Claims
- 1. An optical fiber passive alignment fixture for a planar or substantially planar photonic circuit, comprising at least two planar or substantially planar fiducial surfaces that are normal or substantially normal to a plane of the planar or substantially planar photonic circuit.
- 2. The optical fiber passive alignment fixture of claim 1, further comprising an optical fiber, the longitudinal axis of which is near-normal to the plane of the planar or substantially planar photonic circuit, and which is positioned such that it has at least one contact point with each of the at least two planar or substantially planar fiducial surfaces.
- 3. The optical fiber passive alignment fixture of claim 1, wherein the at least two planar or substantially planar fiducial surfaces are formed by and are at least two planar or substantially planar surfaces of at least two alignment posts.
- 4. The optical fiber passive alignment fixture of claim 3, wherein the at least two alignment posts each have the same height of approximately 50 μm.
- 5. The optical fiber passive alignment fixture of claim 1, produced by a process comprising at least one micro-machining technique.
- 6. The optical fiber passive alignment fixture of claim 1, produced by a process comprising wafer bonding.
- 7. The optical fiber passive alignment fixture of claim 1, wherein the optical fiber passive alignment fixture comprises a material from the group consisting of: Si, SiO2, SiN, GaAs and InP.
- 8. A process for aligning the optical fiber passive alignment fixture of claim 1 with an optical fiber, comprising the steps of
initially positioning the optical fiber in proximity to, but not in contact with, at least two alignment posts, thereafter moving the optical fiber to an intermediate position, where the optical fiber contacts at least one point on each of the at least two fiducial surfaces, which are formed by and are at least two planar or substantially planar surfaces of the at least two alignment posts, and where the optical fiber is above the plane of the planar or substantially planar photonic circuit, and, while the contact between the optical fiber and the at least two fiducial surfaces is maintained, further moving the optical fiber, until it comes into sufficient contact with a desired part of the surface of the planar or substantially planar photonic circuit.
- 9. The process of claim 8, further comprising the step of applying an adhesive to the at least two alignment posts to attach the at least two alignment posts, the optical fiber and the desired part of the surface of the planar or substantially planar photonic circuit.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application relates to and claims priority benefits from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/281,650, filed Apr. 5, 2001, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60281650 |
Apr 2001 |
US |