Optical fiber array manufacturing tool and method for manufacturing optical fiber array
By employing a multi-positioning area design for the substrate and cover plate in the fiber array fabrication fixture, combined with the setting of positioning grooves and bonding areas, the problem of high fiber array fabrication cost in the prior art is solved, realizing miniaturized and high-density fiber array fabrication and reducing fixture loss costs.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2026-01-20
- Publication Date
- 2026-03-31
AI Technical Summary
Existing fiber optic array fabrication fixtures require the removal of parts of the structure when fabricating miniaturized fiber optic arrays, making them unusable and significantly increasing manufacturing costs.
A tooling is fabricated using a fiber array with a substrate having a positioning area and an adhesive area. The precise positioning and fixing of the fiber is achieved through the cooperation of the positioning groove and the cover plate, avoiding the need to cut the tooling structure. The design of multiple positioning areas and the setting of adhesive areas ensure the bonding strength and structural stability of the fiber array.
It enables miniaturization and high-density fabrication of fiber optic arrays, reduces manufacturing costs, ensures strong bonding and structural stability of fiber optic arrays, and meets the high requirements of CPO technology.
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Figure CN121763500A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of optical fiber communication technology, and in particular to a tooling for fabricating optical fiber arrays and a method for fabricating optical fiber arrays. Background Technology
[0002] An optical fiber array is an optical component that integrates and fixes multiple optical fibers together according to a specific spacing and arrangement. It is commonly used in fields such as optical fiber communication, optical fiber sensing, and optical modules, and is a core component for realizing the parallel transmission, coupling, or splitting of multi-channel optical signals.
[0003] Currently, in high-speed data centers and silicon photonics integrated systems, optoelectronic co-packaging technology is gradually replacing traditional pluggable optical modules to reduce power consumption and increase bandwidth density. With the development of CPO technology, higher requirements are being placed on the high density and miniaturization of fiber optic array structures.
[0004] Existing fiber optic array fabrication fixtures generally use V-grooves on the substrate as fiber positioning structures, supplemented by cover plates for pressing and fixing. In order to fabricate miniaturized fiber optic array structures, it is usually necessary to cut off parts of the fiber optic array fabrication fixture in related technologies, which makes the fixture unusable and significantly increases the manufacturing cost of fiber optic arrays. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The main objective of this invention is to propose a tooling and method for fabricating fiber arrays, aiming to solve the technical problems of high manufacturing costs and the inability to obtain miniaturized fiber array structures in related technologies.
[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention proposes a fiber optic array fabrication fixture for fabricating fiber optic arrays, the fixture comprising: The substrate has at least one bonding area and at least two positioning areas, with one bonding area between each two positioning areas; each positioning area has multiple positioning grooves, each positioning groove extends along the extension direction of the substrate, and the positioning grooves in adjacent positioning areas are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence, and each positioning groove is configured to accommodate the optical fiber in the optical fiber array. At least two cover plates are provided, each cover plate being respectively placed over each of the positioning areas and covering the opening of the positioning groove within the positioning area.
[0007] In one embodiment, the bonding area is provided with a glue-blocking groove, which is connected to the two positioning grooves respectively.
[0008] In one embodiment, the two opposite sidewalls of the adhesive-blocking groove are gradually tapered from the end furthest from the bottom wall of the adhesive-blocking groove to the end closest to the bottom wall of the adhesive-blocking groove.
[0009] In one embodiment, the fiber array fabrication fixture further includes an adhesive component, a portion of which is located above the bonding area, and the remaining portion of which is located outside the substrate. The adhesive component is configured to bond and cover the fiber.
[0010] In one embodiment, the positioning slots are arranged in a continuously connected V-shape; And / or, each of the cover plates has a notch on the side facing the positioning groove, and the bottom wall of the notch is inclined.
[0011] The present invention also proposes a method for fabricating an optical fiber array, the method being applied to the optical fiber array fabrication fixture described above, the method comprising the following steps: The initial optical fiber is placed in the positioning area, and the initial optical fiber placed in the positioning area is pre-compressed by the cover plate; A first dispensing process is performed on the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area and the portion of the rear end of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate to obtain the target optical fiber. The portion of the target optical fiber confined between the cover plate and the substrate is subjected to secondary adhesive dispensing. Remove the cover plate and the substrate, and perform three dispensing processes to obtain the fiber array.
[0012] In one embodiment, the step of placing the initial optical fiber in the positioning area and pre-compressing the initial optical fiber placed in the positioning area using a cover plate further includes: The front end portion of the double-row optical fiber is pressed into a single-row optical fiber; The single row of optical fibers is exposed to obtain the initial optical fiber.
[0013] In one embodiment, the step of removing the cover plate and the substrate, and performing three dispensing processes to obtain the fiber array further includes: The target optical fiber is ground and tested to obtain a semi-finished optical fiber array.
[0014] In one embodiment, the step of grinding and testing the target optical fiber to obtain a semi-finished optical fiber array includes: Grind and polish the portion of the target optical fiber exposed outside the positioning area; The grinding amount and angle of the target optical fiber after grinding were tested to obtain test data; When the test data is qualified, a semi-finished fiber optic array is obtained; If the test data is unqualified, repeat the step of grinding and polishing the portion of the target optical fiber exposed outside the positioning area until the test data is qualified.
[0015] In one embodiment, before performing a dispensing process on the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area and the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate to obtain the target optical fiber, the method further includes: The rear portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate is rotated so that the cat's eye direction of the front portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate is aligned with the polarization axis direction.
