OPTICAL SUB-ASSEMBLY FOR A MODULE COMMUNICATING OVER OPTICAL FIBER, WITH A DEVICE FOR OPTICAL COUPLING ALIGNED IN A PASSIVE MANNER

Abstract

The present invention relates to an optical sub-assembly for an optoelectronic module (M), designed to provide conversion of an electrical signal from a main electronic board into an optical signal or vice-versa. It comprises an alignment ring which allows the mechanical sub-assembly to be mechanically aligned and to be centered in a passive manner directly upon installation and hence the optical axis of the optoelectronic component to be readily aligned with the axis of the fiber optic ferrule and hence with the optical fiber extended by a complementary ferrule which is accommodated facing it in the holding cage.

Claims

1. An optical sub-assembly for an optoelectronic module (M), designed to provide conversion of an electrical signal from an electronic board into an optical signal or vice-versa, comprising: a carrier electronic board, designed to serve as an interface with another electronic board; an optoelectronic component designed to emit or to receive a light signal via its upper surface along an optical axis (X), the optoelectronic component being fixed onto the top of the carrier electronic board and electrically connected to the circuit of the electronic board directly or, where relevant, via an electronic control component; an annular alignment ring, arranged around the electronic component while being fixed to the electronic board, the annular ring comprising a central opening coming out opposite the optoelectronic component; a mechanical sub-assembly comprising: a fixed fiber optic ferrule running around its central axis (X1); a holding and alignment connection designed to both hold and center the fixed fiber optic ferrule of the sub-assembly, wherein the holding and alignment connection is mechanically aligned and centered by the alignment ring while being fixed onto the latter, such that the ferrule is pushed into the central opening of the annular ring with the central axis (X1) of the optical ferrule coincident with the optical axis (X).

2. The sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distance from the end of the fiber ferrule to the surface of the optoelectronic component is fixed by the end stop of the connection against the alignment ring, the end stop of the connection defining the distance from the end of the ferrule with respect to the connection.

3. The sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mechanical sub-assembly furthermore comprises a fixing collar designed to both hold and center the fiber optic ferrule within it, the collar being designed to accommodate a complementary optical ferrule and a holding cage designed to both hold and center the fixing collar within it.

4. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, forming a transmitter sub-assembly (M.sub.E), the optoelectronic component being a surface emitting laser.

5. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, forming a receiver sub-assembly (M.sub.R), the optoelectronic component being a photodiode.

6. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component(s) is(are) encapsulated inside a closed encapsulation cavity (C) bounded by the alignment ring and the ferrule.

7. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the encapsulation cavity is partially or completely filled with a transparent resin (R) designed to optimize the optical coupling between the ferrule and the optoelectronic component.

8. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connection has a peripheral surface in plane-to-plane contact against the peripheral surface (22) of the alignment ring.

9. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein the optical ferrule is held in the connection in such a manner that the face of its free end is in the plane (P) of the peripheral surface of the connection and hence in the contact plane between ring and connection.

10. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optoelectronic component or, as the case may be, the electronic control component is bonded or brazed or fixed according to a technique referred to as flip chip directly onto the surface of the electronic board.

11. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, comprising a shim bonded or brazed or fixed according to a technique referred to as flip chip directly onto the surface of the electronic board or, as the case may be, directly onto the electronic control component, itself bonded or brazed or fixed according to a flip-chip technique onto the shim, the shim being inserted between the surface of the electronic board and the optoelectronic component or, as the case may be, between the electronic control component and the optoelectronic component.

12. The optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carrier electronic board is a folded printed circuit, so as to form an angled part for the electrical connections with another electronic board or electronic equipment.

13. An optoelectronic module, comprising at least one optical sub-assembly as claimed in claim 1 mounted onto another electronic board.

14. A multi-channel optoelectronic module forming a transceiver, comprising at least one transmitter sub-assembly as claimed in claim 4 and at least one receiver sub-assembly as claimed in claim 5, and a common electronic board to which the optoelectronic components with their control electronic components are electrically connected.

