An optoelectronic communication device

Abstract

The present invention discloses an optoelectronic communication device, which includes an optical fiber and a microlens component; the microlens component includes a micro-convex lens and a connecting portion integrally formed with the micro-convex lens, and a limiting hole corresponding to the optical axis of the micro-convex lens is provided on the connecting portion; the shape of the limiting hole matches the shape of the end portion of the optical fiber, and the end portion of the optical fiber is inserted into the limiting hole. In this application, a micro-convex lens with a converging effect on light waves is connected and arranged on the optical fiber to reduce the coupling loss generated during the transmission of optical signals between the silicon optical chip and the optical fiber; and the precise alignment of the relative positions between the end portion of the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens is realized through the limiting hole on the connecting portion, reducing the difficulty of aligning and assembling the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens. Therefore, this application can not only ensure the coupling efficiency between the optical fiber and the silicon optical chip, but also reduce the device assembly difficulty.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of optoelectronic communication technologies, and particularly to an optoelectronic communication device. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of technologies such as optical communication and the Internet, the speed of data transmission and processing is gradually developing towards higher speed requirements. Since silicon photon devices can be integrated with microelectronic integrated circuits to achieve high-performance, low-cost, small-size, and high-integration on-chip optical interconnection, silicon-based optoelectronic devices have become one of the popular research devices for high-speed optical communication devices. The key to the silicon-based optoelectronic chip packaging technology is to achieve the coupling connection between the optical signals inside the chip and the external optical signals, and the optical signal coupling transmission between the silicon optical chip and the optical fiber is one of the commonly used optical signal coupling communication transmission methods.

[0003] In the existing technologies for realizing optical signal communication by coupling optical signals between silicon-based optoelectronic devices and optical fibers, mode field mismatch often occurs, resulting in a relatively large coupling loss. Therefore, how to improve the mode field matching degree between the silicon optical chip and the optical fiber, and thus improve the coupling efficiency is one of the problems that need to be solved in the industry. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an optoelectronic communication device that can improve the coupling efficiency of optical signal transmission between the silicon optical chip and the optical fiber in the optoelectronic communication device.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides an optoelectronic communication device, including an optical fiber and a microlens component;

[0006] Wherein, the microlens component includes a micro-convex lens and a connecting portion integrally formed with the micro-convex lens, and a limiting hole corresponding to the optical axis of the micro-convex lens is provided on the connecting portion; the shape of the limiting hole matches the shape of the end of the optical fiber, and the end of the optical fiber is inserted into the limiting hole; the micro-convex lens and the connecting portion are fixedly connected.

[0007] In an optional embodiment of the present application, the microlens component is an optical component formed by combining a cube structure and a convex lens structure attached to the side surface of the cube structure into an integrally formed structure, and a blind hole serving as the limiting hole is provided on the surface of the cube structure facing away from the convex lens structure.

[0008] In an optional embodiment of the present application, the blind hole on the light-transmitting structure is a hole-shaped structure processed by MEMS technology.

[0009] In an alternative embodiment of the present application, the number of the optical fibers is multiple; the microlens component includes a plurality of the micro-convex lenses arranged linearly, and each of the micro-convex lenses is provided with a corresponding connecting portion; an integrally formed structure is provided between the micro-convex lenses, between the connecting portions, and between each micro-convex lens and the corresponding connecting portion.

[0010] An optoelectronic communication device provided by the present invention includes an optical fiber and a microlens component; wherein, the microlens component includes a micro-convex lens and a connecting portion integrally formed with the micro-convex lens, and a limiting hole corresponding to the optical axis of the micro-convex lens is provided on the connecting portion; the shape of the limiting hole matches the shape of the end portion of the optical fiber, and the end portion of the optical fiber is inserted into the limiting hole; a fixed connection is provided between the micro-convex lens and the connecting portion.