[0016] The fiber optic array fabrication fixture provided by this invention solves the problem that existing fiber optic array fabrication fixtures require the removal of parts of the structure to fabricate miniaturized fiber optic arrays, resulting in non-reusability and significantly increased manufacturing costs. Specifically, an adhesive area is provided between every two positioning areas, and adjacent positioning areas correspond one-to-one in their extension directions. Each positioning area has multiple positioning slots spaced apart along the extension direction of the substrate, with the number of slots equal to the number of optical fibers. During fiber optic array fabrication, the optical fibers to be integrated and fixed are first placed into the positioning slots of each positioning area on the substrate, achieving precise positioning of the optical fibers according to a specific spacing and arrangement. Then, each cover plate is placed on top of the positioning slots of each positioning area, and the cooperation between the cover plate and the substrate presses and fixes the optical fibers within the positioning slots. Finally, an adhesive bonding operation is performed in the adhesive areas between adjacent positioning areas, firmly bonding the optical fibers to form the finished fiber optic array. After the finished product is formed, the cover plate and substrate can be directly removed, and the finished fiber array can be peeled off from the positioning area of the substrate without any cutting or processing of the core structure of the tooling, such as the substrate and cover plate. The above-mentioned setup, through the multi-positioning area design of the substrate, combined with the precise positioning function of the positioning slots, enables the fabrication of miniaturized, high-density fiber arrays without cutting away the tooling, and the core structure of the tooling is completely preserved and can be reused for the fabrication of multiple fiber arrays, significantly reducing manufacturing costs. A bonding area is set between every two positioning areas, making the bonding operation centralized and not affecting the positioning function of the positioning area, ensuring the bonding strength and structural stability of the fiber array. Adjacent positioning areas extend in a one-to-one correspondence, and each cover plate is spaced along the extension direction of the substrate and precisely covers each positioning slot, ensuring the consistency of multiple fiber arrangements and improving the fabrication accuracy of the fiber array. At the same time, the number of positioning slots is the same as the number of fibers, enabling one-to-one precise positioning of the fibers, further ensuring the reliability of the fiber array integrated and fixed according to a specific spacing and arrangement, adapting to the high requirements of CPO technology for high-density and miniaturization of fiber arrays. Attached Figure Description
[0017] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings without creative effort.
[0018] Figure 1 A first-view structural schematic diagram of the fiber array fabrication fixture provided by the present invention; Figure 2 Exploded view of the fiber optic array fabrication fixture provided by the present invention; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the fiber array fabrication fixture provided by the present invention from a second perspective; Figure 4 A partial structural schematic diagram from a third-view perspective of the fiber optic array fabrication fixture provided by the present invention; Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of the fiber array fabricated by the method for fabricating fiber arrays provided by the present invention. Figure 6 The step flow of the method for fabricating a fiber optic array provided by the present invention Figure 1 ; Figure 7 The step flow of the method for fabricating a fiber optic array provided by the present invention Figure 2 ; Figure 8 The step flow of the method for fabricating a fiber optic array provided by the present invention Figure 3 ; Figure 9 The step flow of the method for fabricating a fiber optic array provided by the present invention Figure 4 .
[0019] Explanation of icon numbers: 100. Fiber optic array fabrication fixture; 1. Substrate; 11. Positioning area; 11a. Positioning groove; 12. Bonding area; 12a. Adhesive retaining groove; 2. Cover plate; 21. Notch; 3. Adhesive component; 200. Fiber optic cable.
[0020] The realization of the objective, functional features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed Implementation
[0021] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.
[0022] It should be noted that if the embodiments of the present invention involve directional indication, the directional indication is only used to explain the relative positional relationship and movement of the components in a certain specific posture. If the specific posture changes, the directional indication will also change accordingly.
[0023] Furthermore, if the embodiments of this invention involve descriptions such as "first" or "second," these descriptions are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of those features. Additionally, the use of "and / or" or "and / or" throughout the text includes three parallel solutions. For example, "A and / or B" includes solution A, solution B, or a solution where both A and B are satisfied simultaneously. Furthermore, the technical solutions of the various embodiments can be combined with each other, but this must be based on the ability of those skilled in the art to implement them. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or impossible to implement, it should be considered that such a combination of technical solutions does not exist and is not within the scope of protection claimed by this invention.
[0024] This invention proposes a fiber optic array fabrication fixture 100.
[0025] Please see Figure 1 and Figure 4 In one embodiment of the present invention, the fiber array fabrication fixture 100 is used to fabricate a fiber array. The fiber array fabrication fixture 100 includes a substrate 1 and at least two cover plates 2. The substrate 1 is provided with at least one bonding area 12 and at least two positioning areas 11. A bonding area 12 is provided between every two positioning areas 11. Each positioning area 11 has a plurality of positioning grooves 11a. Each positioning groove 11a extends along the extension direction of the substrate 1. The positioning grooves 11a in adjacent positioning areas 11 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence. Each positioning groove 11a is configured to accommodate the optical fiber in the fiber array. Each cover plate 2 is respectively covered on each positioning area 11 and covers the groove opening of the positioning groove 11a in the positioning area 11.
[0026] In this embodiment, the fiber array fabrication fixture 100 can fabricate a fiber array structure without a cover plate 2 and a substrate 1. The substrate 1 provides a support space; its material can be quartz glass, engineering plastic, etc., and is not limited here. The substrate 1 has a long, flat plate structure, and its extension direction is consistent with the arrangement direction of the optical fibers 200, providing sufficient and regular support space for the positioning grooves 11a, the bonding area 12, and the assembly of the cover plate 2. The cover plate 2 is a component for pressing and positioning the optical fibers 200. The number of cover plates 2 matches the number of positioning grooves 11a; the number can be 2, 4, etc. The cover plate 2 can be made of quartz glass, stainless steel, engineering plastic, etc. The cover plate 2 has a long, thin plate structure, and its length matches the extension length of the positioning grooves 11a, thus ensuring complete coverage of the optical fiber area above the positioning grooves 11a and achieving comprehensive pressing of the optical fibers 200. The positioning area 11 is a functional area for setting the positioning grooves 11a and achieving precise positioning of the optical fibers 200. The number of positioning areas 11 is not limited; it can be two, four, or more. Adhesive areas 12 are functional areas used to cover the adhesive component 3 to fix the optical fiber 200, and are located between each positioning area 11. Positioning grooves 11a are used to accommodate the core limiting structure of the optical fiber 200, and are spaced apart along the extension direction of the substrate 1. The number of positioning grooves 11a is the same as the number of optical fibers 200, and their shape is adapted to the shape of the optical fiber 200. They are typically elongated groove structures that can form stable limiting constraints on the optical fiber 200 placed within them, preventing lateral displacement of the optical fiber 200 during subsequent pressing, adjustment, and dispensing processes, ensuring that the optical fiber 200 always maintains the preset arrangement spacing and orientation. The positioning grooves 11a are V-shaped or U-shaped, etc.