15. A transceiver as claimed in claim 14, wherein the printed circuit of the receiver module and that of the transmitter module are folded at a right angle such that the optical axes of said optoelectronic modules are parallel to the substrate of the common electronic board.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] Other advantages and features of the invention will become more clearly apparent upon reading the detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention presented by way of non-limiting illustrations and with reference to the following figures, amongst which:

[0057] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of a transceiver optoelectronic module integrating two optical sub-assemblies according to the invention, one of which is a transmitter sub-assembly (TOSA) and the other a receiver sub-assembly (ROSA);

[0058] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example of an optical sub-assembly according to one variant of the invention,

[0059] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the sub-assembly according to FIG. 2 in the receiver version (ROSA),

[0060] FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the sub-assembly 2 according to FIG. 3 furthermore comprising a fixing collar and the holding cage,

[0061] FIG. 4 is a detailed view of FIG. 3 showing the various components, ring and mechanical sub-assembly of the aligned module,

[0062] FIG. 5 is a detailed view in perspective of an example of an optical sub-assembly in the transmitter version (TOSA) according to one variant of the invention.

[0063] Throughout the application, the terms vertical, lower, upper, low, high, under, over are to be understood with reference to the direction of stacking of the various components of an optical sub-assembly according to the invention.

[0064] FIG. 1 shows a transceiver module T integrating an optical transmitter sub-assembly M.sub.E (TOSA) according to the invention and an optical receiver sub-assembly M.sub.R (ROSA) also according to the invention.

[0065] The transceiver T comprises an electronic board 10 onto which the two sub-assemblies M.sub.E, M.sub.R are fixed by means of their respective carrier electronic boards 1.

[0066] The board 10 will be used as an interface with an application electronic board or electronic equipment.

[0067] More precisely, each optical sub-assembly M.sub.E, M.sub.R according to the invention comprises a carrier electronic board 1 which is folded, at a right angle in the example illustrated, and fixed and electrically connected to the common electronic board 10.

[0068] In place of a printed circuit board (or PCB) 10, there may also be an electronic board whose substrate is composed of a stacking of layers or sheets of dielectric materials, such as alumina, and within which a circuit of electrical conductors is arranged.

[0069] Thus, a part 11 of each carrier board 1 is in plane-to-plane contact against the substrate of the common electronic board 10, whereas the other part 12, which is bent, is inclined, at a right angle in the example illustrated, with respect to the substrate of the board 10.

[0070] The conducting tracks 13 come out at the end of the bent part 12 in order to form the electrical connection with those of the common board 10.

[0071] On the non-bent part 11 of each carrier board 1 an alignment ring 2 is fixed on which a mechanical sub-assembly 3 is aligned and fixed by means of its component forming a connection 30 as explained hereinbelow.

[0072] With this arrangement, the optical axis X of each optoelectronic module M.sub.E, M.sub.R is parallel to the substrate of the common board 10 although the optoelectronic components selected emit or receive the optical signals via their surface.

[0073] This arrangement is advantageous because all of the components of the sub-assemblies extend along the axis X parallel to the substrate of the common board and hence the total height is greatly reduced. For other applications, this limitation may not be necessary and the carrier board may not have any angle.

[0074] FIG. 2 shows a sub-assembly M according to the invention prior to its installation and electrical connection onto an electronic board, such as the board 10 in FIG. 1.

[0075] FIG. 3 shows all the components of a receiver sub-assembly M.sub.R (ROSA) such as it is assembled.

[0076] First of all, the various active electronic elements of the sub-assembly M are stacked one on top of the other and fixed together, preferably by bonding, for example by means of an epoxy adhesive or by brazing.