[0011] In the present application, considering that for a silicon photonics chip, the size of its communication end face is limited by the thickness dimension of the silicon photonics chip, generally less than 1 um, while the cross-sectional diameter of a single-mode optical fiber is generally about 8 um to 10 um. Therefore, when optical signal coupling transmission is performed between the silicon photonics chip and the optical fiber, the coupling loss of optical signal communication transmission between the two is often large due to the mismatch in size between the communication end face of the silicon photonics chip and the end face of the optical fiber. For this reason, in the present application, a micro-convex lens is connected and arranged on the optical fiber. Through the converging effect of the micro-convex lens on light waves, the optical wave signal is coupled between the optical fiber and the silicon photonics chip on the basis of reducing the light wave signal spot size by condensing the light wave through the micro-convex lens, thereby avoiding the generation of coupling loss during the optical signal transmission process; on this basis, further considering that the end face of the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens, etc. all belong to micron-level devices, in order to ensure the matching accuracy of the relative positions between the end portion of the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens, a limiting hole corresponding to the micro-convex lens is further provided on the connecting portion integrally formed with the micro-convex lens. When the end portion of the optical fiber is inserted into the limiting hole, it is equivalent to realizing the direct fixed connection between the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens, avoiding excessive intermediate connecting pieces, and thus simplifying the processing and assembly difficulty of the connecting components between the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens to a certain extent and reducing the processing cost and assembly cost.

[0012] It can be seen that in the present application, on the basis of ensuring high-efficiency optical signal coupling between the optical fiber and the silicon photonics chip, the assembly difficulty of the entire device can be reduced, and further the production cost of the device can be reduced. Description of the Drawings

[0013] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0014] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the assembly of the microlens component and the optical fiber end provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0015] Figure 2 Another schematic diagram of the connection between the microlens component and the optical fiber end provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0016] Figure 3 Exploded structure schematic diagram of the optoelectronic communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 4 Assembly structure schematic diagram of the optoelectronic communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0018] In an optoelectronic communication device based on a silicon photonics device, it is necessary to realize the coupled transmission of optical wave signals between a silicon photonics chip and an optical fiber. The side surface of the silicon photonics chip is also the communication end surface for outputting and receiving optical signals. Obviously, the size of this communication end surface is limited by the thickness of the silicon photonics chip. The thickness of this silicon photonics chip is generally within 1um, that is to say, this silicon photonics chip can only receive optical signals with a spot size smaller than 1um. Otherwise, the optical signals outside the 1um spot will be lost; for an optical fiber, mainly a single-mode optical fiber, the diameter of the end surface for outputting and receiving optical signals is 8um - 10um. Obviously, for an optical fiber, the spot size of the optical signal output by it should be comparable to the end surface size of the optical fiber; thus, for the optical signal directly output from the end of the optical fiber, the silicon photonics chip obviously cannot receive all of them.

[0019] As mentioned above, because the end surface size of the optical fiber is much larger than the thickness of the silicon photonics chip, when the silicon photonics chip outputs an optical signal to the optical fiber, if the end surface of the silicon photonics chip and the end surface of the optical fiber are directly attached close enough, obviously the optical signal can be well coupled into the optical fiber. On the contrary, when the optical fiber outputs an optical signal to the silicon photonics chip, because the size of the silicon photonics chip is too small, it causes the silicon photonics chip to be unable to completely receive all the optical signals, thereby resulting in a low coupling efficiency between the silicon photonics chip and the optical fiber.

[0020] Therefore, the present application proposes a technical solution that can improve the coupling efficiency between the silicon photonics chip and the optical fiber.

[0021] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without making creative efforts fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0022] As Figures 1 to 4 shown, Figure 1 This is a schematic assembly diagram of the microlens component and the end of the optical fiber provided by the embodiment of the present application, Figure 2 This is another schematic structural diagram of the connection between the microlens component and the end of the optical fiber provided by the embodiment of the present application; Figure 3 This is an exploded structural diagram of the optoelectronic communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application, Figure 4 This is a schematic assembly diagram of the optoelectronic communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application. The optoelectronic communication device may include:

[0023] Optical fiber 2 and microlens component 3;

[0024] The microlens component 3 includes a micro-convex lens 31 and a connecting portion 32 integrally formed with the micro-convex lens 31; a limiting hole 321 corresponding to the optical axis of the micro-convex lens 31 is provided on the connecting portion 32, and the shape and size of the limiting hole 321 are matched with the shape and size of the end of the optical fiber 2, and the end of the optical fiber 2 is inserted into the limiting hole 321; the micro-convex lens 31 and the connecting portion 32 are fixedly connected,

[0025] Taking the example of realizing optical signal communication between this optoelectronic communication device and a silicon optical chip;

[0026] The microlens component 3 is disposed between the silicon optical chip 1 and the optical fiber 2;

[0027] Among them, the communication end face 11 of the silicon optical chip 1 is located on the side facing the micro-convex lens 31, so as to form an optical signal path between the communication end face 11 of the silicon optical chip 1, the micro-convex lens 31, and the end face of the optical fiber 2.