[0027] It should be noted that the present invention arranges and fixes the optical fiber 200 using a substrate 1 and a cover plate 2. The optical fiber 200 is placed on the substrate 1, and the cover plate 2 temporarily fixes the optical fiber 200 in the positioning groove 11a of the positioning area 11. Adhesive is used to fix the optical fiber 200 located in the bonding area 12. After fixing, the portion of the optical fiber 200 exposed on the substrate 1 is fixed with adhesive 3. Next, temporary adhesive is applied to the optical fiber 200 located below the cover plate 2 and in the positioning groove 11a. After grinding the optical fiber 200 located on the substrate 1, the cover plate 2 above the optical fiber 200 and the bottom plate are removed, resulting in an optical fiber array without the cover plate 2 and the bottom plate. The optical fiber array fabricated using the above structure, compared to optical fiber arrays in related technologies, directly reduces the thickness and volume of the optical fiber array due to the absence of the cover plate 2 and the substrate 1, thus solving the space limitations of CPO packaging technology to a certain extent.
[0028] The fiber array fabrication fixture 100 provided by this invention solves the problem that existing fiber array fabrication fixtures 100 require the removal of parts of the structure to fabricate miniaturized fiber arrays, resulting in non-reusability and significantly increased manufacturing costs. Specifically, an adhesive area 12 is provided between every two positioning areas 11, and the extension directions of adjacent positioning areas 11 correspond one-to-one. Each positioning area 11 has multiple positioning slots 11a that are spaced apart along the extension direction of the substrate 1 and whose number is the same as the number of optical fibers 200. When fabricating a fiber optic array, the optical fibers 200 to be integrated and fixed are first placed into the positioning slots 11a of each positioning area 11 of the substrate 1. The positioning slots 11a are used to accurately position the optical fibers 200 according to a specific spacing and arrangement. Then, each cover plate 2 is placed on top of the positioning slots 11a of each positioning area 11. The optical fibers 200 in the positioning slots 11a are pressed and fixed by the cooperation between the cover plate 2 and the substrate 1. Next, an adhesive bonding operation is performed in the bonding area 12 between adjacent positioning areas 11 to firmly bond the optical fibers 200 together to form the finished fiber optic array. After the finished product is formed, the cover plate 2 and the substrate 1 can be directly removed, and the finished fiber optic array can be peeled off from the positioning area 11 of the substrate 1. No cutting or processing of the core tooling structure such as the substrate 1 and the cover plate 2 is required. The above-mentioned setup, through the design of multiple positioning areas 11 on the substrate 1, combined with the precise positioning function of the positioning grooves 11a, enables the fabrication of miniaturized, high-density fiber arrays without the need to remove tooling. Furthermore, the core structure of the tooling is completely preserved and can be reused for the fabrication of multiple fiber arrays, significantly reducing manufacturing costs. An adhesive area 12 is provided between every two positioning areas 11, allowing for centralized adhesive operations without affecting the positioning function of the positioning areas 11, ensuring the adhesive strength and structural stability of the fiber array. Adjacent positioning areas 11 extend in a one-to-one correspondence, and each cover plate 2 is spaced along the extension direction of the substrate 1 and precisely covers each positioning groove 11a, ensuring the consistency of multiple fiber arrangements and improving the fabrication accuracy of the fiber array. Simultaneously, the number of positioning grooves 11a is the same as the number of fibers 200, enabling one-to-one precise positioning of the fibers 200, further ensuring the reliability of the fiber array's integration and fixation according to a specific spacing and arrangement, and adapting to the high requirements of CPO technology for high-density and miniaturization of fiber arrays.
[0029] In one embodiment of the present invention, the bonding area 12 is provided with a glue-blocking groove 12a, which is connected to two positioning grooves 11a respectively.
[0030] In this embodiment, combined with Figure 2 and Figure 3To prevent subsequent diffusion of the adhesive and avoid overflow into the optical fiber 200 processing area of the positioning groove 11a, prevent multiple optical fibers from being stuck together by the adhesive, ensure the independent positioning state of each optical fiber 200, and maintain the arrangement accuracy of the optical fiber array, a retaining groove 12a is formed in the groove structure of the bonding area 12, which is connected to the two adjacent positioning grooves 11a respectively. It can be understood that the retaining groove 12a can be made by integral molding or by embedding; in one embodiment, the retaining groove 12a, the substrate 1, and the positioning grooves 11a are made of the same material and integrally formed by precision milling or etching process; in another embodiment, the retaining groove 12a is made of wear-resistant engineering plastic material to form an independent groove component, and then fixed in the preset position of the bonding area 12 by special adhesive, ensuring precise communication with the positioning grooves 11a on both sides.
[0031] In one embodiment of the present invention, the two opposite sidewalls of the adhesive-blocking groove 12a are gradually tapered from the end away from the bottom wall of the adhesive-blocking groove 12a to the end near the bottom wall of the adhesive-blocking groove 12a.
[0032] In this embodiment, combined with Figure 3 To further ensure the independent positioning of the optical fiber 200 and maintain the array accuracy of the optical fiber array, the two opposite sidewalls of the adhesive blocking groove 12a are gradually tapered from the end furthest from the bottom wall of the adhesive blocking groove 12a to the end closest to the bottom wall of the adhesive blocking groove 12a. Utilizing the guiding effect of the tapered sidewalls, the adhesive applied to the bonding area 12 is guided to flow and converge along the sidewalls towards the bottom wall of the adhesive blocking groove 12a. Simultaneously, the tapered sidewall structure increases the contact area between the adhesive and the groove wall, enhancing the adhesion stability of the adhesive within the groove and preventing the adhesive from flowing back into the optical fiber 200 processing area of the positioning groove 11a due to surface tension. The tapered structure allows the adhesive to form a distribution that is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom within the groove. The wider opening at the top facilitates the collection of adhesive overflowing from the bonding area 12, while the narrower bottom restricts the diffusion range of the adhesive, achieving directional collection and controllable distribution of the adhesive and solving the problems of easy backflow and uneven distribution of adhesive in traditional equal-width adhesive blocking grooves 12a.
[0033] In one embodiment of the present invention, the fiber array fabrication fixture 100 further includes an adhesive 3, a portion of the structure of the adhesive 3 is located above the bonding area 12, and the remaining portion of the structure of the adhesive 3 is located outside the substrate 1. The adhesive 3 is configured to bond and cover the fiber 200.
[0034] In this embodiment, combined with Figure 1The adhesive component 3 is a functional part of the fiber array fabrication fixture 100 used to fix and encapsulate the optical fiber 200. Part of its structure is located above the adhesive area 12, and the remaining part extends beyond the substrate 1. The adhesive component 3 can be of the type of UV adhesive, hot melt adhesive, or rigid adhesive, etc. The UV adhesive can be UV-cured epoxy adhesive or UV-cured acrylic adhesive; no specific limitation is made here. Here, the adhesive component 3 only bonds the optical fiber 200 and does not adhere to the substrate 1 or the cover plate 2.
