In the 1990’s Fiberguide developed 2-dimensional arrays of single mode fibers to meet extraordinarily demanding specifications of Lucent Technologies’ Bell Laboratories. They needed the centerlines of 361 fibers in a 19 x 19 array to be positioned to an absolute accuracy of ± 2.0 microns over the entire array. This required a positioning accuracy beyond that possible with conventional machining methods.
The solution developed and patented by the technical staff at Fiberguide is to use an alignment pate with holes in it to guide the fibers into position. The plate is made from a wafer of silicon and the position of each hole is established by the same photolithographic and etching methods that are used to make electronic integrated circuits. Below is an exploded view of the entire assembly.
Fiberguide can adapt this technology to make both linear (1-dimensional) and 2-dimensional arrays to specific customer needs.