[0028] It should be noted that the reason for the low coupling efficiency of the optical signal between the silicon optical chip 1 and the optical fiber 2 is that there is a large difference in the sizes between the communication end face 11 of the silicon optical chip 1 and the end face of the optical fiber 2, and the sizes of the communication end face 11 of the silicon optical chip 1 and the end face of the optical fiber 2 respectively determine the maximum spot sizes of the optical signals that can be transmitted by each, resulting in the problem that the spot sizes of the optical signals that can be transmitted by the two do not match and thus the coupling efficiency is low. To improve the coupling efficiency between the two, it is necessary to ensure that the spot of the optical signal transmitted between the silicon optical chip 1 and the optical fiber 2 is modulated to a size that can be almost completely received and coupled by both the silicon optical chip 1 and the optical fiber 2.

[0029] To this end, in the present application, it is considered to provide a microlens component 3 between the silicon photonics chip 1 and the optical fiber 2. The microlens component 3 includes a micro-convex lens 31. Based on the light-concentrating effect of the micro-convex lens 31, the optical signal output from the end of the optical fiber 2 can be first concentrated through the light-concentrating effect of the micro-convex lens 31, thereby greatly reducing the spot size corresponding to the optical wave signal output from the end of the optical fiber 2. Then, the concentrated optical wave signal is coupled into the silicon photonics chip 1. Since the optical wave signal has been concentrated by the micro-convex lens 31, its spot size is reduced and can better match the size of the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonics chip 1, thereby improving the coupling efficiency of the optical signal coupled into the silicon photonics chip 1.

[0030] When the silicon photonics chip 1 couples an optical signal into the optical fiber 2, since the spot size of the optical signal output from the silicon photonics chip 1 is relatively small with respect to the optical fiber 2, as long as the alignment between the silicon photonics chip 1 and the optical fiber 2 is accurate, there will be no problem of low coupling efficiency. Therefore, after the light-concentrating effect of the micro-convex lens 31, the coupling efficiency of the optical signal is further improved.

[0031] Based on optical common sense, to achieve the optical signal coupling between the silicon photonics chip 1 and the optical fiber 2, an optical signal path needs to be formed between the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonics chip 1 and the end face of the optical fiber 2. Obviously, to form this optical signal path, the relative position between the micro-convex lens 31 and the end of the optical fiber 2 needs to meet a certain alignment accuracy. However, for the optical fiber 2 and the silicon photonics chip 1, they are both micron-level devices, and the corresponding micro-convex lens 31 for each optical fiber should also be a micron-level lens. To achieve the precise alignment of the relative positions between the micro-convex lens 31 and the optical fiber end face, that is, to achieve the fixed installation of the precise alignment of the relative positions between micron-scale small components, obviously this installation difficulty is relatively large. To this end, in the present application, a limit hole 321 for accommodating the end of the optical fiber is further provided on the connecting portion; as Figure 1 shown by the arrow direction, which is also the direction in which the end of the optical fiber is inserted into the limit hole 321.

[0032] Meanwhile, the connecting portion 32 and the micro-lenslet 31 are integrally formed, and a limiting hole 321 corresponding to the micro-lenslet 31 is provided on the connecting portion 32. The end of the optical fiber 2 can be inserted into the limiting hole 321, thereby fixing the relative positions between the micro-lenslet 31 and the end of the optical fiber. Therefore, to achieve precise alignment of the relative positions between the micro-lenslet 31 and the end of the optical fiber, it can be directly achieved by reasonably setting the relative positions between the micro-lenslet 31 and the limiting hole 321 on the connecting portion 32. On this basis, after assembling the connecting portion 32 with the end of the optical fiber through the limiting hole 321, that is, achieving precise alignment installation of the relative positions between the micro-lenslet 31 and the end of the optical fiber, without repeatedly adjusting the relative positions between the two when assembling the micro-lenslet 31 and the end of the optical fiber, thus greatly reducing the difficulty of alignment installation between the end of the optical fiber and the micro-lenslet 31.

