Flexible substrate for routing fibers in an optical transceiver

• US 20080037995A1
• Filed: 09/08/2006
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, U.S.A., Inc. (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Bryan Noble, John Dallesasse, Joseph Scheibenreif
• Inventors: Dallesasse, John, Scheibenreif, Joseph, Noble, Bryan
• Granted Patent: US 7,578,624 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/139
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4201 Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4246 Bidirectionally operating package structures
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4292 the light guide being disconnectable from the opto-electronic element, e.g. mutually self aligning arrangements

Abstract

An optical transceiver for converting and coupling an information-containing electrical signal with an optical fiber including a housing, an electro-optical subassembly in the housing for converting between an information-containing electrical signal and a modulated optical signal corresponding to the electrical signal from which at least two optical fibers extends; and a flexible substrate for securing each of the optical fibers to prevent tangling in the housing interior and to enable said fibers to bend from a first orientation to a second orientation. An optical fiber receptacle or connector is provided on the housing to couple to an external optical fiber.

Claims

1-44. -44. (canceled)

45. An optical transceiver module for converting between an information-containing electrical signal and a modulated optical signal over an at least one optical fiber comprising:

a support disposed in the module; and

a flexible substrate for securing said optical fiber to said support to enable said fiber to bend from a first direction to a second opposite direction inside said module.

46. The transceiver as defined in claim 45, further comprising an optical multiplexer mounted on said flexible substrate for receiving first and second optical fibers and multiplexing the respective optical signals on said optical fibers into a single multi-wavelength beam onto a single third optical fiber.

47. A transceiver as defined in claim 46, further comprising an electro-optical subassembly including first and second lasers operating at different wavelengths and modulated with respective first and second electrical signals for emitting first and second laser light beams coupled to said first and second optical fiber respectively.

48. An optical transceiver as defined in claim 46, wherein said optical multiplexer is a fused biconic tapered coupler.

49. An optical transceiver as defined in claim 45, further comprising:

a housing;

a fiber optic connector in the housing for transmitting and/or receiving an optical communications signal from an external optical fiber.

50. An optical transceiver as defined in claim 49, further comprising an electro-optical subassembly including a plurality of lasers for converting between an information-containing electrical signal and a modulated optical signal corresponding to the electrical signal from which at least two optical fibers extend in a first direction and engage said flexible substrate to prevent tangling.

51. A transceiver as defined in claim 50, further comprising a third optical fiber coupled with said fiber optic connector and secured to said flexible substrate as said third fiber extends along a first direction.

52. A transceiver as defined in claim 45, wherein said substrate is composed of a Kapton™

film.

53. A transceiver as defined in claim 45, wherein said at least one optical fiber is secured to said substrate by conforming coating on said substrate.

54. A transceiver as defined in claim 46, further comprising an optical element mounted on said substrate and coupling at least two of said fibers.

55. A transceiver as defined in claim 54, wherein said optical element is on an FBT, an arrayed waveguide grating, an array of dielectric mirrors, or an optical multimode interference coupler.