A micromachined connector for the coupling of optical waveguides and ribbon optical fibers

摘要

This paper describes in details the fabrication and tests of a micromechanical connector, which is used for the precise optical self-alignment of multi-waveguide optical integrated circuits (OIC) to ribbon optical fibers, without injecting light in the fiber. Nickel alignment pins are electrodeposited on the OIC using a photolithographic process, and these pins are inserted into suitable openings made on a silicon micromachined platform, on which optical fibers are accurately positioned using V-grooves. A simultaneous fabrication of several microstructures which are used as an assistance for the assembly of the fibers and the waveguides is presented for the first time. Design and fabrication issues are reported, as well as preliminary experimental results which show that excess optical losses on the order of 3 dB per coupling facet can be obtained.