Micro-optical coupler for photonic integrated circuit
AssigneeUniversity College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork
InventorPeter O'BRIEN
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Abstract
Disclosed is a micro-optical coupling element that includes a wafer, an array of micro-lenses fabricated at one side of a wafer, and an array of discrete micro-prisms fabricated at another side of the wafer, wherein the array of micro-lenses is integrated with corresponding array of micro-prisms, such that each micro-prism is positioned directly in-line or aligned over corresponding micro-lens, wherein each micro-prism is configured to rotate an input optical beam by up to 90 degrees, and corresponding micro-lens is configured to expand and collimate the rotated beam, to form a pluggable optical connector.
Claims15
A micro-optical coupling element, comprising:
- a wafer;
- an array of micro-lenses fabricated at one side of the wafer;
- and
- an array of discrete micro-prisms fabricated at another side of the wafer, wherein the array of micro-lenses is integrated with a corresponding array of micro-prisms, such that each micro-prism is positioned directly in-line or aligned over a corresponding micro-lens, wherein each micro-prism is configured to rotate an input optical beam by up to 90 degrees, and the corresponding micro-lens is configured to expand and collimate the rotated beam, to form a pluggable optical connector.
The micro-optical coupling element as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the spin-on polymer layer has a printable material and is spin-coated to the required thickness with a thin metal to achieve high reflectivity.
The micro-optical coupling element as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the wafer is one of:
- clear optical glass or a silicon wafer for infra-red applications.
The micro-optical coupling element as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the array of micro-lens is fabricated at a wafer-level using conventional photolithography and etching techniques.
The micro-optical coupling element as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising one or more internal waveguides fabricated using laser writing or ion diffusion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.