Search

CN-115210622-B - Positioning of light coupling points

CN115210622BCN 115210622 BCN115210622 BCN 115210622BCN-115210622-B

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device (200) for locating an optical coupling point (11), and a method for producing a microstructure (100) at an optical coupling point (11). The method for locating an optical coupling point (11) comprises the steps of a) providing an optical component (10) comprising an optical coupling point (11), the optical coupling point having an interaction region (15), the interaction region (15) being located outside a volume enclosed by the optical component (10), b) generating optical radiation in a production region (120), the production region (120) at least partially overlapping the interaction region (15) of the optical coupling point (11), the optical being applied to a medium (19) located in the production region (120), the medium (19) changing the light so as to generate the optical radiation, c) capturing at least a part of the generated optical radiation in a capturing region (130), the capturing region (130) at least partially overlapping the interaction region (15) of the optical coupling point (11) and determining a spatially resolved distribution of the capturing portion of the generated optical radiation, and d) determining the position of the optical coupling point (11) from the determined spatially resolved distribution of the capturing portion of the generated optical radiation, the generated optical radiation or at least a part of the generated optical radiation being captured by the optical coupling point (11). Thus, the optical coupling point (11) can be positioned accurately, with a relative positioning tolerance better than 1 μm. Thus, low coupling losses can be achieved by optical connection with the optical component (10) and the microstructure (100) can be placed precisely at the optical coupling point (11).

Inventors

  • M. BLACK
  • P-I Dietrich
  • C. Kus

Assignees

  • 先锋光电有限责任公司
  • 卡尔斯鲁厄技术研究所

Dates

Publication Date
20260421
Application Date
20210304
Priority Date
20200305

Claims (14)

  1. 1. A method for locating an optical coupling point (11), comprising the steps of: a) Providing an optical component (10) comprising an optical coupling point (11), wherein the optical coupling point has an interaction region (15), the interaction region (15) being located outside a volume enclosed by the optical component (10); b) Generating optical radiation in a production area (120), wherein the production area (120) at least partially overlaps an interaction area (15) of the optical coupling point (11), wherein the light impinges on a medium (19) located in the production area (120), the medium (19) changing the light, thereby generating optical radiation; c) Capturing at least a portion of the generated optical radiation in a capture area (130), wherein the capture area (130) at least partially overlaps with an interaction area (15) of the optical coupling point (11) and determines a spatially resolved distribution of the captured portion of the generated optical radiation, and D) Determining the position of the optical coupling point (11) on the basis of the determined spatially resolved distribution of the capturing portion of the generated optical radiation, Wherein at least a portion of the generated optical radiation is captured by the optical coupling point (11).
  2. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the medium (19) comprises scattering centers (27), luminescent substances (20) or photoinitiators forming luminescent substances (20), wherein the scattering centers (27) produce scattered radiation (26), or wherein the luminescent substances (20) produce luminescent radiation (21).
  3. 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the luminescent radiation (21) is generated by exciting a multiphoton absorption process in the luminescent substance (20).
  4. 4. A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the medium (19) further comprises a photoresist, wherein a dose below a dose threshold for polymerization of the photoresist is introduced into the photoresist to generate the optical radiation.
  5. 5. The method according to claim 1or 2, wherein the optical radiation is captured by an objective lens (70) or the light used for generating the optical radiation is irradiated into the production area (120), wherein the objective lens (70) has a numerical aperture of at least 0.3.
  6. 6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the radiation of the light entering the production area (120) or the capturing of the light radiation generated in the capturing area (130) is spatially varying, and wherein the spatially resolved distribution of the light radiation is captured by the light coupling points (11).
  7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the spatial variation of the radiation of the light entering the production area (120) or the capturing of the light radiation generated in the capture area (130) is achieved by using a beam scanner (132).
  8. 8. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the positioning of the light coupling point (11) comprises an indication of the position (13) and the direction (14) of the light coupling point (11), wherein the position (13) and the direction (14) of the light coupling point (11) are determined by at least one of the following measures: verifying the presence or absence of optical radiation captured at a location within the capture area (130); evaluating a spatially resolved distribution of the captured portion of the optical radiation generated in the capture region (130); For generating the optical radiation, a model for the optical coupling point (11) is applied for position-dependent in-coupling of the optical radiation in the production area (120) into the optical coupling point (11) or for the distribution of the light emitted from the optical coupling point (11).
  9. 9. A method for producing a microstructure (100) at an optical coupling point (11) of an optical component (10), comprising the steps of: i) The method according to claim 1 or 2 for locating an optical coupling point (11), and Ii) creating a microstructure (100) at the optical coupling point (11) by using a manufacturing method selected from additive manufacturing methods or subtractive manufacturing methods.
  10. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein an objective lens (70) is used for locating the optical coupling point (11) and for producing the microstructure (100) at the optical coupling point (11), wherein the objective lens has a numerical aperture of at least 0.3.
  11. 11. An apparatus (200) for locating an optical coupling point (11), comprising: An optical component (10) comprising at least one light coupling point (11), wherein the light coupling point has an interaction region (15), the interaction region (15) being located outside the volume enclosed by the optical component (10); An optical device configured for at least one of generating optical radiation in the production area (120) or capturing at least a portion of the generated optical radiation in the capture area (130), wherein the production area (120) and the capture area (130) at least partially overlap with the interaction area (15) of the optical coupling point (11), and An evaluation device (150) configured for determining a spatially resolved distribution of the captured portion of the optical radiation and for determining the position of the optical coupling point (11) from the determined spatially resolved distribution of the captured portion of the optical radiation, Wherein the device (200) is configured to capture at least a portion of the generated optical radiation through the optical coupling point (11).
  12. 12. The apparatus (200) of claim 11, wherein the optical device comprises a light source (112), the light source (112) being configured to generate light, which when irradiated to a medium (19) located in the production area (120), the medium (19) changes the light, thereby generating light radiation.
  13. 13. The apparatus (200) of claim 11 or 12, wherein the optical apparatus further comprises a beam scanner (132), the beam scanner (132) being configured to effect a spatial variation of the radiation of the light entering the production area (120) or to effect a spatial variation of the light radiation generated by capturing in the capture area (130).
  14. 14. The device (200) according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the optical device is further configured to create the microstructure (100) at the optical coupling point (11).