[0033] It should be noted that the micro-lenslet 31 and the connecting portion 32 can also be of a split structure. For example, the connecting portion 32 can be a component that can inlay the micro-lenslet 31 on one side and the end of the optical fiber on the other side. For example, a ring frame matching the shape of the micro-lenslet can be provided on one side of the connecting portion 32, and a limiting hole 321 matching the end of the optical fiber is provided on the other side, and the central axis of symmetry of the ring frame and the central axis of symmetry of the limiting hole 321 should coincide. The space inside the ring frame and the limiting hole 321 can be interconnected, or there can be a light-transmitting medium layer between the two. When the micro-lenslet 31 and the end of the optical fiber 2 are respectively nested and connected with the connecting member, the alignment and assembly between the micro-lenslet 31 and the end of the optical fiber can be achieved.

[0034] However, obviously, this kind of connection structure requires machining more limiting connection structures on the connecting portion 32. The two parts connecting the optical fiber 2 and the micro-lenslet 32 also require precise alignment, and more components need to be assembled, which increases the difficulty and cost of machining and assembly to a certain extent.

[0035] Therefore, in this embodiment, a limiting hole 321 for connecting the optical fiber 2 is machined on the integrally formed connecting member 32 of the micro-lens.

[0036] It is equivalent to directly realizing the fixed connection between the micro-lens and the optical fiber, and then realizing the relative alignment between the micro-lens and the end of the optical fiber, simplifying the connection structure of the alignment connection between the optical fiber and the micro-lenslet, and reducing the difficulty and cost of machining and assembly.

[0037] In order to enable the optical signal channel between the silicon photonics chip and the optical fiber to have a high coupling efficiency for optical signal transmission, in addition to a certain relative position relationship being required between the micro-convex lens 31 and the end of the optical fiber, a certain positional relationship is also required between the micro-convex lens 31 and the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonics chip 1. A method similar to the alignment between the micro-convex lens 31 and the end of the optical fiber can also be adopted, and the micro-convex lens 31 and the silicon photonics chip 1 are respectively connected through a connecting component, thereby realizing the precise alignment of the relative position relationship between the micro-convex lens 31 and the silicon photonics chip 1.

[0038] In summary, in the optoelectronic communication device of the present application, in order to improve the coupling efficiency of the optical signal transmitted between the silicon photonics chip and the optical fiber, a microlens component including a micro-convex lens is additionally provided between the silicon photonics chip and the optical fiber. By using the light-concentrating effect of the micro-convex lens, the optical signal transmitted between the optical fiber and the silicon photonics chip is converged, thereby solving the problem of low optical signal coupling efficiency caused by the mismatch between the thickness dimension of the silicon photonics chip and the end face diameter of the optical fiber; and on this basis, considering that it is difficult to accurately align the relative positions between the end of the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens, the precise alignment between the end of the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens is further realized through a connecting piece, thereby reducing the installation difficulty of the two on the basis of ensuring the accurate alignment of the installation between the end of the optical fiber and the micro-convex lens. Thus, it can be seen that the optoelectronic communication device provided by the present application can not only ensure the optical signal coupling efficiency between the silicon photonics chip and the optical fiber, but also avoid the problem of great installation difficulty.

[0039] Based on any of the above embodiments, in order to introduce the connection structure between the micro-convex lens 31, the optical fiber end face, and the connecting portion 32 in more detail, the following will be illustrated by more specific embodiments.

[0040] Taking the case where the optical signal between the optical fiber 2 and the silicon photonics chip 1 is transmitted along a substantially straight optical path as an example, the central axis of the optical fiber end face needs to coincide with the optical axis of the micro-convex lens 31 and be perpendicular to the optical fiber end face and the communication end face 11.

[0041] To make the central axis of the end of the optical fiber coincide with the optical axis of the micro-convex lens 31, the assembly difficulty is relatively large. Therefore, in the present application, the micro-convex lens 31 is further connected to the connecting portion 32, and a limiting hole 321 is provided on the connecting portion 32, and the end of the optical fiber 2 can be inserted into the limiting hole 321.

[0042] In an alternative embodiment of the present application, the microlens component 31 is an optical component formed by combining a cube structure and a convex lens structure attached to the side surface of the cube structure into an integrally formed structure, and a blind hole serving as the limiting hole 321 is provided on the surface of the cube structure facing away from the convex lens structure.

