An optical probe and related methods

Abstract

The present invention relates to optical coupling between optical components, and more particularly to an optical probe (1) configured for optical testing of at least one micro-optical component (50), a method for producing the optical probe (1), and a method for simultaneously optically testing at least one micro-optical component (50). The optical probe (1) includes: - a probe head (10), wherein the probe head (10) includes a test component (2); - a plurality of micro-optical elements (20), wherein each micro-optical element (20) is an independent element relative to the test component (2) and is in mechanical contact with the test component (2), wherein each micro-optical element (20) is individually aligned relative to the test component (2); and wherein each micro-optical element (20) is configured to generate a mode field diameter of up to 100 µm, wherein the micro-optical elements (20) are configured to optically couple at least one light beam (3) between the test component (2) and the micro-optical element (50), thereby being configured to determine the emission characteristics of the coupling position (52) included by the micro-optical element (50), wherein the micro-optical element (50) further includes a beam shaping element (51a), wherein the beam shaping element (51a) is arranged such that at least a portion of the light beam (3) travels through the beam shaping element (51a). The present invention relates to optical coupling between optical components and, more particular, to an optical probe (1) configured for optical testing of at least one micro-optical component (50), to a method for producing an optical probe (1), and to a method for simultaneously optical testing of at least one micro-optical component (50). The optical probe (1) is comprising: ˗ a probe head (10), wherein the probe head (10) comprises a test component (2); ˗ a plurality of micro-optical elements (20), wherein each micro-optical element (20) is a separate element with regard to the test component (2) and in mechanical contact with the test component (2), wherein each micro-optical element (20) is individually aligned with regard to the test component (2);and wherein each micro-optical element (20) is configured to generate a mode-field diameter of up to 100 µm, wherein the micro-optical elements (20) are configured to optically couple at least one light beam (3) between the test component (2) and the micro-optical component (50), thereby being configured to determine an emission characteristics of a coupling location (52) comprised by the micro-optical component (50) , wherein the micro-optical component (50) further comprises a beam-shaping element (51a), wherein the beam-shaping element (51a) is arranged in a manner that at least a portion of the light beam (3) is travelling through the beam-shaping element (51a).;

Images