Abstract:
An oriented-dependence-microlens (ODM) fabricated by automatic grinding and fusion techniques is proposed. The ODM can be visually surface-feature aligned for high tolera...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
An oriented-dependence-microlens (ODM) fabricated by automatic grinding and fusion techniques is proposed. The ODM can be visually surface-feature aligned for high tolerance coupling lasers to polarization-maintaining-fibers (PMFs). The 3-dB coupling efficiency and polarized-extinction-ratio (PER) angular tolerances of the ODM were obtained as high as ± 16°. Furthermore, the 1-dB coupling and PER angular tolerances of the ODM were measured to be ± 2° for the ODM necessary to achieve both high coupling of 80% and high PER of 30-dB. The position accuracy of the grinding machine for the ODM was ± 1°, which was less than the fabricated angular tolerance of ± 2° necessary to achieve high coupling and PER and was much less than ± 16° to achieve 3-dB coupling and PER. This high coupling and high angular tolerance of fabricated ODM indicates that the ODM endface of the fast axis can be easily and visually observed and then surface feature aligned to the axis of the laser polarization direction. The proposed ODM with visually precise surface feature alignment to achieve both high coupling and polarization is beneficial for the application of laser/PMF modules for use in high-precision fiber optic gyroscopes and many high-performance and low-cost lightwave interconnections.
Date of Conference: 02-06 July 2017
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 04 September 2017
ISBN Information:
Electronic ISSN: 2161-2064