ALIGNMENT FERRULE ASSEMBLIES AND CONNECTORS FOR EVANESCENT OPTICAL COUPLERS AND EVANESCENT OPTICAL COUPLERS USING SAME
First Claim
1. An optical interconnection device for establishing evanescent optical coupling between optical fibers and optical waveguides of a photonic lightwave circuit (PLC), comprising:
- a) an alignment ferrule assembly comprising;
i) an alignment substrate having a front-end section with a front end, a top surface, a bottom surface and a substrate central axis;
ii) an array of optical fibers, with each optical fiber having a fiber central axis and an end section with a glass portion defined by glass core, a glass inner cladding and a glass-portion surface that resides immediately adjacent the glass core, and wherein the end sections of the optical fibers are secured to the bottom surface of the alignment substrate with the glass-portion surfaces facing away from the bottom surface of the alignment substrate and with the fiber central axes aligned with the substrate central axis; and
b) an alignment assembly comprising;
a planar support member having a back-end section with a back end, a top surface and a bottom surface;
first and second spaced-apart guide-feature support members that downwardly depend from the bottom surface of the planar support member and that respectively support first guide features; and
a receiving region between the first and second guide features in which the alignment substrate of the alignment ferrule assembly is secured.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is an optical interconnection device that includes an alignment ferrule assembly formed from an alignment substrate and optical fibers. The optical interconnection device also has an alignment assembly formed by a planar support member with guide features. A receiving region resides between the guide features in which the alignment substrate is secured. An evanescent optical coupler can be formed using the optical interconnection device as a first device and another optical interconnection device as a second device. The second device is constituted by a planar lightwave circuit that operably supports waveguides and an adapter. The adapter of the second device is configured to engage the alignment assembly of the first device to place the optical fibers and the optical waveguides of the respective devices in evanescent optical communication.
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Citations
54 Claims
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1. An optical interconnection device for establishing evanescent optical coupling between optical fibers and optical waveguides of a photonic lightwave circuit (PLC), comprising:
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a) an alignment ferrule assembly comprising; i) an alignment substrate having a front-end section with a front end, a top surface, a bottom surface and a substrate central axis; ii) an array of optical fibers, with each optical fiber having a fiber central axis and an end section with a glass portion defined by glass core, a glass inner cladding and a glass-portion surface that resides immediately adjacent the glass core, and wherein the end sections of the optical fibers are secured to the bottom surface of the alignment substrate with the glass-portion surfaces facing away from the bottom surface of the alignment substrate and with the fiber central axes aligned with the substrate central axis; and b) an alignment assembly comprising;
a planar support member having a back-end section with a back end, a top surface and a bottom surface;
first and second spaced-apart guide-feature support members that downwardly depend from the bottom surface of the planar support member and that respectively support first guide features; and
a receiving region between the first and second guide features in which the alignment substrate of the alignment ferrule assembly is secured. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An optical interconnection device for establishing evanescent optical coupling between an array of optical waveguides and an array of optical fibers, comprising:
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a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) having a surface and that supports the array of optical waveguides, wherein the array has first and second sides; an adapter having an interior, spaced apart first and second tabs and spaced apart first and second arms each having a first guide feature, wherein the first and second tabs of the adapter are attached to the surface of the PLC adjacent and outboard of the first and second sides of the array of waveguides; a stop fixture comprising a recess with an inside edge, the stop fixture attached to the surface of the PLC and within the interior of the adapter and relative to the optical waveguide array, with the recess defining an alignment surface. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of forming an alignment ferrule assembly, comprising:
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drawing a glass preform to form a long glass member having a longitudinal axis, wherein the glass preform has at least one perform precision feature that defines at least one long glass member precision feature; cutting the long glass member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis to form an alignment substrate having at least one substrate precision feature defined by the at least one long glass sheet precision feature and further comprising a planar surface; and securing a plurality of optical fibers to the planar surface. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of forming an alignment ferrule assembly, comprising:
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securing a plurality of optical fibers to a bottom surface of a planar alignment substrate so that the optical fibers run substantially parallel to the substrate axis and have a pitch P, wherein the planar alignment substrate has one or more edges; and forming at least one alignment bump on at least one of the edges. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of forming a first optical interconnection device configured to receive a second optical interconnection device having an alignment ferrule assembly that supports an array of optical fibers having a pitch P, comprising:
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providing a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) comprising a PLC substrate having a planar surface and that supports an array of PLC waveguides having the pitch P; and securing a stop fixture to the planar surface and relative to the array of PLC waveguides so that the array of optical fibers and the array of PLC optical waveguides are operably aligned when the alignment ferrule assembly contacts the stop fixture. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification