US 12,345,923 B2
Metallized optical fiber array module and fabrication method thereof
Robert Ryan Vallance, Newbury Park, CA (US); and Yang Chen, Thousand Oaks, CA (US)
Assigned to Senko Advanced Components, Inc., Hudson, MA (US)
Filed by Senko Advanced Components, Inc., Hudson, MA (US)
Filed on Oct. 19, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/969,543.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/257,978, filed on Oct. 20, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0123751 A1, Apr. 20, 2023
Int. Cl. G02B 6/36 (2006.01); G02B 6/42 (2006.01)
CPC G02B 6/3652 (2013.01) [G02B 6/3636 (2013.01); G02B 6/423 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical fiber array module for terminating an array of optical fibers, comprising:
a substrate of a first material having a top surface with a groove region provided with a plurality of longitudinal open grooves receiving and aligning a longitudinal end section of a corresponding optical fiber in optical alignment to allow light to be transmitted along a defined path, wherein each end section is free of any metal coating predisposed on the end section prior to receiving in the corresponding groove;
a layer of a second material defining bottom interface portions disposed on surfaces of the grooves, wherein the second material is softer than the first material, wherein the bottom interface portions interface with bottom contact surfaces of the end sections received in the respective grooves;
a layer of a solder preform material disposed on the top surface of the substrate outside the groove region to define bottom solder regions;
a cover of a third material that is optically transparent to an optical radiation source and having a bottom surface facing the top surface of the substrate, wherein the cover is attached to the substrate with the optical fibers retained in the grooves;
a layer of a fourth material defining top interface portions disposed on the bottom surface of the cover, wherein the fourth material is softer than the third material, wherein with the cover attached to the substrate the cover presses on the end sections against the substrate and the top interface portions interface with top contact surfaces of the end sections, so as to securely retain the optical fibers therebetween, and wherein the bottom interface portions and the top interface portions mechanically deform to accommodate the bottom contact surfaces and the top contact surfaces of the respective optical fibers; and
a layer of a fifth material that is solderable, defining top solder regions facing corresponding bottom solder regions, disposed outside the top interface portions on the bottom surface of the cover, wherein the solder preform material at the bottom solder regions of the substrate faces the fifth material at the top solder regions of the cover, and wherein the cover is soldered to the substrate, comprising heat reflowing the solder preform material at the bottom solder regions onto the fourth material at the top solder regions by radiation from the optical radiation source through the optically transparent third material of the cover.