Optical Ferrule Connector with Microlenses for VCSEL Coupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optical ferrule connectors inefficiently couple light from VCSELs into optical fibers, resulting in significant light loss due to divergence and uneven optical power distribution, which affects signal quality and data transmission, especially at higher data rates.
Innovation Solution
The optical ferrule connector incorporates microlenses or other optical elements at the fiber tips, which focus light into the core of the optical fibers, enhancing coupling efficiency by manipulating light paths and improving light distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a beveled surface is used to redirect light from VCSEL into optical fibers, then light direction is changed to parallel with chip surface, but coupling efficiency remains insufficient with only a fraction of light being coupled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces optical elements (microlenses, diffractive optical elements, or reflective elements) as intermediary components between the beveled surface and the optical fiber cores. These intermediaries manipulate light paths to improve coupling efficiency by focusing or redirecting light precisely into the fiber cores, thereby resolving the contradiction between achieving light redirection and maintaining high coupling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies optical parameters by introducing elements with specific focal lengths, refractive indices, or diffraction patterns. These parameter changes enable precise control over light propagation, transforming the insufficient coupling scenario into an efficient coupling configuration while maintaining the beveled surface geometry for light redirection.
2Ease of operation
If optical fibers are embedded in a polished block to redirect light, then light transmission direction is changed, but significant light loss occurs due to divergence
Solution Approach 1:
Optical elements are positioned between the beveled surface and fiber tips to act as mediators that counteract light divergence. Microlenses focus diverging light back into the fiber cores, while diffractive elements reshape wavefronts, thereby reducing light loss due to divergence while preserving the light path manipulation capability provided by the embedded fiber structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent addresses divergence by introducing optical elements that operate in additional spatial dimensions. Microlenses focus light in three-dimensional space, and diffractive elements manipulate light propagation in multiple dimensions simultaneously, effectively counteracting divergence that occurs in the propagation direction while maintaining the two-dimensional array structure of embedded fibers.
3Reliability
If conventional ferrule connectors are used to couple light into optical fibers, then light can be transmitted to other devices, but uneven optical power distribution affects signal quality at higher data rates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by positioning individual optical elements at or near each fiber tip to independently control light coupling for each fiber. This localized approach ensures uniform optical power distribution across all fibers in the array, addressing the uneven distribution problem while maintaining reliable signal transmission to connected devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes coupling parameters such as focal length, numerical aperture, and element positioning to achieve uniform optical power distribution. By carefully selecting and adjusting these parameters, the system achieves both reliable signal transmission and uniform power distribution across all optical fibers, resolving the contradiction between transmission capability and power uniformity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design significantly increases the percentage of light coupled into optical fibers, improving signal quality and reducing light loss, especially at higher data rates, by focusing light into the fiber cores effectively.
Implementation Method 1
each optical element operable to manipulate or otherwise focus light into or out of a core of the associated optical fiber
Implementation Method 2
The block and embedded optical fibers are polished at, for example, a 45° angle to generate a beveled surface. The beveled surface facilitates redirecting the light emitted from the VCSEL into the plurality of optical fibers.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical ferrule connector is provided. The optical ferrule connector includes a body including a beveled surface, a plurality of optical fibers embedded in the body, each of the plurality of optical fibers extending along a transmission direction and terminating in a fiber tip that is oriented coplanar to the beveled surface, and a plurality of optical elements, each optical element of the plurality of optical elements located at an associated fiber tip of an associated optical fiber, each optical element operable to manipulate or otherwise focus light into or out of a core of the associated optical fiber.