[0035] In one embodiment of the present invention, the positioning grooves 11a are arranged in a continuously connected V-shape; And / or, each cover plate 2 has a notch 21 on the side facing the positioning groove 11a, and the bottom wall of the notch 21 is inclined.
[0036] In this embodiment, each positioning groove 11a is arranged in a continuous V-shape. The positioning groove 11a can be integrally formed with the substrate 1 using the same material, such as alumina ceramic, quartz glass, or high-strength engineering plastic. The continuous V-shaped structure has no obvious seams and the groove wall transition is smooth. The side walls of adjacent V-shaped positioning grooves 11a can share the same inclined surface to form a continuous V-shaped channel. This can not only form a stable three-point contact limit for a single optical fiber, but also improve the space utilization of the positioning grooves 11a through the continuous arrangement structure, thus adapting to the arrangement requirements of high-density fiber arrays.
[0037] Each cover plate 2 has a notch 21 on the side facing the positioning groove 11a. The bottom wall of the notch 21 is inclined. The shape of the notch 21 is adapted to the cross-section of the V-shaped positioning groove 11a. The inclination angle of the inclined bottom wall is consistent with the groove wall angle of the V-shaped positioning groove 11a. The cover plate 2 can be made of a hard material compatible with the substrate 1, such as stainless steel or ceramic sheet. The surface of the inclined bottom wall needs to be polished to ensure that it will not cause surface scratches when in contact with the optical fiber 200. The notch 21 structure does not affect the overall rigidity of the cover plate 2, and only forms a matching limiting space in the area in contact with the optical fiber 200.
[0038] It should be noted that the final fiber array shape obtained by the fiber array fabrication fixture 100 is based on... Figure 5 As shown, Figure 5 The fiber array structure in the image is a fiber array without a cover plate 2 and without a substrate 1.
[0039] The present invention also proposes a method for fabricating an optical fiber array, which is applied to the optical fiber array fabrication fixture described above, wherein the method includes the following steps: The initial optical fiber is placed in the positioning area, and the initial optical fiber placed in the positioning area is pre-compressed by the cover plate; A first dispensing process is performed on the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area and the portion of the rear end of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate to obtain the target optical fiber. The portion of the target optical fiber confined between the cover plate and the substrate is subjected to secondary adhesive dispensing. Remove the cover plate and the substrate, and perform three dispensing processes to obtain the fiber array.
[0040] In this embodiment, combined with Figure 5 and Figure 6 The method includes the following steps S10-S40: Step S10: Place the initial optical fiber in the positioning area and pre-compress it using a cover plate. It should be noted that the initial optical fiber refers to a combination of multiple optical fibers that have undergone pre-exposed treatment. The type of initial optical fiber can be ordinary optical fiber, polarization-maintaining optical fiber, or a combination of both; no limitation is made here. The positioning area refers to a specific region on the substrate of the fiber array fabrication fixture used to accommodate and position the optical fiber. At least two positioning areas are formed on the substrate, and each positioning area has multiple positioning slots spaced apart along the substrate's extension direction. The cover plate is a component spaced apart along the substrate's extension direction, capable of covering the positioning slots in each positioning area, used to compress the optical fiber within the positioning slots. The pre-compressing operation refers to placing the initial optical fiber in the positioning slot of the positioning area, then placing the cover plate on top of the corresponding positioning slot and applying pressure to stably confine the initial optical fiber within the positioning slot without displacement. This operation is not a final fixation; the compression can be released later according to process requirements. Understandably, the initial optical fiber is placed in the positioning area of the substrate, embedding it into the positioning groove. Then, a cover plate is placed over each positioning groove to temporarily compress the initial optical fiber within the groove, thus fixing its relative position and preventing displacement during subsequent operations such as rotating and adjusting the fiber optic eye angle or applying adhesive. This ensures the accuracy of subsequent process steps. To balance polarization sensitivity and improve the integration density and adaptability of the fiber array, the fiber array structure provided in this invention uses hybrid fibers. The hybrid fiber array can be arranged in the positioning area of the same substrate. The hybrid fibers include a certain number of ordinary fibers and a certain number of polarization-maintaining fibers. This "certain number" is not limited and is set according to specific needs. The polarization-maintaining fibers require rotational adjustment to align the eye direction with the polarization axis, while the ordinary fibers can be directly positioned and fixed.
[0041] Step S20 involves applying adhesive to the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area and the portion of the initial optical fiber's rear end exposed outside the substrate, resulting in the target optical fiber. It should be noted that the substrate refers to a carrier component with a positioning area and a bonding area. The positioning area has positioning grooves to accommodate the optical fiber, providing precise positioning support. The bonding area refers to the region between the positioning grooves on the substrate, a pre-defined area specifically used for applying adhesive to fix the optical fiber. The target optical fiber refers to a semi-finished optical fiber where the relative position of the optical fiber to the substrate and the double-row configuration of its rear end are initially fixed after the initial optical fiber has undergone adhesive application in the bonding area and at the rear end. It is an intermediate product obtained after completing the adhesive application and rear end-end adhesive steps. The first adhesive application refers to the separate application of adhesive to the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area and the portion of the initial optical fiber's rear end exposed outside the substrate. The separate application of adhesive to these two parts constitutes the first adhesive application. After this operation, the initial optical fiber becomes the preliminarily shaped target optical fiber. Understandably, the adhesive component from the aforementioned fiber array fabrication fixture is used for the first dispensing process, employing a highly reliable fixing adhesive. This adhesive component serves as the bonding material to achieve the relative positioning of the optical fibers. The adhesive component can be UV adhesive, hot melt adhesive, rigid adhesive, etc., and the UV adhesive can be UV-cured epoxy adhesive or UV-cured acrylic adhesive; no specific limitation is made here. This adhesive component only bonds the optical fibers and does not adhere to the substrate or cover plate. In specific operation, adhesive is first applied to the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area, fixing the fibers located between adjacent positioning areas and within multiple positioning slots together using the adhesive component. Simultaneously, adhesive is applied to the rear portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate, fixing the rear portion, which still maintains its initial shape, into a unified whole, preventing the rear fibers from scattering or misaligning during subsequent grinding and other operations. After these two dispensing processes, the single-row section at the front end of the initial optical fiber achieves the fixation of adjacent fibers, and the double-row section at the rear end forms a unified fixed structure through adhesive dispensing, thus obtaining a target optical fiber with stable positional relationships.
