阅读说明：本技术 一种基于微透镜阵列的wdm结构 (WDM structure based on microlens array ) 是由 白永杰 孔祥君 杨栋 于 2020-06-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种基于微透镜阵列的WDM结构,所述基于微透镜阵列的WDM结构包括光纤阵列、微透镜阵列和准直器阵列,并以微透镜阵列为中心,光纤阵列和准直器阵列分列其两侧；其中,光纤阵列由多根单纤均匀排列而成；准直器阵列由多个准直器均匀排列而成；微透镜阵列由玻璃基底座和均匀排列置于玻璃基底座上的若干微透镜组成,且在玻璃基底座的两侧分设有若干第一滤波片和第二滤波片。本发明提供的基于微透镜阵列的WDM结构,基于集成化的思想,将多次对光整合为一次对光,大大降低了人工成本；同时,相较于传统的膜片式WDM器件,该结构可将一半的准直器替换为成本更低的单纤和微透镜阵列,大大降低了材料成本。(The invention discloses a WDM structure based on a micro-lens array, which comprises an optical fiber array, the micro-lens array and a collimator array, wherein the optical fiber array and the collimator array are arranged on two sides of the micro-lens array as a center; the optical fiber array is formed by uniformly arranging a plurality of single fibers; the collimator array is formed by uniformly arranging a plurality of collimators; the micro lens array consists of a glass substrate base and a plurality of micro lenses which are uniformly arranged on the glass substrate base, and a plurality of first filters and second filters are respectively arranged on two sides of the glass substrate base. The WDM structure based on the micro-lens array provided by the invention integrates multiple pairs of lights into one pair of lights based on the concept of integration, thereby greatly reducing the labor cost; meanwhile, compared with the traditional diaphragm type WDM device, the structure can replace half of the collimator with single fiber and microlens arrays with lower cost, and the material cost is greatly reduced.)

1. A WDM structure based on a microlens array, comprising:

the optical fiber array is formed by uniformly arranging a plurality of single fibers, and the distance between every two adjacent single fibers is a first preset value;

the micro-lens array comprises a glass substrate base, wherein a plurality of first filter plates which are uniformly arranged are arranged on one side of the glass substrate base, and the distance between every two adjacent first filter plates is a second preset value; a plurality of uniformly arranged micro lenses are arranged on the other side of the glass substrate base, and the space between every two adjacent micro lenses is a third preset value; a second filter is attached to the surface of each micro lens;

the collimator array is formed by uniformly arranging a plurality of collimators, and the distance between every two adjacent collimators is a fourth preset value;

the optical fiber array is arranged on one side of the glass substrate seat and is opposite to the first filter plate; the collimator array is arranged on the other side of the glass base seat and is opposite to the second filter plate.

2. A WDM structure according to claim 1, wherein said microlenses are hemispherical.

3. A WDM structure according to claim 1, wherein said microlenses have a higher index of refraction than said glass substrate mount, and wherein the focal lengths of said microlenses coincide with the thickness of said glass substrate mount.

4. A WDM structure according to claim 1, wherein the first, second, third and fourth predetermined values are equal.

5. A WDM structure according to claim 1, wherein said glass substrate mount is rectangular.

6. A WDM structure according to claim 1, wherein the angles of illumination of the individual fibers in the fiber array are at predetermined angles to the horizontal.

7. A WDM structure according to claim 1, wherein the glass substrate mount has a thickness of a predetermined thickness and the microlenses have a curvature of a predetermined curvature; the incident light passing through the glass substrate holder and the microlens is located on the same focal plane as the reflected light passing through the glass substrate holder and the microlens.

8. A WDM structure according to claim 1, wherein the number of said single fibers, first filters, microlenses, second filters, collimators are the same.

9. A WDM structure according to claim 8, wherein said first filter segments and said microlenses are staggered.

10. A WDM structure according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein said second filter has the same size as said microlenses and completely surrounds said microlenses.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of optical fiber communication, in particular to a WDM structure based on a micro-lens array.