Description

Positioning of light coupling points Technical Field The present invention is in the field of optical connection of optical components by using optical coupling points, and relates to a method and a device for locating optical coupling points, and a method for producing microstructures at optical coupling points. The optical component may for example be a micro-optical component such as a laser, an optical fiber, an optical chip with passive or active waveguides, a photodetector, a lens system or a filter. Other types of optical components are also conceivable. The method and apparatus are particularly suited for integrating optical and optical structures and connection techniques. However, there may be more fields of use. Background Methods and devices for locating an optical coupling point are known in the art. Depending on the type of optical component, the position and orientation of the light coupling point may be captured in particular by using a combination of a camera image and confocal detection methods of an imaging system, which may be part of the lithography system. In this case, it may often be desirable for the optical component to be transparent to the light used to detect the coupling point and/or to have a contrast in refractive index, color or reflection that can be identified by using imaging optics. However, in many material systems, this is not the case. For example, in the field of integrated optics, optical fibers, arrays of fibers, or material systems used for integrated optical chips exhibit very low refractive index contrast, which makes it significantly more difficult to identify waveguides at the optical coupling points. Furthermore, the optical chip or the individual layers of these chips may be opaque at the wavelength used to detect the coupling point, which is particularly applicable in the case of a waveguide to be detected covered by a metallization. Furthermore, many optical components do not have optically verifiable complementary structures, such as alignment marks, which can be used as a basis for determining the position and/or orientation of the light coupling points. As described in Katagiri, t. Et al on pages 277-28 of Optical microscope observation method of a single-mode optical-fiber core for precise core axis alignment,Journal of Lightwave Technology,2(3),1984,, particularly in the case of optical fibers, the technical requirement often arises to identify their cores as precisely as possible, which is essentially necessary when two optical fibers are connected together in a so-called "splicing process". Although the refractive index contrast of conventional optical fibers is low, it is possible to identify the interface between the core and cladding of the optical fiber by giving a proper backside collimated flood exposure in the optical microscope with a slight shadow when viewed from above. In this case, the fiber axis must be located approximately at the focal plane of the microscope. However, in many cases, it is not possible to achieve back side collimated flood exposure. In this regard, in optical modules, such as optical emitters, the optical fibers and waveguides are typically fixed to an opaque substrate, so backside illumination is not possible. In other cases, the fibers are combined to form an array of fibers, with the result that weak core shadows are superimposed by other structures in the array of fibers having higher optical contrast, thus making identification more difficult. US 2006/0067625 A1 discloses an apparatus and a method of adjusting an optical connection between a waveguide and an optical connection component that introduces light into the waveguide or receives light emitted from the waveguide. The device comprises an excitation light source which emits light into the waveguide via the optical connection means, which causes the waveguide to fluoresce, a viewing device which views the waveguide from a side surface, which is different from the end surface, via which light is coupled into or emitted from the waveguide, and which receives the fluorescent light emitted from the waveguide, and a connection adjustment means which adjusts the optical connection between the optical connection means and the waveguide based on the intensity of the received fluorescent light. WO 2017/059960 A1 discloses another method for identifying the core of an optical fiber when the facet is observed from above, the direction of observation being perpendicular to the facet and parallel to the axis of the core. To improve the visibility of the core at one end, light may also be coupled into the core from the other end of the fiber. However, the light coupled out of the core must be collected by the system used for imaging. This proves to be difficult, especially if the optics of the lithography system are intended for imaging. The axis of the optical fiber or optical waveguide to be positioned is usually located at the focal plane of the lithography system, wi