[0042] Step S30 involves performing a secondary adhesive application on the portion of the target optical fiber confined between the cover plate and the substrate. It should be noted that the secondary adhesive application refers to applying a layer of hydrolyzable adhesive to the area where the target optical fiber is pressed and confined by the cover plate. The core purpose of this operation is to temporarily fix the relative position of the optical fiber to the cover plate and substrate during subsequent grinding and polishing processes, preventing displacement or shifting of the optical fiber due to grinding stress. Furthermore, the adhesive can be completely removed by hydrolysis after grinding and testing, leaving no residue that could affect the final structure and performance of the fiber array. Specifically, this is a localized adhesive application to the optical fiber in the initial fiber front-end area placed under the cover plate, distinct from the permanent adhesive application to the bonding area and rear end in the previous step. It is understood that the adhesive used in this secondary adhesive application can be a water-soluble or hydrolyzable adhesive, such as polyvinyl alcohol glue, gelatin, or paraffin wax. After fulfilling its temporary fixing function, such adhesives can be easily removed by water immersion or treatment with a specific hydrolytic solution, avoiding damage to the fiber surface or residual impurities. In practice, a small amount of temporary adhesive is precisely applied to the contact area between the cover plate and the target optical fiber using a dispensing fixture. This ensures the adhesive effectively penetrates the minute gap between the cover plate and the fiber. Once the adhesive has cured, the target optical fiber is stably confined within the space formed by multiple positioning grooves in the cover plate and positioning area, providing reliable structural support for subsequent polishing processes. This step requires careful control of the amount of temporary adhesive used. It must ensure sufficient bonding strength to resist external forces during polishing while preventing adhesive spillage into non-target areas. This ensures ease of operation when removing the cover plate and substrate, as well as the cleanliness and structural accuracy of the final fiber array product. Providing stable structural support for subsequent polishing prevents fiber displacement due to high-speed friction during polishing, thus guaranteeing polishing accuracy.
[0043] Step S40: Remove the cover plate and the substrate, and perform three dispensing processes to obtain the fiber array. It should be noted that the removal operation refers to the process of first hydrolyzing and removing the adhesive previously used for temporary fixation after the target fiber has been polished and passed performance testing, thus releasing the temporary adhesive layer from the adhesion constraints between the cover plate, substrate, and fiber, and then disassembling and separating the cover plate and substrate originally used for positioning and pressing the fiber from the fiber. The fiber array refers to an optical component that, after a series of processes including front-end pressing, positioning adjustment, dispensing fixation, and fixture removal, completely covers and encapsulates the entire bare fiber with adhesive components, ultimately forming an optical assembly that meets preset optical performance requirements and is integrated and fixed by multiple fibers in a specific arrangement. This assembly can be directly applied to fiber optic communication, optical modules, CPO technology, and other related fields. The three dispensing processes refer to the full-range adhesive coverage and curing operation performed on all exposed bare fiber areas in the fiber array after the fiber array front-end polishing, performance testing, hydrolysis removal of the temporary adhesive under the cover plate, and removal of the substrate and cover plate. The adhesive used in the third dispensing process is consistent with that used in the first dispensing process, and the adhesive settings are similar to those in the first dispensing process; details will not be elaborated here. Understandably, firstly, after the exposed portion of the fiber optic head is polished and passes optical performance testing, the secondary dispensing of the fiber under the cover plate is removed, and then the substrate and cover plate of the fixture are removed, completely exposing the bare fiber portion of the fiber array. Next, adhesive is evenly applied to all exposed bare fiber areas, ensuring complete coverage of all parts of the bare fiber without any blind spots. Finally, the adhesive-coated bare fiber is cured to form a stable protective layer, ultimately resulting in a robust fiber array with satisfactory optical performance. The adhesive's encapsulating effect provides comprehensive protection for the polished bare fiber, preventing damage from bending, abrasion, and environmental corrosion during subsequent use. It also further fixes the fiber spacing and position, ensuring the long-term stability and reliability of the fiber array. The removal of the secondary adhesive in the previous step can be done by hydrolysis or low temperature. When the adhesive in the secondary adhesive is a water-soluble adhesive, the contact area between the cover plate and the optical fiber, and between the substrate and the optical fiber, is rinsed by placing the optical fiber array semi-finished product in room temperature water or by low-pressure spraying. When the adhesive in the secondary adhesive is a wax-based adhesive, the optical fiber array semi-finished product is placed in a low temperature chamber and left to stand in a low temperature environment. The low temperature causes the wax-based adhesive layer to lose its stickiness and become hard and brittle.
[0044] It should be noted that this method requires no cutting or machining of the substrate or cover plate of the tooling throughout the entire process. After the fiber array is fabricated, only the cover plate and base plate need to be removed, and the finished product is peeled off. The positioning area and positioning groove of the substrate and the structural integrity of the cover plate are completely preserved, and they can be directly used for the fabrication of the next batch of fiber arrays. This solves the problem of tooling being scrapped after a single use in existing technologies, significantly reducing tooling loss costs and the overall manufacturing cost of the fiber array. During the fabrication process, the optical fibers are precisely positioned one-to-one through the positioning groove in the substrate positioning area. Combined with the pre-pressing fixation of the cover plate, this ensures that the optical fibers maintain the preset spacing and alignment direction throughout the multi-stage dispensing process, without any deviation. The fiber array fabricated by this method can meet the stringent requirements of CPO technology for miniaturized packaging of fiber arrays, ensuring the stability of parallel transmission of multi-channel optical signals.
[0045] In one embodiment of the present invention, before the step of placing the initial optical fiber in the positioning area and pre-compressing the initial optical fiber placed in the positioning area by means of a cover plate, the method further includes: The front end portion of the double-row optical fiber is pressed into a single-row optical fiber; The single row of optical fibers is exposed to obtain the initial optical fiber.
