Expanded Beam Optical Fiber Connector with Detachment Mechanism

A detachable optical fiber connector system, comprising:

• a base plate;
• a photonic integrated circuit chip disposed on a top surface of the base plate;
• a first lens array disposed on the top surface of the base plate next to the photonic integrated circuit chip, the first lens array including a row of lenses that face upward in a direction away from the top surface of the base plate;
• a first plug component attached to the top surface of the base plate, the first plug component including a first receiver slot and a second receiver slot, wherein the first receiver slot has a lengthwise centerline that is oriented at a lens-to-lens coupling angle relative to a normal vector that extends perpendicular to the top surface of the base plate, and wherein the second receiver slot has a lengthwise centerline that is oriented at the lens-to-lens coupling angle relative to the normal vector that extends perpendicular to the top surface of the base plate;
• a fiber array unit including a plurality of optical fibers;
• a second lens array disposed on the fiber array unit;
• and
• a second plug component rigidly attached to the fiber array unit, the second plug component including a first alignment pin and a second alignment pin configured to respectively insert into the first receiver slot and a second receiver slot of the first plug component such that the second lens array is optically coupled with the first lens array.

A detachable optical fiber connector system, comprising:

• a base plate;
• a photonic integrated circuit chip disposed on the base plate;
• a first lens array disposed on the photonic integrated circuit chip;
• an optical channel enclosure disposed on a top surface of the photonic integrated circuit chip, the optical channel enclosure including a channel formed through an entire vertical extent of the optical channel enclosure, the channel configured to overlie an entirety of the first lens array;
• an optical turning structure disposed on the optical channel enclosure;
• a first plug component rigidly attached to the optical turning structure, the first plug component including a first receiver region and a second receiver region;
• a fiber array unit including a plurality of optical fibers;
• a second lens array disposed on the fiber array unit;
• and
• a second plug component rigidly attached to the fiber array unit, the second plug component including a first alignment pin and a second alignment pin configured to respectively insert into the first receiver region and a second receiver region of the first plug component such that the second lens array is optically coupled with the first lens array by way of the optical turning structure.