Active Optical Fiber Alignment with a Piezoelectric Ultrasonic Motor Integrated Into Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics

The major goal of this research was to integrate an ultrasonic motor into a ceramic package for an active optical fiber alignment. Two degrees of freedom ultrasonic motor was successfully cofired with commercial low temperature cofired ceramic green tapes as well as with silver electrodes without encountering serious delamination, camber, and inter diffusion issues. High-power piezoelectric ceramics that can be sintered at 900°C was used for the ultrasonic motor. The motor successfully achieved fiber-to-laser optical alignment. Once alignment was achieved, a pre-stressed structure maintained the position of the fiber without any external electrical field or adhesive material. This package design provided a unique ability to adjust and realign an optical fiber.

[1]  C. Randall,et al.  Refined Model of Electromigration of Ag/Pd Electrodes in Multilayer PZT Ceramics Under Extreme Humidity , 2009 .

[2]  Seyit O. Ural,et al.  Piezoelectric properties of low temperature sintering in Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-Pb(Zn,Ni)1/3Nb2/3O3 ceramics for piezoelectric transformer applications , 2008 .

[3]  I. Reaney,et al.  Thermochemical Reactions Between PZT and Ag/Pd Powders: Relevance to Cofiring of Multilayer Actuators , 2008 .

[4]  Kenji Uchino,et al.  Delta-Shaped Piezoelectric Ultrasonic Motor for Two-Dimensional Positioning , 2008 .

[5]  Kee-Joe Lim,et al.  Fabrication and characteristics of impact type ultrasonic motor , 2007 .

[6]  V. Lantto,et al.  Piezoelectric thin-film unimorph actuator for optical fibre alignment applications , 2006 .

[7]  Tae-Gone Park,et al.  A study on the rotary-type ultrasonic motor using a longitudinal–torsional vibration converter , 2006 .

[8]  Seyit O. Ural,et al.  Piezoelectric Properties of Sb-, Li-, and Mn-substituted Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3–Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3 Ceramics for High-Power Applications , 2006 .

[9]  Sheng-Yi Li,et al.  Fiber optic active alignment method based on a pattern search algorithm , 2006 .

[10]  Darko Belavic,et al.  PZT thick films on LTCC substrates with an interposed alumina barrier layer , 2006 .

[11]  Raj Mittra,et al.  Integration Concepts for the Fabrication of LTCC Structures , 2005 .

[12]  Leszek Golonka,et al.  Properties of PZT thick films made on LTCC , 2005 .

[13]  D. Belavic,et al.  Design study for a thick-film piezoelectric actuator in an LTCC structure , 2005, EuroSimE 2005. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanial and Multi-Physics Simulation and Experiments in Micro-Electronics and Micro-Systems, 2005..

[14]  C. Grover,et al.  Active alignment of optical fibers to planar waveguides using a thermal-curing adhesive , 2005, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[15]  Yoshihiko Imanaka,et al.  Multilayered low temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) technology , 2004 .

[16]  Jari Juuti,et al.  LTCC compatible PLZT thick-films for piezoelectric devices , 2004 .

[17]  Yung-Ching Chang,et al.  Active fiber-solder-ferrule alignment method for high-performance opto-electronic device packaging , 2003 .

[18]  M. Hrovat,et al.  Characterization of PZT thick films fired on LTCC substrates , 2003 .

[19]  M. Owen,et al.  Agilent technologies' singlemode small form factor (SFF) module incorporates micromachined silicon, automated passive alignment, and non-hermetic packaging to enable the next generation of low-cost fiber optic transceivers , 2000 .

[20]  N. Murata.  Adhesives for optical devices , 1998, 1998 Proceedings. 48th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (Cat. No.98CH36206).

[21]  M. A. Northrup,et al.  Thin Film Shape Memory Alloy Microactuators , 1996, Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS).

[22]  K. Kurata,et al.  2D alignment free VCSEL-array module with push/pull fibre connector , 1996 .

[23]  Richard C. Ruby,et al.  Micromachined 1 × 2 optical-fiber switch , 1996 .

[24]  Richard C. Ruby,et al.  Micromachined 1x2 Optical Fiber Switch , 1995, Proceedings of the International Solid-State Sensors and Actuators Conference - TRANSDUCERS '95.

[25]  Y Kikuya,et al.  Alignment of optical axes by using electrostatic force. , 1993, Optics letters.

[26]  Seiji Hirose,et al.  Vibration-Level Characteristics for Iron-Doped Lead-Zirconate-Titanate Ceramic , 1993 .

[27]  Sadayuki Takahashi Hirose.  Vibration-Level Characteristics of Lead-Zirconate-Titanate Ceramics , 1992 .

[28]  S. Aoshima,et al.  Compact mass axis alignment device with piezoelements for optical fibers , 1992, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[29]  S. Ueha,et al.  An estimation of load characteristics of an ultrasonic motor by measuring transient responses , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[30]  S. Stolte,et al.  Raman overtone spectroscopy of ethylene , 1985 .