[0046] In this embodiment, combined with Figure 7 Step S10 is preceded by steps S01-S02: Step S01: Press the front end portion of the dual-row optical fiber into a single-row optical fiber. It should be noted that the optical fiber used in this invention is a dual-row optical fiber, which refers to a bundle of optical fibers arranged in two parallel rows, serving as the initial raw material for fabricating the optical fiber array. The front end portion of the dual-row optical fiber refers to the pre-planned end region in the unprocessed dual-row optical fiber bundle, intended for subsequent grinding, polishing, and optical coupling. This region is the core functional area for optical signal transmission in the optical fiber array; the surface coating layer needs to be removed to expose the bare fiber before pressing. A single-row optical fiber refers to placing the front end portion of the dual-row optical fiber, after the coating layer has been removed, on a substrate. A cover plate applies downward pressure, pressing the upper row of optical fibers, originally arranged in two parallel rows, into the gap between the lower row of optical fibers, ultimately forming an optical fiber front end structure spaced apart in a single direction. Understandably, this step is a pre-processing step for fabricating fiber optic arrays. The front-end double-row fiber is placed on the substrate, and the front end of the double-row fiber on the substrate is pressed by the cover plate, so that the upper row fiber in the double-row fiber is pressed down into the lower row fiber. The resulting single-row fiber, that is, the fiber with the upper row fiber and the lower row fiber arranged alternately, compresses the two-dimensional double-row structure into a one-dimensional single-row spaced structure. More fibers can be accommodated in the same length of positioning slot, which is in line with the core requirements of CPO technology for high density and miniaturization of fiber optic arrays. It effectively reduces the overall volume and space occupied by the fiber optic array and meets the layout requirements of compact packaging scenarios. Specifically, first, prepare the double-row fiber bundle to be processed, and place its front end portion stably on the substrate, ensuring the two rows of fibers align with the limiting structure on the substrate. Then, place the cover plate correspondingly on the double-row fiber bundle, and apply stable downward pressure using a pressing fixture to slowly press the cover plate into the fiber bundle, gradually pressing the upper row of fibers into the gaps between the lower row of fibers. Finally, the front end portion of the double-row fiber bundle is pressed into a single-row configuration with spacing along a single direction. This is done to first fix the arrangement structure of the fiber front end through pressing, preventing fiber misalignment during subsequent bare fiber processing, and simultaneously compressing the arrangement space of the fiber front end, laying a structural foundation for increasing the density of the fiber array. Furthermore, the type of double-row fiber bundle can be coated fiber with an outer diameter of 165µm or 250µm, where 165µm and 250µm are the diameters of the fibers in the double-row fiber bundle. It should be noted that 80um / 165um diameter optical fibers can be made with spacings of 82um, 127um, and 165um; 125um / 250um diameter optical fibers can be made with spacings of 127um and 250um. That is, when compressed into a single-row structure, the spacing between adjacent fibers is reduced from the previous 165um or 250um to 80um, 82um, 127um, and 250um, resulting in a highly concentrated density of adjacent fibers, which better meets the high-density requirements of CPO packaging technology.
[0047] Step S02 involves exposing the single-row optical fiber to obtain the initial optical fiber. It should be noted that the initial optical fiber refers to a semi-finished optical fiber where the front end is pressed into a single-row shape while the rear end retains a double-row shape; that is, an intermediate product obtained after the front-end pressing step. Exposing the fiber refers to the process of precisely stripping the coating layer from the surface of the single-row optical fiber using a high-precision fiber stripping tool after the front end of the double-row optical fiber has been pressed into a single-row shape. This operation requires strict control of the stripping length and range to ensure that the surface of the bare optical fiber is free of scratches and damage, and that the fiber core structure is not destroyed. The purpose is to expose the bare fiber portion, providing a suitable substrate for subsequent optical processes such as polarization-maintaining adjustment, grinding, and polishing. The initial optical fiber refers to the semi-finished optical fiber obtained after the front end of the double-row optical fiber has been pressed into a single-row structure and exposed. This semi-finished product retains the double-row shape at the rear end, while the front end is a single-row bare optical fiber with the coating removed. It is a key intermediate product connecting the front-end pressing, exposing the fiber, and subsequent polarization-maintaining adjustment and fixed packaging. Understandably, after the single-row fiber optic configuration stabilizes, the cover plate is removed, and a high-precision fiber stripping tool is used to precisely strip the coating layer from the surface of the single-row fiber along its extension direction. This ensures that the length of the bare fiber segment meets the preset process requirements and that the surface of the bare fiber is free of scratches and damage. This is done to remove the influence of the coating layer on subsequent optical coupling performance, allowing the bare fiber to directly participate in subsequent polarization-maintaining adjustment and polishing processes. Then, the single-row fiber structure after the coating layer is removed is inspected to confirm that the fiber arrangement is uniform, without offset, and the surface of the bare fiber is intact. This yields the initial fiber. This is done to ensure that subsequent polarization-maintaining eye adjustment, segmented adhesive dispensing, and other processes can be carried out on a stable structural basis, ensuring the consistency of the optical performance of the final fiber array. Subsequently, a series of processes such as polarization-maintaining eye adjustment, segmented adhesive dispensing, and polishing tests can be performed based on this initial fiber to finally produce a finished fiber array that meets application requirements. This process ensures the accuracy of the single-row arrangement and avoids damage to the bare fiber caused by removing the coating layer before lamination, significantly improving the manufacturing yield and practicality of the fiber array. Furthermore, based on the number of optical fibers in the initial optical fiber, a substrate with a number of positioning slots matching the number of optical fibers is selected. It is understood that, depending on the different types of dual-row optical fibers, a substrate capable of accommodating dual-row optical fibers with a pitch of 165µm or 250µm is selected to press single-row optical fiber pitch positioning slots.
[0048] The fiber arrays fabricated through the above steps can achieve miniaturized arrangement, adapt to the needs of CPO technology, break the spatial limitations of traditional double-row parallel arrangement, accommodate more optical fibers within the same length dimension, and significantly improve the fiber arrangement density.
[0049] In one embodiment of the present invention, the step of removing the cover plate and the substrate, and performing three dispensing processes to obtain the fiber array further includes: The target optical fiber is ground and tested to obtain a semi-finished optical fiber array.
