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JP-7855095-B2 - Optical components and optical modules using the same

JP7855095B2JP 7855095 B2JP7855095 B2JP 7855095B2JP-7855095-B2

Inventors

  • 近藤 康之
  • 小方 淳也

Assignees

  • アルプスアルパイン株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20250108
Priority Date
20200611

Claims (9)

  1. A transparent rectangular prism whose height-to-width ratio is greater than 1 in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, A lens is provided only on the light-emitting side of the transparent body, among the light-emitting and light-incoming sides. It has, The lens body formed by the transparent body and the lens is A flat back surface formed on the light incident side opposite to the lens, A first surface including a flat contact surface, A second surface, which includes a flat surface, is located opposite to the first surface. A first extension portion that extends continuously from the first surface and protrudes only toward the lens side in the optical axis direction, A second extension that extends continuously from the second surface and protrudes only toward the lens side in the optical axis direction, It has, The lens is located between the first extension and the second extension. The lens body has a flat portion between the lens and the first extension and the second extension. The first extension and the second extension protrude further than the flat portion toward the lens in the optical axis direction, The angle of deviation between the perpendicular line drawn from the center of gravity of the lens body to the contact surface and the line segment connecting the center of gravity and the center of the contact surface is within 10% of the larger of the angle of inclination between the line connecting the center of gravity and the rear end of the contact surface and the perpendicular line, and the angle of inclination between the line connecting the center of gravity and the front end of the contact surface and the perpendicular line. Optical components.
  2. The length of the contact surface in the optical axis direction is greater than half the length of the first surface in the optical axis direction. The optical component according to claim 1.
  3. The optical component according to claim 1, wherein the first extension portion has a curved surface continuous with the first surface and a flat vertical surface continuous with the curved surface.
  4. The optical component according to claim 1, wherein the second extension portion has a curved surface continuous with the second surface and a flat vertical surface continuous with the curved surface.
  5. The first extension is formed over the entire width of the transparent body. The optical component according to claim 1.
  6. The amount of the first extension portion protruding in the optical axis direction is constant in the width direction of the lens body. The optical component according to claim 5.
  7. The center of the flat surface is located on the extension of the perpendicular line. The optical component according to claim 1.
  8. Light source and An optical component according to any one of claims 1 to 7 for collimating or focusing the light emitted from the light source, Optical module.
  9. Multiple light sources, A plurality of optical components provided in correspondence with the light source, The optical components are such that the position or angle of each of the optical components relative to the light source is adjusted individually. The optical module according to claim 8.

Description

This invention relates to optical components and optical modules using the same. With the widespread adoption of IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud services, the volume of traffic on optical networks continues to surge, demanding further improvements in communication speed and quality. Meanwhile, the need for miniaturization of optical communication equipment necessitates miniaturization and higher density of individual optical and optoelectronic components incorporated into communication modules. A configuration is known in which protrusions are formed at the four corners of a rectangular lens used in optical communications, etc., thereby increasing the surface area of the lens mounting and strengthening the adhesive fixation of the lens during installation (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent No. 5074017 This diagram illustrates the problems with vertical lenses.This is a schematic diagram of a transmitter/receiver including an optical module using the optical components of the embodiment.This figure shows the optical components of the first embodiment.This figure illustrates the parameters of the optical component in the first embodiment.This figure shows an example of the configuration of the extension portion of the lens body.This diagram illustrates a comparison between an optical component of the first embodiment and a general optical component.This is a schematic diagram of the optical component of the second embodiment.This is a schematic diagram of the optical component of the third embodiment.This is a schematic diagram of the optical component of the fourth embodiment.This is a schematic diagram of the optical component of the fifth embodiment. Before describing the configuration of the embodiment in detail, we will refer to Figure 1 to further explain the technical challenges in vertical lenses with reduced thickness. Figure 1 is a side view of a typical lens used as an optical component. Figure 1(A) is a schematic cross-sectional view, and (B) is an optical path diagram including the optical axis OA and the lens centroid. The lens centroid is indicated by a cross mark. The direction of light propagation is the X direction, the height direction of the lens is the Z direction, and the direction perpendicular to the X and Z directions is the Y direction. The lens has a base A, an upper part B, and a lens portion LN. When mounting the lens onto a substrate, the lens is picked up by the upper part B and transported to the mounting position, and then fixed in place by the base A. In this example, the lens portion LN is a convex lens and collimates the incident laser beam at the mounting position. When the overall thickness of the lens is reduced for miniaturization, the center of gravity of the lens shifts forward along the optical axis OA, i.e., towards the light emission side. In Figure 1(B), the center of gravity of the lens, indicated by the cross mark, is shifted in the +X direction from the perpendicular Lper, which points from the center C1 of the base A to the optical axis OA. In other words, the line segment connecting the center C1 of base A and the center of gravity of the lens is tilted forward (+X direction) by an angle θoff compared to the perpendicular Lper. As a result, as shown by the white arrow in the diagram, the lens tends to tilt forward (+X direction) in the thickness direction. If the lens portion is located on the back side of the lens, i.e., the side where the laser beam enters, depending on the position of the center of gravity of the lens, the lens tends to tilt backward (-X direction). If the lens width (Y-direction) is reduced in addition to the lens thickness to achieve miniaturization, the fixing area of the base A becomes smaller, making it difficult for the lens to stand upright during mounting. If the lens's center of gravity is off-center, there is a risk that the lens will be fixed in a tilted position. If the surface area of the upper part B becomes small, it becomes difficult to stably pick up or hold the lens. When using vacuum suction, the suction force acting on the upper surface of the lens becomes small, and there is a risk that the lens may fall during movement. In this embodiment, at least some of the above-mentioned problems are solved, and a configuration is provided that allows for the stable mounting of a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped lens with reduced thickness and width. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an optical transmitter 1 to which the optical component 10 of the embodiment is applied. The optical transmitter 1 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) 2, an optical module 5, and a multiplexer 6. The optical module 5 is the front-end module for optical transmission, and in this example, it is configured as a 4-channel optical transmission module. Solid arrows represent electrical signals, and dashed arrows represent optical signals. The optical module 5 comprises a driver circuit DRV provided for each channel, a laser diode (LD)