Background

Wdm (wavelength Division multiplexing), which is a technology for coupling optical carrier signals of various wavelengths to the same optical fiber of an optical line for transmission after being combined together by a multiplexer at a transmitting end.

Most of the existing WDM devices are formed by cascading three-port devices, wherein each three-port device mainly comprises a collimator and a filter. WDM devices usually adopt two ways in implementation, one is that each three-port device needs to be manually operated before cascading, but the labor cost is very high; the other is to abandon the glass tube structure, and directly aim the reflected light at the next stage collimator through the filter plate, but has extremely high operation requirements on operators and very low light-aiming efficiency. Therefore, the above solutions have problems in personnel cost and light efficiency, and simultaneously, the solutions do not leave the need of using a large amount of collimators, thereby increasing the cost of raw materials.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to overcome the defects of the prior art, the invention provides a WDM structure based on a micro-lens array, which is based on the idea of integration, integrates multiple pairs of lights into one pair of lights, and greatly reduces the labor cost; meanwhile, compared with the traditional diaphragm type WDM device, the structure can replace half of the collimator with single fiber and microlens arrays with lower cost, and the material cost is greatly reduced.

A WDM structure based on a microlens array, comprising:

the optical fiber array is formed by uniformly arranging a plurality of single fibers, and the distance between every two adjacent single fibers is a first preset value;

the micro-lens array comprises a glass substrate base, wherein a plurality of first filter plates which are uniformly arranged are arranged on one side of the glass substrate base, and the distance between every two adjacent first filter plates is a second preset value; a plurality of uniformly arranged micro lenses are arranged on the other side of the glass substrate base, and the space between every two adjacent micro lenses is a third preset value; a second filter is attached to the surface of each micro lens;

the collimator array is formed by uniformly arranging a plurality of collimators, and the distance between every two adjacent collimators is a fourth preset value;

the optical fiber array is arranged on one side of the glass substrate seat and is opposite to the first filter plate; the collimator array is arranged on the other side of the glass base seat and is opposite to the second filter plate.

Optionally, the microlenses are hemispherical.

Optionally, the refractive index of the micro lens is higher than that of the glass substrate base, and the focal length of the micro lens is consistent with the thickness of the glass substrate base.

Optionally, the first preset value, the second preset value, the third preset value, and the fourth preset value are all equal.

Optionally, the glass substrate holder is rectangular.

Optionally, the light angle of a single fiber in the optical fiber array forms a preset angle with a horizontal line.

Optionally, the thickness of the glass substrate holder is a preset thickness, and the curvature of the microlens is a preset curvature; the incident light passing through the glass substrate holder and the microlens is located on the same focal plane as the reflected light passing through the glass substrate holder and the microlens.

Optionally, the number of the single fibers, the number of the first filters, the number of the microlenses, the number of the second filters, and the number of the collimators are the same.

Optionally, the first filter and the microlenses are distributed in a staggered arrangement.

Optionally, the second filter has a size same as that of the microlens and completely covers the microlens.

The WDM structure based on the micro-lens array comprises three array structures, wherein the three array structures are arranged in the middle of the micro-lens array, and the optical fiber array and the collimator array are arranged on two sides of the micro-lens array in a dividing way; because the single fiber angles in the optical fiber array are consistent and the interval is uniform, the micro lens array and the collimator array which are arranged opposite to the single fiber angles can be obtained according to the angles and the interval distance; in the light focusing process, single fibers in the optical fiber array correspond to first filter plates of the micro lens array one by one, based on the corresponding structures of the two arrays, the light focusing of all the single fibers can be completed through one-time light focusing, meanwhile, collimators in the collimator array correspond to second filter plates on the other side of the micro lens array one by one, based on the corresponding structures of the two arrays, the collimator array receives light with specific wavelength transmitted by the second filter plates, and therefore the light focusing process of the whole WDM structure is completed.