[0050] In this embodiment, combined with Figure 8 The steps preceding step S40 include step S31: Step S31: Grind and test the target optical fiber to obtain a semi-finished fiber array. It should be noted that grinding refers to the process of polishing the exposed front end of the target optical fiber, which has been temporarily fixed with adhesive, using specialized grinding fixtures and consumables, following a coarse grinding, fine grinding, and polishing process. The purpose is to ensure that the fiber front end face achieves the flatness, smoothness, and perpendicularity required for optical coupling. Testing refers to the operation of using optical testing instruments after grinding to detect geometric parameters such as end face tilt angle and height difference, and optical performance such as optical loss and polarization extinction ratio of the fiber end face. These optical testing instruments include interferometers and optical power meters to determine whether the fiber meets the preset quality standards. The semi-finished fiber array refers to the intermediate product obtained after the target optical fiber has undergone grinding and testing, and all performance indicators meet the requirements. At this point, the front end face of the fiber is ready for optical use, but it is still attached to substrates, cover plates, and other fixtures, and the temporary adhesive has not yet been removed. Understandably, the first step is to fix the target optical fiber, after the secondary adhesive application under the cover plate, onto a specialized polishing fixture, ensuring that the exposed end face of the fiber faces the polishing disc. Then, different grits of abrasive paper and polishing paste are used sequentially to perform graded polishing on the exposed end face of the fiber. First, coarse grinding removes the cutting burrs and damaged layers from the fiber end face; then fine grinding reduces the surface roughness; finally, polishing achieves an optical-grade finish. This process eliminates end face defects caused by coating removal and cutting, ensuring the flatness and perpendicularity of the fiber end face, which is crucial for subsequent... The efficient coupling of the optical signal lays the foundation. Secondly, optical testing instruments such as interferometers are used to inspect the geometry and parameters of the fiber end face to confirm that there are no scratches, chipping, or other defects. At the same time, optical power meters and polarization analyzers are used to test the optical transmission loss and polarization extinction ratio of the fiber to determine whether it meets the requirements for polarization-maintaining fiber. This is done to screen out fibers that meet the quality standards, prevent unqualified products from entering subsequent processes, and reduce the overall manufacturing cost. Finally, the fiber that has passed all tests retains its substrate, cover plate, and temporary adhesive dispensing structure to obtain a fiber array semi-finished product.
[0051] In one embodiment of the present invention, the step of grinding and testing the target optical fiber to obtain a semi-finished optical fiber array includes: Grind and polish the portion of the target optical fiber exposed outside the positioning area; The grinding amount and angle of the target optical fiber after grinding were tested to obtain test data; When the test data is qualified, a semi-finished fiber optic array is obtained; If the test data is unqualified, repeat the step of grinding and polishing the portion of the target optical fiber exposed outside the positioning area until the test data is qualified.
[0052] In this embodiment, combined with Figure 9 Step S31 includes steps S311-S314: Step S311: Grind and polish the portion of the target optical fiber exposed outside the positioning area. It should be noted that for the target optical fiber that has been fixed with adhesive dispensing, is located within the positioning groove, and has its exposed front end exposed outside the substrate positioning area, a dedicated optical fiber grinding and polishing fixture is used to perform a step-by-step grinding and polishing process on the exposed front end of the optical fiber. Understandably, firstly, the target optical fiber, along with the substrate and cover plate, is fixed together with the substrate and cover plate on the fixture of the optical fiber polishing machine after the adhesive is applied to the bonding area, the end face of the exposed fiber outside the positioning area is kept perpendicular to the polishing disc of the polishing machine, and the fixing force of the fixture needs to be moderate to prevent the fiber from shifting during polishing and to avoid excessive pressure that could deform the fiber. This ensures that the fiber end face is subjected to uniform force during polishing, providing a foundation for subsequent polishing accuracy. Secondly, according to the preset polishing process parameters, different grits of polishing sandpaper or polishing fluid are used to process the fiber end face step by step, such as coarse polishing, medium polishing, fine polishing, and polishing. The coarse polishing stage removes burrs and irregular parts of the fiber end face, the medium and fine polishing stages gradually refine the flatness of the end face, and the polishing stage improves the smoothness of the end face. After each polishing stage, the fiber end face must be cleaned to remove residual polishing debris. In this way, through graded polishing, the fiber end face can reach the high precision standard required for optical coupling and reduce end face loss during optical signal transmission.
[0053] Step S312 involves testing the grinding amount and angle of the polished target optical fiber to obtain test data. It should be noted that the grinding amount refers to the thickness or length of material removed from the fiber tip during the polishing process of the exposed portion of the target optical fiber. This value must match the preset optical coupling requirements and is a core quantitative indicator for measuring whether the grinding depth meets the standards and whether the fiber end face can meet the optical signal transmission needs. The angle refers to the angle formed between the polished fiber end face and the fiber axis, which can be selected within the range of 0 to 45 degrees to ensure optical coupling efficiency. The test data refers to the specific values obtained by measuring the grinding amount and end face angle of the polished target optical fiber using professional optical testing equipment. It also includes related test results such as end face smoothness and flatness. These data are the direct basis for judging whether the optical fiber polishing quality is qualified. Understandably, after the polishing process is completed, the optical fiber is removed from the polishing machine, and an optical fiber end face inspection instrument is used to measure the thickness or length of the material removed from the front end of the optical fiber to obtain the specific polishing amount. At the same time, an angle measuring instrument is used to detect the angle between the optical fiber end face and the axis, and the corresponding angle data is recorded. Combined with the test results of end face smoothness, flatness, etc., complete test data is summarized to quantitatively evaluate the polishing effect and determine whether the polished optical fiber meets the preset technical standards.
[0054] Step S313: When the test data is qualified, a fiber optic array semi-finished product is obtained. It is understood that after the grinding and polishing process is completed, a fiber optic end-face inspection instrument and other tooling are used to test the grinding amount, end-face angle, and smoothness of the ground fiber end-face, recording the corresponding test data. The test data is then compared with a preset qualification standard. If the test data is qualified, the fiber optic array semi-finished product is directly obtained. This ensures that the end-face performance of each fiber optic array semi-finished product meets application requirements, improving the yield and reliability of the final product. Finally, the qualified fiber optic array semi-finished product can proceed to the subsequent temporary adhesive removal, fixture removal, and overall packaging processes. The entire process, through precise grinding and polishing and a rigorous testing and rework procedure, ensures the optical performance of the fiber optic array, enabling it to adapt to the usage requirements of high-density, high-bandwidth application scenarios such as CPO technology.
[0055] Step S314: If the test data is unqualified, repeat the step of grinding and polishing the portion of the target optical fiber exposed outside the positioning area until the test data is qualified. It is understood that if the test data is unqualified, the above grinding and polishing steps are repeated, the grinding parameters are adjusted, and grinding and testing are performed again until the test data meets the qualification standard. This is done to ensure that every intermediate product entering subsequent processes has qualified end-face performance through a rigorous testing and rework mechanism, thereby improving the final fiber array yield and optical consistency.
[0056] In one embodiment of the present invention, before the step of performing a dispensing process on the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area and the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate to obtain the target optical fiber, the method further includes: The rear portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate is rotated so that the cat's eye direction of the front portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate is aligned with the polarization axis direction.
