A two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a two-input and two-output butterfly-shaped SOA optical device, wherein an input polarization-maintaining fiber array, a heat sink, and an output polarization-maintaining fiber array are sequentially arranged in a tube shell along the length direction thereof, two input polarization-maintaining fibers of the input polarization-maintaining fiber array extend from a first fiber port, and two output polarization-maintaining fibers of the output polarization-maintaining fiber array extend from a second fiber port, and two SOA chips are fixed on the heat sink, and the two input polarization-maintaining fibers are coupled to the two output polarization-maintaining fibers in a one-to-one correspondence through the two SOA chips. The beneficial effect is as follows: since the present invention is provided with two input polarization-maintaining fibers, two SOA chips, and two output polarization-maintaining fibers, two inputs and two outputs are formed, and since a rectangular input polarization-maintaining fiber array and an output polarization-maintaining fiber array are used, the polarization-maintaining directions of the input polarization-maintaining fiber and the output polarization-maintaining fiber can be conveniently controlled to be consistent with the SOA chip, and expensive cylindrical conical lens fibers can be omitted, and the cost is greatly reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of optical devices, and in particular to a two-input and two-output butterfly-shaped SOA optical device. Background Art

[0002] The traditional butterfly-shaped SOA optical device is a single-input single-output butterfly-shaped SOA optical device, which includes: a tube shell, the tube shell is butterfly-shaped, and two optical fiber ports are relatively opened on the tube shell, one of the optical fiber ports is inserted with a light-input polarization-maintaining optical fiber, and the other optical fiber port is inserted with a light-output polarization-maintaining optical fiber, and the area outside the tube shell where the light-input polarization-maintaining optical fiber and the light-output polarization-maintaining optical fiber are located is covered with a stress release tube, and a TEC cooler is fixed between the light-input polarization-maintaining optical fiber and the light-output polarization-maintaining optical fiber in the tube shell, one end of the light-input polarization-maintaining optical fiber in the tube shell is fixed to a heat sink through a welding bracket, and one end of the light-output polarization-maintaining optical fiber in the tube shell is fixed to a heat sink through a welding bracket, and the two heat sinks are respectively fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler, and an SOA chip is coupled between the light-input polarization-maintaining optical fiber and the light-output polarization-maintaining optical fiber, and the SOA chip is fixed to the cold surface of the TEC cooler through an aluminum nitride heat sink, and a thermistor is fixed on the aluminum nitride heat sink, as shown in detail. Figure 1 As shown, this type of two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device has the following defects:

[0003] 1) Currently, the input polarization-maintaining fiber and the output polarization-maintaining fiber in this type of butterfly SOA optical device use cylindrical tapered lens fibers, and the fiber end face integrates lenses, which is costly. In addition, it is difficult to mark the polarization-maintaining direction of cylindrical polarization-maintaining fibers, making it difficult to align the polarization direction during coupling.

[0004] 2) This type of butterfly SOA optical device does not have backlight monitoring, which is not conducive to the use of SOA modules;

[0005] 3) It has a single-input and single-output. For some special occasions, if you want to realize the input and output of two signals, you need to equip it with two single-input and single-output butterfly SOA optical devices, which takes up a lot of space. Summary of the invention

[0006] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a two-input and two-output butterfly-shaped SOA optical device to overcome the deficiencies in the above-mentioned prior art.

[0007] The technical solution of the present invention for solving the above technical problems is as follows: a two-input and two-output butterfly-shaped SOA optical device comprises: a tube shell, wherein a first optical fiber port and a second optical fiber port are oppositely opened on two side walls of the tube shell along the length direction thereof, and an input polarization-maintaining optical fiber array, a heat sink and an output polarization-maintaining optical fiber array are sequentially arranged in the tube shell along the length direction thereof, two input polarization-maintaining optical fibers of the input polarization-maintaining optical fiber array extend from the first optical fiber port, and two output polarization-maintaining optical fibers of the output polarization-maintaining optical fiber array extend from the second optical fiber port, two SOA chips are fixed on the heat sink, and one SOA chip is coupled between each input polarization-maintaining optical fiber and each output polarization-maintaining optical fiber.