The WDM structure provided by the invention adopts the integration idea, the repeated structural relationship in the light focusing process is integrated before the light focusing, and the array structure is utilized to integrate the multiple light focusing processes into one light focusing, so that the light focusing speed and accuracy are greatly increased, and the light focusing work of the whole device can be completed by one light focusing of the light focusing staff. Meanwhile, a micro-lens array structure is innovatively introduced to replace a collimator, so that the use amount of the collimator can be reduced by 50% in the original scheme; through the design that integrates, the volume of very big reduction device when improving device beam split effect has greatly reduced the material cost of device.

The WDM structure provided by the invention successfully realizes the separation effect on incident light with different wavelengths, so that each wavelength of light enters different optical fibers respectively. Meanwhile, no matter the optical fiber enters the coupler or the single fiber, the optical fiber is coupled through the convergence effect of the lens, the coupling efficiency is greatly improved, and the insertion loss of the device is reduced.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a WDM structure based on a microlens array in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a microlens array in an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a reflection path of incident light according to an embodiment of the present invention;

the reference numbers in the drawings of the specification are as follows:

1. an optical fiber array; 11. a single fiber; 2. a microlens array; 21. a glass substrate holder; 22. a first filter; 23 micro lenses; 24. a second filter; 3. an array of collimators; 31. a collimator; 4. the incident light is a single fiber.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantageous effects to be solved by the present invention more clearly apparent, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

A WDM structure based on a microlens array as shown in figures 1 to 3. A WDM structure based on microlens arrays includes:

the optical fiber array 1 is formed by uniformly arranging a plurality of single fibers 11, and the distance between every two adjacent single fibers is a first preset value;

the micro-lens array 2 comprises a glass substrate base 21, a plurality of first filter plates 22 which are uniformly arranged are arranged on one side of the glass substrate base, and the distance between every two adjacent first filter plates is a second preset value; a plurality of uniformly arranged micro lenses 23 are arranged on the other side of the glass substrate base, and the space between every two adjacent micro lenses is a third preset value; a second filter 24 is pasted on the surface of each micro lens;

the collimator array 3 is formed by uniformly arranging a plurality of collimators 31, and the distance between every two adjacent collimators is a fourth preset value;

the optical fiber array is arranged on one side of the glass substrate base and is opposite to the first filter plate; the collimator array is arranged on the other side of the glass substrate base and is opposite to the second filter plate.

The single fibers in the optical fiber array are uniformly arranged at intervals, have the same distance from each other and are first preset values which can be flexibly set; according to the number and the spacing of the single fibers, the right-side collimator can be bonded in advance according to the same spacing to form a collimator array, and the spacing of the micro lenses can also be obtained through calculation to manufacture the micro lens array. Preferably, the number of the single fibers, the number of the first filter, the number of the micro lenses, the number of the second filter and the number of the collimators are the same, and the first preset value, the second preset value, the third preset value and the fourth preset value are equal, so that the array structure can be conveniently manufactured in a standardized manner.

The microlens array is preferably rectangular and is positioned vertically intermediate the fiber array and the collimator array.

The micro lens is preferably a hemispherical structure processed on the substrate base, the refractive index of the micro lens is higher than that of the glass substrate, and the focal length of the micro lens is consistent with the thickness of the glass of the substrate base, namely, the focal point formed by parallel light passing through the micro lens is just positioned on the rear surface of the glass, so that the performance of the micro lens is similar to that of a convex lens, and the micro lens has a strong convergence effect on light.

The incident light single fiber 4 is used as an input light source to be subjected to wavelength division multiplexing, is positioned on the left side of the microlens array and is approximately a point light source with a fixed divergence angle, and the incident light is incident into the microlens array at an inclined angle, namely the incident light has a certain inclined angle with the horizontal line, so that the incident light can be adjusted according to the light requirement in practical application.

In the light focusing process, the transverse distance from the light source to the micro lens is the same as the focal length of the micro lens, namely the light source is positioned on the focal plane of the micro lens; because the first filter and the second filter on two sides of the glass substrate base are different in light transmission and reflection wavelength, the first filter and the micro lens (the second filter is attached on the micro lens) are distributed in a staggered arrangement so as to realize the reflection or the transmission of light.

