Polymer microlens fabricated on fiber tip for optical interconnect

Abstract

An optical interconnect has attracted much interest to many researchers as it seemed as a solution to meet the requirement of future demand due to the limitations of the electrical interconnect. Low power consumption, small signal variation, and wide bandwidth are the example of the advantages of the optical interconnect. Nevertheless, the optical interconnect requires a high optical coupling which is a hurdle for the optical interconnect. The implementation of the microlens in optical interconnect seems as one of the possible ways which can solve the problem. It is expected that the microlens can focus the spreading light beam and improved the optical coupling. Thus, the polymer microlens has been fabricated on two different platforms; (i) on a ferrule insert with fiber inserted and (ii) directly on the fiber end. The Far Field Pattern measurement system has been used to evaluate the light collecting for both microlens and the divergence angle was measured. The results show that the divergence angle of the microlens on fiber end is better compared to the microlens on the ferrule.