[0008] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: since the present invention is provided with two light-input polarization-maintaining optical fibers, two SOA chips and two light-output polarization-maintaining optical fibers, two-input and two-output are formed, which is equivalent to two traditional single-input and single-output SOA optical devices being integrated together, at least one tube shell is saved, and the overall size is significantly reduced compared with two single-input and single-output SOA optical devices. In the prior art, the conical lens optical fiber is fixed by laser welding because of the small coupling tolerance. The size of its laser welding fixing bracket is very large, so it is impossible to make a double path in one tube shell. In addition, in the present solution, since a rectangular light-input polarization-maintaining optical fiber array and a light-output polarization-maintaining optical fiber array are used, it is very convenient to control the polarization-maintaining directions of the light-input polarization-maintaining optical fiber and the light-output polarization-maintaining optical fiber to be consistent with the SOA chip, and coupling is very convenient. Therefore, it is not necessary to use expensive cylindrical conical lens optical fibers, but to use polarization-maintaining optical fibers with ordinary end faces and ordinary lenses, thereby greatly reducing costs.

[0009] Based on the above technical solution, the present invention can also be improved as follows.

[0010] Furthermore, a TEC cooler is fixed in the tube shell, and the light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber array, the heat sink, and the light-outgoing polarization-maintaining optical fiber array are respectively fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler.

[0011] The above further beneficial effect is that the TEC cooler can dissipate heat from the devices thereon, and since the input polarization-maintaining fiber array and the output polarization-maintaining fiber array are fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler, fiber deformation does not affect the stability of the coupled optical path and the optical return loss.

[0012] Furthermore, the light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber array and the light-outgoing polarization-maintaining optical fiber array are respectively fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler by bonding.

[0013] Furthermore, the end face of the light-emitting polarization-maintaining optical fiber array at the optical port is an 8° face, and two MPD chips are fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler, and the two MPD chips respectively receive stray light reflected by the two light-emitting polarization-maintaining optical fibers.

[0014] The above further beneficial effect is as follows: since the end face of the optical port side of the output polarization-maintaining optical fiber array can be designed as an 8° face, backlight monitoring can be achieved by adding an MPD chip to receive stray light reflected by the output polarization-maintaining optical fiber, while the tapered lens optical fiber cannot achieve this purpose. Adding backlight monitoring is conducive to the use of the SOA module (i.e., a module with an SOA driving circuit and a TEC control circuit). The SOA module monitors the optical power and can well control the optical power output range.

[0015] Furthermore, a thermistor is fixed on the heat sink.

[0016] A further beneficial effect of the above is that the thermistor is used to monitor the temperature of the SOA chip so that the TEC cooler can adjust the working power.

[0017] Furthermore, on the cold surface of the TEC cooler, an aspherical lens and a first polarization-independent optical isolator are sequentially coupled between each incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber and each SOA chip along the light propagation direction.

[0018] Furthermore, on the cold surface of the TEC cooler, a converging lens and a second polarization-independent optical isolator are sequentially coupled between each SOA chip and each light-emitting polarization-maintaining optical fiber along the light propagation direction.

[0019] The beneficial effects of adopting the above two steps are: adding polarization-independent optical isolators to both the light input path and the light output path can ensure the stability of the light path and the optimal optical return loss performance. In addition, due to the discrete lenses (aspherical lenses and converging lenses), the coupling tolerance is larger than that of conical lens optical fibers, and the light path is more stable.

[0020] Furthermore, the light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber and the first optical fiber port of the tube shell are sealed by a brazing process.

[0021] Furthermore, the light-emitting polarization-maintaining optical fiber and the second optical fiber port of the tube shell are sealed by a brazing process.

[0022] Furthermore, the heat sink is made of aluminum nitride and the tube shell is butterfly-shaped. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 It is a top view of a two-input and two-output butterfly-shaped SOA optical device in the prior art;

[0024] Figure 2 A top view of a two-input and two-output butterfly-shaped SOA optical device in the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a structural diagram of the MPD chip involved in the present invention.

[0026] In the accompanying drawings, the components represented by the reference numerals are listed as follows:

[0027] 1. Shell and tube, 2. Incoming polarization-maintaining fiber array, 210. Incoming polarization-maintaining fiber, 3. Heat sink, 4. Outgoing polarization-maintaining fiber array, 410. Outgoing polarization-maintaining fiber, 5. SOA chip, 6. TEC cooler, 7. MPD chip, 8. Thermistor, 9. Aspherical lens, 10. First polarization-independent optical isolator, 11. Converging lens, 12. Second polarization-independent optical isolator. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The principles and features of the present invention are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The examples given are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0029] Example 1