[0057] In this embodiment, combined with Figure 7It should be noted that step S11 must be completed before step S20 to ensure that the cat's eye pattern on a portion of the initial optical fiber meets the requirements for polarization-maintaining fiber. The portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate refers to the rear region of the initial optical fiber, located away from the front bare fiber and outside the substrate length. This portion of the fiber typically retains a complete coating (without stripping), and is the operating end that can be directly clamped and rotated by the operator. Being exposed outside the substrate only indicates that this section of fiber is not covered by the positioning groove or structure of the substrate, not that it is a bare fiber with the coating stripped off. The portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate refers to the area of the initial optical fiber near the array front end, outside the substrate length. This portion of the fiber has undergone coating stripping and is a bare fiber segment without a coating. It is the area where the cat's eye pattern appears on the end face of the polarization-maintaining fiber, and is also the core functional area for subsequent fiber array grinding and polishing, and optical signal coupling. The "cat's eye" direction refers to the long axis direction of the cat's eye-shaped optical pattern appearing on the end face of the polarization-maintaining fiber under a high-power microscope or specialized testing equipment. This direction corresponds one-to-one with the polarization axis direction inside the polarization-maintaining fiber and is a direct geometric identifier for determining the polarization state direction of the polarization-maintaining fiber. The polarization axis direction refers to the specific direction inside the polarization-maintaining fiber that can stably maintain the polarization state of the optical signal; only when the optical signal is transmitted along this direction can polarization mode dispersion be effectively suppressed, ensuring the stability of the polarization state. It can be understood that, as can be seen from the above embodiments, the initial optical fiber provided by this invention adopts the form of part polarization-maintaining fiber and part ordinary fiber. This step is actually adjusting the cat's eye direction of the polarization-maintaining fiber to be consistent with the polarization axis direction. The initial optical fiber after step S10 (i.e., part polarization-maintaining and part ordinary) is embedded into the positioning groove in the substrate according to the design sequence, and the two ends of the fiber are fixed by the clamping mechanism; the microscopic observation unit is activated to observe the cat's eye pattern on the end face of the polarization-maintaining fiber, and the angle adjustment component is manipulated to rotate the polarization-maintaining fiber until the long axis of the cat's eye is completely aligned with the preset polarization axis direction, and the adjustment angle is recorded. During rotation, the operator fine-tunes the fiber's rotation angle based on the cat's-eye image and polarization axis angle data displayed on the analyzer until the cat's-eye position is perfectly aligned with the preset polarization axis direction. This ensures that the slow or fast axis of the polarization-maintaining fiber precisely points in the set direction, thereby guaranteeing stable transmission of optical signals with a specific polarization state in subsequent optical systems and preventing decreased optical coupling efficiency or signal crosstalk due to polarization axis deviation. After rotation adjustment, the fiber's current angular position must remain unchanged to provide an accurate polarization state reference for subsequent primary and secondary adhesive dispensing fixation. The rotation adjustment device here can be a rotation drive device using an angle encoder, etc., and can be set according to specific needs; no limitation is made here.
[0058] The above description is merely an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structural transformations made using the contents of the present invention specification and drawings under the technical concept of the present invention, or direct / indirect applications in other related technical fields, are included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A fiber optic array fabrication fixture for fabricating fiber optic arrays, characterized in that, The fiber array fabrication fixture includes: The substrate has at least one bonding area and at least two positioning areas, with one bonding area between each two positioning areas; each positioning area has multiple positioning grooves, each positioning groove extends along the extension direction of the substrate, and the positioning grooves in adjacent positioning areas are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence, and each positioning groove is configured to accommodate the optical fiber in the optical fiber array. At least two cover plates are provided, each cover plate being respectively placed over each of the positioning areas and covering the opening of the positioning groove within the positioning area.
2. The fiber optic array fabrication fixture as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The bonding area is provided with a glue-blocking groove, which is connected to the two positioning grooves respectively.
3. The fiber optic array fabrication fixture as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The two opposite sidewalls of the adhesive-blocking groove gradually taper from the end furthest from the bottom wall of the adhesive-blocking groove to the end closest to the bottom wall of the adhesive-blocking groove.
4. The fiber optic array fabrication fixture as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The fiber array fabrication fixture also includes an adhesive component, a portion of which is located above the bonding area, and the remaining portion of which is located outside the substrate. The adhesive component is configured to bond and cover the fiber.
5. The fiber optic array fabrication fixture as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The positioning grooves are arranged in a continuous V-shape; And / or, each of the cover plates has a notch on the side facing the positioning groove, and the bottom wall of the notch is inclined.
6. A method for fabricating an optical fiber array, characterized in that, The method is applied to the fiber array fabrication fixture as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, and the method includes the following steps: The initial optical fiber is placed in the positioning area, and the initial optical fiber placed in the positioning area is pre-compressed by the cover plate; A first dispensing process is performed on the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area and the portion of the rear end of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate to obtain the target optical fiber. The portion of the target optical fiber confined between the cover plate and the substrate is subjected to secondary adhesive dispensing. Remove the cover plate and the substrate, and perform three dispensing processes to obtain the fiber array.
7. The method for fabricating an optical fiber array as described in claim 6, characterized in that, Before the step of placing the initial optical fiber in the positioning area and pre-compressing the initial optical fiber placed in the positioning area using a cover plate, the method further includes: The front end portion of the double-row optical fiber is pressed into a single-row optical fiber; The single row of optical fibers is exposed to obtain the initial optical fiber.
8. The method for fabricating an optical fiber array as described in claim 6, characterized in that, The step of removing the cover plate and the substrate, and performing three dispensing processes to obtain the fiber array, further includes: The target optical fiber is ground and tested to obtain a semi-finished optical fiber array.
9. The method for fabricating an optical fiber array as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The steps of grinding and testing the target optical fiber to obtain a semi-finished optical fiber array include: Grind and polish the portion of the target optical fiber exposed outside the positioning area; The grinding amount and angle of the target optical fiber after grinding were tested to obtain test data; When the test data is qualified, a semi-finished fiber optic array is obtained; If the test data is unqualified, repeat the step of grinding and polishing the portion of the target optical fiber exposed outside the positioning area until the test data is qualified.
10. The method for fabricating an optical fiber array as described in claim 6, characterized in that, Before the step of performing a dispensing process on the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed in the bonding area and the portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate to obtain the target optical fiber, the following steps are included: The rear portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate is rotated so that the cat's eye direction of the front portion of the initial optical fiber exposed outside the substrate is aligned with the polarization axis direction.