Fixture and method for attaching fibers to V-grooves of photonic integrated circuit
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsDaoyi Wang, Ryohei Urata, Lieven Verslegers, Jan Petykiewicz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for passive alignment of fibers to an interface of a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) includes an input frame, an actuator, and an output frame. The actuator arranged to apply force along a force axis to the input frame. The output frame including a tip for picking up a plate and transferring the force thereto, the output frame being connected to the input frame such that the output frame may tilt relative to the input frame and the output frame is elastically biased relative to the input frame into a position wherein the tip is aligned on the force axis.
Claims18
A system for passive alignment of fibers to an interface of a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), the system comprising:
- an output frame including a tip configured for picking up a plate and transferring a force thereto, wherein the output frame is configured to tilt;
- an input frame;
- and
- a plurality of springs connecting the input frame to the output frame, wherein each spring is positioned at a different respective position about the force axis.
A method of coupling an optical cable to a PIC, the method comprising:
- coarsely aligning exposed fibers of the optical cable with V-grooves of an in-out (I/O) interface of the PIC;
- aligning a plate over the exposed fibers and the I/O interface;
- and
- applying force along a force axis to a jig, the jig being arranged to transfer the force to the plate, until each of the fibers is seated in a respective V-groove, the jig comprising:
- an output frame including a tip extending therefrom for transferring the force to the plate, the output frame being free to tilt, wherein the tip extends along the force axis of the force.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.