A Novel Integrated Surface-Normal Optical Fiber Pigtailing Technology by Using Micro-Mirror and Micro-Pinhole Structure

Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a generic micro-mechanical surface normal fiber alignment and attachment technology for the packaging of all kinds of optoelectronic integrated circuits, including the Air Force's enhanced InP-based optical receivers. POC believes that the successful development of the proposed micro mirror and micro pinhole (MMMP) architecture will provide a practical surface-normal fiber pigtailing technology for the fast developing optical communication, signal processing, controlling, and optical computing areas. The foreseeable advantages of the MMMP technology are summarized as follows: 1. High optical coupling efficiency and low insertion loss (< 1 dB); 2. Low optical crosstalk between all pigtailing channels (<30 dB); 3. Accurate alignment, positioning, and bonding (< 1 um error); 4. Quasi-3-Dimenstional surface-normal pigtailing; 5. Potential wavelength division demultplexing capability; 6. Massive fabrication capability and low cost.