The present disclosure generally relates to optic components, optical waveguide interconnects, and methods for manufacturing the same.
Optical waveguide interconnects may be used to address issues with bandwidth bottlenecks potentially limited by the use of electrical wire at circuit board levels. Polymeric waveguides are often employed, but can be limited in high bandwidth applications by poor thermal stability characteristics. The present disclosure relates to an integrated laser manufacturing solution to manufacture board-level optical waveguide interconnects, such as those made in a glass substrate.
Optionally, a method for manufacturing an optic component may comprise providing a substrate having a surface and an interior volume of solid material; and irradiating a portion of the interior volume by directing a processing laser beam into the substrate surface. The irradiating may be carried out under conditions effective to expose and weaken the solid material within the irradiated portion, which may define a surface, optionally further including solid material adjacent to the surface that functions as an optic component.
Optionally, a method for manufacturing an optical waveguide interconnect may comprise providing a substrate having a surface and an interior volume of solid material; and, irradiating at least two portions of the interior volume by directing a processing laser beam into the substrate surface. The irradiating may be carried out under conditions effective to expose and weaken the solid material overlying the at least two portions, which may define first and second surfaces, optionally further including solid material adjacent to one or more of the surfaces, that function as first and second optic components. The method for manufacturing may further comprise forming an embedded waveguide in the interior volume by directing the processing laser beam into the substrate surface and etching away the weakened portions of the interior volume overlying the first and second defined surfaces using an etchant. The first and second optic components and the waveguide may be aligned to be in optical communication with each other such that an input beam of light may strike the defined surface of the first optic component, traverse the waveguide, and strike the defined surface of the second optic component.
Optionally, an optical interconnect may comprise an opto-electronic device configured to transmit or receive light; and a substrate having a surface and containing an embedded input optic component having a first exposed surface, an embedded waveguide, and an embedded output optic component having a second exposed surface. The optic components and the embedded waveguide may be aligned to be in optical communication with each other.
Additional features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the embodiments described herein, including the detailed description which follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description describe various embodiments and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the claimed subject matter. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the various embodiments, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate the various embodiments described herein, and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations of the claimed subject matter.
The following is a description of the figures in the accompanying drawings. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and certain features and certain views of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematic in the interest of clarity or conciseness.
The following reference characters are used in this specification:
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the figures. It should be understood that the claims are not limited to the arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the figures. Furthermore, the appearance shown in the figures is one of many ornamental appearances that can be employed to achieve the stated functions of the apparatus.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be clear to one skilled in the art that the present invention can be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known features or processes may not be described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the invention. In addition, like or identical reference numerals may be used to identify common or similar elements.
Advantages of using the combined irradiating and etching manufacturing processes include greater accuracy (allowing for the introduction of finer details) and less damage to surrounding areas of the substrate 10 (for example, only the irradiated area is altered and no ablation debris is generated). Another advantage of the methods of the present disclosure is that the optic component 20 may be embedded.
The processing laser beam may be used to write an embedded waveguide 25 (as shown schematically in
The optic component 20 may be any optic component that can be formed by the irradiation method described in the present disclosure. There are a number of known types of optic components that may be fabricated in this way, including optic components described by C. Debaes et al. in “Low-cost Micro-optical Modules for Board Level Optical Interconnections,” IEEE LEOS Newsletter Vol. 19, No. 3 (June 2005), available at http://photonicssociety.org/newsletters/jun05/hot_topic2. html; and described by S. V. Kartalopoulos in “Introduction to DWDM Technology: Data in a Rainbow—Chapter 4: Optical Spectral Filters and Gratings,” Wiley-IEEE Press (Dec. 1999), both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. For example, the optic component 20 may be a mirror, a prism, a waveguide, a free space beam splitter, a waveguide, a waveguide splitter, a coupler, a waveguide coupler, a lens, a filter, a grating filter, a polarizer, a resonator, or a wavelength-division multiplexer (WDM). A mirror may be used to totally internally reflect beams of light. A mirror may be, for example, a 45 degree micro-mirror. A prism may be used as a free space beam splitter by partially internally reflecting a beam of light and partially refracting the beam of light. A waveguide, such as an embedded waveguide, may be used to direct a beam of light along a defined path. The waveguide may include a waveguide splitter, such as a 1×2 waveguide splitter, which may be Y-branched (as shown schematically in
One of the advantages of the present disclosure is the ability to create a series of multiple optic components that may be optically connected by one or more embedded waveguides. The optic components may be connected without significant signal loss due to, e.g., scattering.
As shown in
The defined surface 22 may be generally planar or generally curved. The defined surface 22 may form a plane angle greater than zero with respect to the substrate surface 12. The plane angle may be between 0 and 90 degrees, for example between 10 and 80 degrees, or between 30 and 60 degrees, or between 40 and 50 degrees, or 45 degrees. As shown schematically in
As shown schematically in
As shown schematically in
While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the claims.
This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/160816 filed on May 13, 2015, the content of which is relied upon and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62160816 | May 2015 | US |