[0043] Refer to Figure 1 ,Figure 1 The micro lens component 3 can be generally regarded as a three-dimensional structure formed by splicing a convex lens structure formed by a partial sphere and a cubic structure. The three-dimensional structure is a light-transmitting component. Obviously, the partial sphere of the light-transmitting component is equivalent to the micro-element convex lens 31, and the cubic structure is equivalent to the connecting piece. A blind hole is provided at the center of the side of the cubic structure away from the convex lens structure, and the blind hole is also the limit hole 321 that matches the end of the optical fiber. When the end of the optical fiber is inserted into the limit hole 321, it is obvious that the central axis of the limit hole 321 coincides with the central axis of the convex lens structure. Thus, the alignment installation between the end of the optical fiber and the micro-element convex lens 31 can be achieved, without repeatedly adjusting the relative position between the end of the optical fiber and the micro-element convex lens, reducing the difficulty of accurate alignment between the two during assembly.

[0044] In addition, for the cubic structure, only the portion on the optical path from the limiting hole 321 to the micro-element convex lens 31 may be formed of a light-transmitting material, and the other portions may be light-transmitting or not, and no specific limitation is made in this application.

[0045] As mentioned above, for Figure 1 As shown, it is an embodiment that the optical signal between the silicon photonic chip 1 and the optical fiber 2 is transmitted roughly along a straight optical path. In actual application, based on the installation space requirements or other reasons, the optical path between the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonic chip 1 and the optical fiber end face of the optical fiber 2 can also be a deflected optical signal channel.

[0046] like Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 The microlens component 3 shown in the figure can be regarded as an integrally formed three-dimensional structure formed by splicing a convex lens structure formed by a partial sphere and a right-angle prism, and the integrally formed three-dimensional structure is also a light-transmitting component. The difference is that a reflective film layer should be provided on the oblique surface of the right-angle prism part in the three-dimensional structure. Therefore, one right-angle surface of the right-angle prism fits the partial sphere equivalent to the micro-element convex lens 31, and a blind hole is provided on the other right-angle surface. The blind hole is also the limiting hole 321 for inserting the end of the optical fiber. The straight line where the central axis of symmetry of the blind hole and the central axis of symmetry of the micro-element convex lens 31 are located both pass through the center of the oblique surface of the right-angle prism, and the two central axes of symmetry are perpendicular to each other. Then, the optical signal output from the end of the optical fiber can be incident on the micro-element convex lens 32 through the reflection effect of the reflective film layer on the oblique surface. The transmission path of the optical path can refer to Figure 2 The direction of the arrow.

[0047] based on Figure 2It can be understood that based on the light reflection effect of the bevel surface of the right-angled triangular prism in the microlens component 3, a 90-degree right-angle deflection can be introduced into the optical signal channel between the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonics chip 1 and the end face of the optical fiber 2, and the optical signal path between the optical fiber 2 and the silicon photonics chip 1 can also be achieved. Combining with the common knowledge of optical wave transmission, it can be determined that by reasonably setting the shape and structure of the microlens component 3, or adding some other optical elements that can deflect the optical path in the optical path, an angular deflection of the optical signal path between the end face of the optical fiber and the silicon photonics chip 1 can be achieved without affecting the optical signal transmission between the silicon photonics chip 1 and the optical fiber 2 in this application.

[0048] The above Figure 2 shows an embodiment in which when the micro-convex lens 31 and the connecting portion 32 are integrally formed, the optical path between the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonics chip 1 and the end face of the optical fiber 2 is deflected. Other optical elements can also be provided between the communication end face 11 and the end face of the optical fiber based on actual application requirements, and specific limitations are not made in this application.

[0049] In addition, for the above Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown micro-convex lens 31, its structure is equivalent to a light-transmitting structure of a partial sphere, that is to say, the micro-convex lens 31 can be a centrosymmetric lens structure. However, in fact, for the silicon photonics chip 1, its main limitation in light coupling efficiency is the too small size in the thickness direction. Therefore, when actually converging the optical wave signal output from the end of the optical fiber 2 using the micro-convex lens 31, a micro-convex lens 31 with a partial cylindrical structure symmetric about the axis can be considered, that is to say, the outer convex surface of the micro-convex lens 31 is a partial cylindrical side surface. Obviously, when relatively installing the micro-convex lens 31 and the silicon photonics chip 1, the axis of symmetry of the micro-convex lens 31 should be parallel to the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonics chip 1 and perpendicular to the thickness direction of the silicon photonics chip 1.