[0030] like Figure 2 As shown, a two-input and two-output butterfly-shaped SOA optical device comprises: a tube shell 1, wherein the tube shell 1 is provided with a first optical fiber port and a second optical fiber port respectively on two side walls along the length direction thereof, and the first optical fiber port is arranged opposite to the second optical fiber port; an incoming light polarization-maintaining optical fiber array 2, a heat sink 3 and an outgoing light polarization-maintaining optical fiber array 4 are sequentially arranged along the length direction thereof in the tube shell 1, wherein the incoming light polarization-maintaining optical fiber array 2 and the outgoing light polarization-maintaining optical fiber array 4 are arranged opposite to and in parallel, and two incoming light polarization-maintaining optical fibers 210 of the incoming light polarization-maintaining optical fiber array 2 extend from the first optical fiber port, and two outgoing light polarization-maintaining optical fibers 410 of the outgoing light polarization-maintaining optical fiber array 4 extend from the second optical fiber port; two SOA chips 5 are fixed on the heat sink 3, and one SOA chip 5 is coupled between each incoming light polarization-maintaining optical fiber 210 and each outgoing light polarization-maintaining optical fiber 410, that is, two incoming light polarization-maintaining optical fibers 210 and two outgoing light polarization-maintaining optical fibers 410 are coupled one-to-one via two SOA chips 5;

[0031] The incoming light is incident on an SOA chip 5 through an incoming light polarization-maintaining optical fiber 210, and then incident on an outgoing light polarization-maintaining optical fiber 410 through the SOA chip 5. Since the present invention has two incoming light polarization-maintaining optical fibers 210, two SOA chips 5, and two outgoing light polarization-maintaining optical fibers 410, two-input and two-output are formed, which is equivalent to two traditional single-input and single-output SOA optical devices being integrated together, saving at least one tube shell 1, and the overall size is significantly reduced compared to two single-input and single-output SOA optical devices. In the prior art, the conical lens optical fiber is fixed by laser welding because of its small coupling tolerance. The size of the laser welding fixing bracket is very large, so it is impossible to make a dual path in one tube shell 1;

[0032] In addition, optical communications are generally multiples of 2. If the design is three-input and three-output, the existing butterfly device shell cannot be used and needs to be re-molded. In addition, the existing shell size, especially the size of the round holes for screw fixing at the four corners, is standardized. If it is changed, many materials need to be redeveloped and designed when the user uses it. In this solution, since a rectangular light-input polarization-maintaining fiber array 2 and a light-output polarization-maintaining fiber array 4 are used, the polarization-maintaining direction of the light-input polarization-maintaining fiber 210 and the light-output polarization-maintaining fiber 410 can be easily controlled, which is consistent with the SOA chip and is very convenient for coupling. Therefore, instead of using expensive cylindrical conical lens fibers, ordinary end-face polarization-maintaining fibers and ordinary lenses can be used, thereby significantly reducing costs.

[0033] Example 2

[0034] like Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment is a further improvement on the basis of embodiment 1, and the details are as follows:

[0035] A TEC cooler 6 is fixed in the tube shell 1, and the light-incoming polarization-maintaining fiber array 2, the heat sink 3, and the light-exiting polarization-maintaining fiber array 4 are respectively fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler 6. The light-incoming polarization-maintaining fiber array 2 and the light-exiting polarization-maintaining fiber array 4 can be fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler 6 by bonding. The TEC cooler 6 can dissipate heat from the devices thereon. Since the light-incoming polarization-maintaining fiber array 2 and the light-exiting polarization-maintaining fiber array 4 are fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler 6, the deformation of the optical fiber does not affect the stability of the coupled optical path and the optical return loss.

[0036] Example 3

[0037] like Figure 3 As shown, this embodiment is a further improvement on the basis of embodiment 2, and the details are as follows:

[0038] The end face on the light port side of the output polarization-maintaining fiber array 4 is an 8° face. Two MPD chips 7 are fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler 6. The two MPD chips 7 respectively receive stray light reflected by the two output polarization-maintaining fibers 410. Since the end face on the light port side of the output polarization-maintaining fiber array can be designed to be an 8° face, the MPD chip 7 can be added to receive the stray light reflected by the output polarization-maintaining fiber 410 to achieve backlight monitoring. The tapered lens fiber cannot achieve this purpose. Adding backlight monitoring is conducive to the use of the SOA module (i.e., a module with an SOA driving circuit and a TEC control circuit). The SOA module monitors the optical power and can well control the optical power output range.

