to manufacture the minute optical component.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structure of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a semiconductor laser device manufactured by applying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a manufacturing process diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a manufacturing process diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a manufacturing process diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a resin optical component manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Semiconductor light emitting element 3 Micro optical component 10 Substrate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A micro optical component (3) for collecting or guiding light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element (2) is formed on the same substrate as the substrate (10) on which the semiconductor light emitting element (2) is formed. A method of manufacturing a micro-optical component, wherein the substrate (10) is placed in a solution of a photocurable resin or a thermosetting resin, and a curing light beam is applied to the substrate (10).
A method for producing a micro optical component in which the micro optical component (3) is formed on the substrate (10) by moving the substrate (10) along the irradiation direction of the curing light beam while irradiating the micro optical component onto the substrate (10). . 2. The micro-optical component according to claim 1, wherein the material composition of the photocurable resin or the thermosetting resin is changed with the movement of the substrate (10) in the irradiation direction of the curing light beam. Manufacturing method.