Method and apparatus for aligning arrays of optical fibers

A method for manufacturing an array of optical fiber ferrules comprising:

• producing on a first side of a wafer a pattern of an array of disks or holes (111, 112) in a metallic coating (121, 122), wherein a diameter of each of said disks or holes is equal to or greater than a diameter of an optical fiber;
• covering said metallic coating with a negative photoresist layer;
• illuminating a second side of said wafer opposite to said first side, said second side not being covered by the metallic coating, with light that propagates as a divergent or collimated beam through said photoresist layer, thereby creating a conical pattern within said photoresist layer;
• developing said photoresist layer to create conical apertures in said photoresist layer;
• and
• attaching a sheet with a conical openings pattern registered to said conical apertures in such a way that a small diameter of each conical opening of the sheet is smaller than, and in contact with, a large diameter of said conical aperture to which it is registered, thereby forming an array of optical fiber ferrules.