[0050] As mentioned above, for the micro-convex lens 31, it belongs to a lens structure in the micron scale. Obviously, the connecting portion 32 and the limiting hole 321 on the connecting portion 32 also need to be set to micron-scale dimensions. Therefore, machining the limiting hole 321 on the connecting portion 32 is also a fine machining in the micron scale.

[0051] For this reason, in an optional embodiment of this application, the limiting hole 321 on the connecting portion 32 can be formed by MEMS process to ensure the accuracy of the formed limiting hole 321.

[0052] In addition, when the end of the optical fiber is inserted into the limiting hole 321 for fixed installation, a small amount of glue can be filled in the limiting hole 321 and cured by ultraviolet irradiation to achieve a firm connection between the end of the optical fiber and the connecting portion 32.

[0053] In addition, in the present application, a limiting hole 321 for accommodating the end of the optical fiber is provided on the connecting portion 32. Since the connecting portion 32 and the micro-lens convex lens 31 are fixedly connected to form a micro-lens component 3, the alignment and assembly of the relative positions between the micro-lens convex lens 31 and the end of the optical fiber are realized. For the micro-lens convex lens 31, the relative position between it and the silicon photonic chip 1 also needs to be assembled and aligned with a certain accuracy.

[0054] In practical applications, components such as intermediate connectors can be considered to be provided to respectively limit and fix the installation positions of the micro-lens convex lens 31 and the silicon photonic chip 1, thereby ensuring the precise alignment of the micro-lens convex lens 31 relative to the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonic chip 1 and ensuring good optical signal coupling efficiency between the silicon photonic chip 1 and the optical fiber 2.

[0055] In an alternative embodiment of the present application, further considering that the silicon photonic chip 1 is generally fixedly installed on the silicon substrate 4, for this purpose, a first limiting groove 41 and a second limiting groove 42 can be respectively provided on the silicon substrate 4. The first limiting groove 41 is used to limit the position of installing the silicon photonic chip 1, and the second limiting groove 42 is used to limit the installation position of the micro-lens component 3.

[0056] It can be understood that by reasonably setting the relative positions between the first limiting groove 41 and the second limiting groove 42, the silicon photonic chip 1 provided in the first limiting groove 41 and the micro-lens component 3 provided in the second limiting groove 42 can meet the requirements of the coupling optical path.

[0057] In an alternative embodiment of the present application, in order to further ensure the coupling efficiency of the optical signal transmitted between the silicon photonic chip 1 and the optical fiber 2, the distance between the focal point of the micro-lens convex lens 31 in the micro-lens component 3 and the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonic chip 1 should be within 5um.

[0058] Obviously, in the embodiment of using the first limiting groove 41 and the second limiting groove 42 on the above-mentioned silicon substrate 4 to limit and fix the relative positions of the silicon photonic chip 1 and the micro-lens component 3, the distance between the micro-lens convex lens 31 and the communication end face 11 of the silicon photonic chip 1 can be set within 5um by reasonably setting the relative distance between the first limiting groove 41 and the second limiting groove 42.

[0059] In addition, using the first limiting groove 41 and the second limiting groove 42 to fixedly arrange the silicon photonic chip 1 and the micro-lens component 3 on the silicon substrate 4 can also reduce the overall thickness of the components composed of the silicon photonic chip 1, the micro-lens component 3 and the silicon substrate 4 to a certain extent, making this thickness about 200um, which is beneficial to the miniaturization of the entire optoelectronic communication device.

[0060] Of course, it can be understood that embodiments in which other mechanisms for limiting the installation positions of the silicon photonics chip 1 and the microlens component 3 are directly provided on the silicon substrate 4 are not excluded in this application. Or, if the fixed installation accuracy of the silicon photonics chip 1 and the microlens component 3 can meet the requirements, the technical solution of this application can also be realized by directly fixing and installing the silicon photonics chip 1 and the microlens component 3 at reasonable relative positions without using the limiting components.