[0039] Example 4

[0040] like Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment is a further improvement on the basis of Embodiment 2 or 3, and the details are as follows:

[0041] A thermistor 8 is fixed on the heat sink 3 , and the thermistor 8 is used to monitor the temperature of the SOA chip 5 , so that the TEC cooler 6 can adjust the working power.

[0042] Example 5

[0043] like Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment is a further improvement on any one of Embodiments 2 to 4, and the details are as follows:

[0044] On the cold surface of the TEC cooler 6, an aspheric lens 9 and a first polarization-independent optical isolator 10 are coupled in sequence along the light propagation direction between each incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber 210 and each SOA chip 5, and the light from each incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber 210 passes through an aspheric lens 9 and a first polarization-independent optical isolator 10 in sequence and then is incident on an SOA chip 5.

[0045] On the cold surface of the TEC cooler 6, a converging lens 11 and a second polarization-independent optical isolator 12 are coupled in sequence along the light propagation direction between each SOA chip 5 and each output polarization-maintaining optical fiber 410. The light of each SOA chip 5 passes through a converging lens 11 and a second polarization-independent optical isolator 12 in sequence and then is incident on a output polarization-maintaining optical fiber 410.

[0046] Polarization-independent optical isolators are added to both the incoming and outgoing light paths to ensure optimal light path stability and optical return loss performance. In addition, due to the discrete lenses (aspherical lenses and converging lenses), the coupling tolerance is larger than that of tapered lens optical fibers, and the light path is more stable.

[0047] Example 6

[0048] like Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment is a further improvement on any one of Embodiments 2 to 5, and the details are as follows:

[0049] The incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber 210 and the first optical fiber port of the tube shell 1 are sealed by brazing, and the outgoing polarization-maintaining optical fiber 410 and the second optical fiber port of the tube shell 1 are sealed by brazing. In addition, the heat sink 3 is made of aluminum nitride, and the tube shell 1 is butterfly-shaped.

[0050] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is to be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and are not to be construed as limitations of the present invention. A person skilled in the art may change, modify, replace and vary the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device, characterized in that: include: A tube shell (1), wherein a first optical fiber port and a second optical fiber port are provided on two side walls along the length direction thereof, and are opposite to each other. A rectangular light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (2), a heat sink (3), and a rectangular light-exiting polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (4) are sequentially arranged in the tube shell (1) along the length direction thereof. Two light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fibers (210) of the light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (2) extend from the first optical fiber port, and two light-exiting polarization-maintaining optical fibers (410) of the light-exiting polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (4) extend from the second optical fiber port. Two SOA chips (5) are fixed on the heat sink (3), and one SOA chip (5) is coupled between each light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber (210) and each light-exiting polarization-maintaining optical fiber (410). Both the light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber (210) and the light-exiting polarization-maintaining optical fiber (410) use polarization-maintaining optical fibers with common end faces and common lenses.

2. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A TEC cooler (6) is fixed in the tube shell (1), and the light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (2), the heat sink (3) and the light-outgoing polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (4) are respectively fixed on the cold surface of the TEC cooler (6).

3. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (2) and the light-outgoing polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (4) are respectively fixed on the cold surface of the TEC refrigerator (6) by bonding.

4. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The end face of the light-emitting polarization-maintaining optical fiber array (4) on the light port side is an 8° face, two MPD chips (7) are fixed on the cold surface of the TEC refrigerator (6), and the two MPD chips (7) respectively receive stray light reflected by the two light-emitting polarization-maintaining optical fibers (410).

5. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 2, characterized in that: A thermistor (8) is fixed on the heat sink (3).

6. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 2, characterized in that: On the cold surface of the TEC refrigerator (6), a coupling aspheric lens (9) and a first polarization-independent optical isolator (10) are provided in sequence along the light propagation direction between each incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber (210) and each SOA chip (5).

7. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 2, characterized in that: On the cold surface of the TEC refrigerator (6), a converging lens (11) and a second polarization-independent optical isolator (12) are sequentially coupled between each SOA chip (5) and each light-emitting polarization-maintaining optical fiber (410) along the light propagation direction.

8. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The light-incoming polarization-maintaining optical fiber (210) and the first optical fiber port of the tube shell (1) are sealed by a brazing process.

9. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The light-emitting polarization-maintaining optical fiber (410) and the second optical fiber port of the tube shell (1) are sealed by a brazing process.

10. The two-input and two-output butterfly SOA optical device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The heat sink (3) is made of aluminum nitride, and the tube shell (1) is butterfly-shaped.

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