Glass-based micropositioning systems and methods

A method of micropositioning first and second optical elements relative to each other, comprising:

• arranging the first and second optical elements so that they are roughly aligned to one another, wherein at least one of the first and second optical elements is supported by a glass substrate capable of locally expanding when locally heated;
• and
• micropositioning at least one of the first and second optical elements by forming one or more microbumps in the glass substrate by locally heating the glass substrate to move at least one of the first and second optical elements to more closely align the first and second optical elements.

An optical assembly, comprising:

• a glass substrate with a surface having one or more glass microbumps;
• and
• a first optical element supported by the one or more microbumps so as to be micropositioned relative to the substrate surface or to another optical element.

A method of forming a microbump for micropositioning an optical element, comprising:

• providing a glass substrate having an upper surface, wherein the substrate is capable of locally expanding when locally heated;
• locally heating the substrate to cause local expansion of the substrate so as to create a microbump in the substrate surface;
• terminating heating of the substrate so as to fix the microbump, wherein the optical element includes a planar waveguide or an optical fiber.