Optical fiber right angle transition
AssigneeRohm and Haas Electronic Materials LLC
InventorNoel A. Heiks
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fiber optic termination and method for the fabrication thereof are provided. The fiber optic termination (325) is configured to provide coupling of light between the fiber core (326) and an external optical element from a direction other than the direction of the longitudinal axis. In particular, the fiber optic termination permits coupling of light to a fiber at an angle that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the fiber.
Claims15
A fiber optic termination for registering an optical fiber to an optical component, comprising:
- a fiber holding member for terminating an end of an optical fiber to provide a fiber optic connector;
- at least one optical fiber having a distal end, a proximal end, and a core, the distal end disposed externally to the fiber holding member and the proximal end retained in the fiber holding member, the proximal end of the fiber having a light reflecting surface disposed at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the fiber to deflect light from the fiber core through the side of the fiber, the fiber further comprising a transmission surface positioned to receive light deflected from the light reflecting surface, the transmission surface comprising a planar sidewall section of the fiber core;
- and
- a registration feature disposed on the fiber holding member for positioning the proximal end of the fiber in registration to an optical component.
A method for fabricating a fiber optic termination, comprising the steps of:
- providing a fiber holding member having a registration feature disposed at a front face of the fiber holding member and having a recessed area at the front face for receiving an optical fiber;
- securing the terminal end of an optical fiber in the recessed area of the fiber holding member;
- attaching the fiber holding member to a jig by registering the registration feature of the fiber holding member to a registration element of the jig and securing the front face of the fiber holding member to a mating surface of the jig;
- and
- polishing the previously secured terminal end of the fiber at a selected angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the fiber to provide a light reflecting surface oriented to deflect light from the fiber core out through the side of the fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.