[0061] In the optoelectronic communication device, the silicon substrate 4 also needs to be installed on the PCB board 5 so that the circuits on the silicon photonics chip 1 and the PCB board 5 are connected. For this purpose, in an optional embodiment of this application, the PCB board 5 can be further provided with a third limiting groove 51, and thus the silicon substrate 4 can be installed in the third limiting groove 51 to further reduce the thickness of the entire optoelectronic communication device.

[0062] In order to improve the assembly accuracy of the entire optoelectronic communication device, the above-mentioned first limiting groove 41, second limiting groove 42, and third limiting groove 43 can all be processed by MEMS technology. When the silicon photonics chip 1, the microlens component 3, and the silicon substrate 4 are respectively arranged in the first limiting groove 41, the second limiting groove 42, and the third limiting groove 43, adhesive connection can be realized by means of glue filling, and when the depth of the limiting groove is too large, a certain thickness can be compensated by glue.

[0063] Based on the above embodiments, in the actual application process, each silicon photonics chip 1 generally needs to perform optical signal communication with multiple optical fibers 2 at the same time. The ends of the optical fibers 2 can be arranged in a linear array, and the arrangement direction is parallel to the length direction of the long and narrow communication end face 11 of the silicon photonics chip 1. In an optional embodiment of this application, in order to further simplify the installation between the microlens component 3 and the end of the optical fiber, it can further include:

[0064] The microlens component 3 includes a plurality of micro-element convex lenses 31 arranged linearly, and each micro-element convex lens 31 is correspondingly connected with a connecting portion 32; between the micro-element convex lenses 31, between the connecting portions 32, and between each micro-element convex lens 31 and the connecting portion 32 are all integral structures.

[0065] Refer to Figure 1 , in this embodiment, one side surface of the microlens component 3 has a plurality of linearly arranged curved convex surfaces, and the other side has a plurality of blind holes respectively corresponding to the curved convex surfaces. The blind holes are the limiting holes 321 for arranging the ends of the optical fibers, and the curved convex surfaces are the optical interfaces of the micro-element convex lenses.

[0066] In this embodiment, each micro convex lens 31, each connecting part 32, and the micro convex lens 31 and the connecting part 32 are integrally formed, reducing the mutual assembly of the micro convex lens 31 and the connecting part 32, thereby greatly reducing the overall assembly difficulty of the optoelectronic communication device.

[0067] It should be noted that in this article, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes the inherent elements thereof. Without more limitations, the element defined by the statement "including a..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the said element. In addition, the parts of the above technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application that are consistent with the corresponding technical solutions in the prior art in terms of implementation principles are not described in detail to avoid excessive elaboration.

[0068] Specific examples are used in this article to elaborate on the principles and implementation modes of the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and its core idea of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those of ordinary skill in the art in this technical field, without departing from the principle of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can be made to the present invention, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. An optoelectronic communication device, characterized in that, it includes an optical fiber and a microlens component; wherein, the microlens component includes a micro-convex lens and a connecting portion integrally formed with the micro-convex lens, and a limiting hole corresponding to the optical axis of the micro-convex lens is provided on the connecting portion; the shape of the limiting hole matches the shape of the end portion of the optical fiber, and the end portion of the optical fiber is inserted into the limiting hole; wherein, the micro-convex lens is a lens at the micron level; The microlens component is an optical component formed by combining a cube structure and a convex lens structure attached to the side surface of the cube structure into an integrally formed structure, and a blind hole serving as the limiting hole is provided on the surface of the cube structure facing away from the convex lens structure; The blind hole is a hole-like structure processed by MEMS technology; The microlens component is arranged between the silicon optical chip and the optical fiber; the side surface of the silicon optical chip serves as a communication end face for outputting and receiving optical signals, and the thickness of the silicon optical chip is within 1um; wherein, the communication end face of the silicon optical chip is located on the side facing the micro-convex lens, so as to form an optical signal path between the communication end face of the silicon optical chip, the micro-convex lens and the end face of the optical fiber.

2. The optoelectronic communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that, the number of the optical fibers is multiple; the microlens component includes a plurality of the micro-convex lenses arranged linearly, and each micro-convex lens is provided with a corresponding connecting portion; an integrally formed structure is formed between each of the micro-convex lenses, between each of the connecting portions, and between each micro-convex lens and the corresponding connecting portion.

Images