HYC Launched A Full Range of High-speed Fiber Array Subassembly

 With the development of ultra-high-speed and integrated optical communications, optical transceiver modules are also expected to adopt smaller and more integrated solutions, which have high demand for parallel high-speed optical subassembly. Due to the high cost caused by strict material usage and processing technology, the optical fiber array has not been widely used for 10G transmission. With the rapid advance of 400G and 800G high-speed transmission, FA with high-density packaging can be said to be a more ideal solution.

Optical fiber arrays are most commonly used in the packaging of planar optical waveguide splitters (PLC) and arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG). With the explosive growth of data flow, the demand for optical fiber arrays in data centers and 5G commercial applications is growing rapidly, and FA has become more and more widely used in MEMS systems, sensors, silicon photonics and other fields.

Relying on the technical advantages and rich experience of ultra-precision component assembly, HYC quickly launched high-speed optical component products to meet market demand. Relying on the technical advantages and rich experience of ultra-precision component assembly, HYC quickly launches high-speed optical subassembly products to fullfit the market demand. Now, HYC has high-precision glass cutting,fiber array design, surface optical coating design, fiebr array bonding, convex surface fiber grinding and processing capabilities, and can provide customers with a full series of fiber array with various end-face grinding angles (such as 0 degree, 8 degree, 42.5 degree, 45 degree,and other customized angles). High precision pitch cores and low-cost high speed optical fiber array subassembly will be provided to meet different customer needs.

High-speed FA Subassembly Product Introduction

1. High-speed Optical Subassembly MT-FA

MT-FA is widely used in parallel transmission of optical transceiver modules, such as 100GPSM4 connection to an external port. HYC's MT-FA jumpers can achieve total reflection on the end surface by grinding the fiber array into a 42.5° angle reflector. It uses the low-loss MT ferrules, and the tolerance range of the V-groove spacing is ±0.5μm,which can provide the most compact parallel connection scheme for optical transceiver modules.

2. High-speed FA Subassembly in AWG , AWG-FA-Receptacle

Receptacle is usually combined with FA, Capillary, Isolator, etc. to form an optical connection device, which is used as the external connection optical port of the optical module to realize the connection and transmission of optical signals outside the module.

3. High-speed Optical Subassembly PM-FA

Polarization-maintaining PM-FA is widely used in coherent optical communication. The polarization state of light can be maintained during transmission, which can give full play to the advantages of coherent reception. The PM fiber array uses a V-shaped groove to install a polarization-maintaining fiber ribbon on the array substrate, which can achieve high-density parallel transmission while ensuring the stability of light wave polarization.

4. Silicon Photonics Integration Optical Subassembly, MFD(Mode field diameter) Conversion FA 

Mode field diameter conversion fiber array provides a low loss coupling method to a waveguide with a smaller mode field by using a small segment of ultra-high numerical aperture single-mode fiber (UHNA) stitched onto the pigtail of a standard SM or PM fiber to achieve mode field conversion. This product is an ideal solution for high-speed silicon photonic transceiver modules connections. HYC can provide customized fiber diameters, such as 3.2μm / 3.3μm / 4μm / 5.5μm to 9μm, using special assembly and polishing processes and high-precision V-slot substrates to achieve low insertion loss, high pitch-core, and wide temperature.

HYC uses precise processing technology or etching technology to achieve precise fiber array positioning and high reliability FA, and adopts sophisticated automation and testing equipment(e.g. DISCO cutting machine, Seiko FA core-pitch detector) to ensure product reliability. HYC will continue to increase R&D investment and expand a rich product line to meet the market demand for high-speed optical transmission passive device products for 5G and data center construction.

What is Fiber Array (FA)?

Fiber Array (FA for short) is an array formed by installing a bundle of optical fibers or a fiber ribbon on the substrate at specified intervals by using a V-Groove substrate.

An optical fiber array in optical communication mainly includes a substrate, a pressing plate, and an optical fiber. Usually, a plurality of grooves are cut on the base of the substrate, and the optical fiber is fixed into the groove by the pressure plate. Optical fiber arrays have high requirements on materials and manufacturing processes.

Fiber array is usually located by the precision carved V-shaped grooves. The V-groove requires special cutting process to achieve precise fiber positioning. In order to reduce the connection fiber loss, it’s very important to accurately position the fiber core in the V-groove. After positioning, pressurize with a compactor and fix it with an adhesive to polish the end face of the optical fiber. That is the final fiber array. The substrate material will affect the optical performance of the optical fiber array, and it is necessary to use a material with a small expansion coefficient to ensure that the optical fiber array has no stress, high reliability, and no fiber displacement at high temperatures. Glass and silicon are commonly used materials, in addition to ceramics, conductive substrates and plastic substrates.

Fiber Array

The distance between the grooves of the V-shaped groove, the number of fiber channels, and the grinding angle are all customized according to the needs. The parallelism of the groove length direction between the grooves is usually within ± 0.1 degree. Most of the fibers used in FA are colored ribbon fibers, which have good bending resistance, and the colorful colors can easily distinguish the channels.

Fiber Array

Fiber arrays are usually used in planar optical waveguides, arrayed waveguide gratings, active/passive array fiber devices, micro-electromechanical systems, multi-channel optical modules, etc. Among them, the optical fiber array is one of the important components of the PLC Splitter, which can greatly reduce the loss of optical waveguide devices and optical coupling alignment.

HYC provides a variety of choices of fiber arrays, such as the number of fiber array channels, core spacing and grinding angle can be customized. HYC Co., Ltd has been focusing on the OEM/ODM manufacturing of optical passive devices for 20 years. It has a strong R&D team and production capacity. It can provide customers with one-stop customized production of optical communication passive basic device design, R&D and manufacturing. Product lines mainly include optical fiber connectors, optical fiber jumpers, PLC splitters, wavelength division multiplexers(WDM), MEMS optical switches, etc.
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