[0077] Thus, from bottom to top of the stack, the sub-assembly M.sub.R comprises:

[0078] the printed circuit 1;

[0079] an electronic control component 4 directly fixed onto the printed circuit 1 and electrically connected to the electronic circuit via soldered wires 40 according to a wire-bonding or bridging technique;

[0080] an optoelectronic component 5 designed to receive a light signal via its upper surface along an optical axis X, the optoelectronic component being electrically connected to the electronic component 4 by a wired micro-cabling technique, for example by means of soldered wires 50, or by a flip-chip assembly technique or other electronic interconnection techniques of conventional microelectronics;

[0081] where needed, a shim 6 made of electrically insulating material, such as a ceramic, is inserted between the two components 4, 5.

[0082] The components 4 and 5 are naked components, in other words non-encapsulated.

[0083] In the stacking illustrated, the shim 6 is directly fixed onto the top of the electronic control component 4 and the optoelectronic component 5 is fixed onto the top of the shim 6. These attachments may be carried out by bonding using for example an epoxy resin adhesive or by brazing.

[0084] Such as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the optical sub-assembly according to the invention is a receiver sub-assembly, the optoelectronic component 5 is then a photodiode of the PIN type and the electronic control component 4 is a transimpedance amplifier for a photodiode.

[0085] Such as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the mechanical sub-assembly 3 comprises, in addition to the connection 30 aligned with centering and fixed onto the ring 2:

[0086] a fiber optic ferrule 31 which runs around its central axis X1,

[0087] a fixing collar 32 which both holds and centers the optical ferrule within it, the collar being designed to accommodate a complementary optical ferrule for transmission of the light signal,

[0088] a holding cage 33 which both holds and centers the fixing collar 32 within it.

[0089] Depending on the applications and/or the upper shape of the collar, the fixing collar and the holding cage may be optional.

[0090] The connection 30 holds and centers both the cage 33 and the optical ferrule 31.

[0091] According to the invention, the connection 30 is mechanically aligned by the alignment ring 2 while being fixed onto the latter, preferably by bonding.

[0092] With this mechanical alignment, the ferrule 31 is pushed into the open central opening 20 of the annular ring 2 with the central axis X1 of the ferrule 31 coincident with the optical axis X.

[0093] With the ferrule 31, the ring 2 defines a closed encapsulation cavity C inside of which the electronic components 4, 5 and the shim 6 are encapsulated.

[0094] In order to optimize the optical coupling between ferrule 31 and optoelectronic component 5, the encapsulation cavity C may advantageously be partially or completely filled with a transparent resin. The resin could be of the EPO-TEK-301-2FL type for example.

[0095] Furthermore, the cavity C thus filled renders the components 4, 5 less sensitive to humidity.

[0096] Furthermore, the connection 30 has a peripheral surface 34 which is in plane-to-plane contact P against the peripheral surface 22 of the alignment ring 2.

[0097] Preferably, the optical ferrule 31 is held in the connection 30 in such a manner that the face of its free end is in the plane of the peripheral surface 34 of the connection and hence in the contact plane P between ring 2 and connection 30. This allows the axial position of the ferrule 31 with respect to the substrate of the electronic board 1 to be known with precision and hence, where necessary by calibrating the shim 6, the axial distance between optoelectronic component 5 and the face of the free end of the optical ferrule 31 to be very precisely defined in order to improve the optical alignment of the sub-assembly.

[0098] As illustrated in FIG. 2, when the optical sub-assembly according to the invention is a transmitter sub-assembly M.sub.E, the optoelectronic component 5 is a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (or VCSEL) or any other surface-emitting optoelectronic component.

[0099] By virtue of the invention, a multi-channel transceiver module T is obtained which may comprise both at least one emitter sub-assembly per laser diode and at least one transmitter sub-assembly per photodiode, which is compact, robust and adapted to harsh environments, notably with a high level of humidity, and whose cost of assembly is limited owing to the absence of a need for active alignment such as in a module with an optical lens according to the prior art.

[0100] Other variants and improvements may be provided without however straying from the scope of the invention.

[0101] The expression comprising a should be understood as being synonymous with comprising at least one, except where the contrary is specified.