Waveguide Lens Assembly for Misalignment-Tolerant Optical Coupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optical devices face challenges in achieving efficient optical coupling between optical elements and external components due to the need for precise alignment and high accuracy in positioning, leading to issues such as light loss, vignetting, and aberration.
Innovation Solution
The optical device incorporates a first lens joined to an optical waveguide to emit or receive light, with a second lens converting the light into collimated light, and optionally a third lens for condensing, using aspherical designs and offsetting optical axes to minimize aberration and reflection, allowing for improved optical coupling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If precise alignment and high accuracy positioning are used to achieve efficient optical coupling, then optical coupling efficiency is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs aspherical lens surfaces instead of spherical surfaces to correct optical aberrations and improve coupling efficiency. The aspherical design allows for better light focusing and reduced sensitivity to misalignment, thereby improving optical coupling efficiency without requiring extremely precise alignment tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes various optical parameters including lens curvature radii, lens spacing, and numerical apertures to achieve efficient coupling. By carefully selecting and adjusting these parameters, the system achieves high coupling efficiency while maintaining practical manufacturing tolerances and alignment requirements.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional spherical lenses are used, then manufacturing is simpler, but optical aberration and light loss increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional spherical lenses with aspherical lenses that have surfaces defined by higher-order polynomial equations. This design correction eliminates spherical aberration and other optical defects, significantly reducing light loss while remaining manufacturable through modern precision molding and grinding techniques.
3Reliability
If optical axes are aligned perfectly, then theoretical coupling efficiency is maximized, but tolerance for misalignment is zero
Solution Approach 1:
The aspherical lens design inherently provides greater tolerance to misalignment compared to spherical lenses. The optimized aspherical surfaces are designed to maintain acceptable coupling efficiency even when lateral or angular misalignment occurs, thereby providing robustness against manufacturing and assembly variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical design preemptively compensates for potential misalignment by incorporating offset configurations and optimized numerical apertures that reduce the impact of positioning errors. The lens parameters are pre-calculated to counteract expected misalignment effects, ensuring stable performance in practical applications.
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
The solution achieves reduced light loss and increased tolerance for misalignment, enhancing the optical coupling efficiency between optical elements and external components.
Implementation Method 1
a first lens joined to an end surface of an optical waveguide of an optical element to emit light emitted from the optical element
Implementation Method 2
a second lens optically coupled with the first lens to convert the light emitted from the first lens into collimated light
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an optical device including a first lens and a second lens. The first lens of the optical device is joined to an end surface of an optical waveguide of an optical element to emit light emitted from the optical element. The second lens is optically coupled with the first lens to convert the light emitted from the first lens into collimated light.