The reflection path of the incident light is shown in fig. 3, where a is the incident light including multiple wavelengths; when A enters the micro-lens array and strikes a first micro-lens and a first second filter plate covered on the micro-lens, the A1 is transmitted and the A2 is reflected to a next stage filter plate (a first filter plate); after passing through the first filter, a2 is transmitted out a21 and reflected a22 to the next filter (second filter) and so on.

For example, if the incident light includes three wavelengths λ 1, λ 2, and λ 3, the first filter performs the function of reflecting λ 3 and transmitting λ 2, and the second filter performs the function of reflecting λ 2 and λ 3 and transmitting λ 1. The specific light focusing process is as follows:

the incident light is obliquely emitted into the first micro-lens and then is emitted in a parallel light form, at the moment, the second filter is bonded behind the micro-lens, preferably, the micro-lens is completely wrapped by the second filter in size, and bonding and curing are carried out by using coupling glue, so that the reliability of the micro-lens is ensured. After filtering by the second filter, λ 1 can be emitted in parallel and enter the collimator disposed on the right side of the second filter. The collimator has the functions of coupling parallel light into a single fiber, and adjusting the position and the rotation angle of the collimator to enable the lambda 1 to be smoothly coupled into the collimator.

Meanwhile, for lambda 2 and lambda 3, because of being reflected by the second filter plate, and the reflection path of the second filter plate passes through the micro lens again, because the emergent angle is consistent with the incident angle, the emergent light is also converged on the focal plane of the micro lens. Meanwhile, as the first filter is bonded on the left side of the glass base seat, the lambda 2 can be converged into one point through the first filter, and as the light is converged at the point, the single fiber can be directly used for coupling; and lambda 3 is reflected by the first filter to become the incident light source of the next stage filter (second filter).

It can be understood that, by repeating the structure, three wavelengths λ 2, λ 4, λ 6 are output on the left side of the microlens array, and λ 1, λ 3, λ 5 can be output on the right side of the microlens array, thereby realizing the function of wavelength division.

Further, in one embodiment, the thickness of the glass substrate holder is a predetermined thickness, and the curvature of the micro-lens is a predetermined curvature; the incident light passing through the glass substrate holder and the microlens is located on the same focal plane as the reflected light passing through the glass substrate holder and the microlens. That is, the incident light and the reflected light are in the same focal plane (e.g., the incident light a and the reflected light a2 are in the same focal plane in fig. 3), and the reflected light can be prevented from going forward or backward, thereby avoiding the influence on the light focusing effect. The control of the focal plane depends mainly on the curvature of the microlenses, while the thickness of the glass substrate holder can be calculated from the curvature of the microlenses. Specifically, the distance from the focal plane to the microlens (i.e., the focal plane position) can be adjusted by selecting microlenses of different curvatures, and the thickness to be taken by the glass substrate holder can be determined according to the fact that the distance from the focal plane to the microlens is equal to the thickness of the glass substrate holder.

Accordingly, in practice, for a glass substrate holder with a certain thickness, the curvature of the microlens to be used can be deduced according to the mapping relationship among the curvature of the microlens, the focal plane distance, and the thickness of the glass substrate holder.

Because the single fibers on the left side have consistent angles and are arranged in parallel in the multi-stage structure, the adjacent intervals can be obtained through calculation, and the optical fiber array is manufactured in advance. The right side collimators can be bonded in advance at the same interval to form a collimator array. Similarly, the microlens pitch can be calculated to produce a microlens array. Namely, the process of multiple light focusing in the prior art is changed, and the light focusing process of the whole device can be realized by one light focusing of two arrays.

The WDM structure based on microlens array of the present invention is illustrated above for the understanding of the present invention, but the implementation manner of the present invention is not limited by the above-mentioned embodiments, and any changes, modifications, substitutions, combinations, and simplifications which do not depart from the principle of the present invention should be replaced by equivalents, and all of them are included in the protection scope of the present invention.