Chiral Photonics, Inc. says the Pitch Reducing Optical Fiber Array (PROFA) enables highly dense 2D fiber array interfaces. The new product, a multichannel, 2D dense fiber array, is best suited for vertical interfacing to, for example, VCSELs, receivers, or vertically coupled gratings.
The PROFA product line is an evolution of Chiral Photonics’ spot size converting interconnects (SSCIs), which are used to connect standard optical fibers with photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
PROFA comprises a monolithic glass structure incorporating an adiabatic taper and integrated pigtails, which brings multiple optical channels close together for efficient, space-saving coupling. The technology enables a reduction in channel pitch while making it possible to tailor the numerical aperture (NA) of individual channels to meet customers’ needs, the company says.
At OFC/NFOEC 2012 in Los Angeles, Chiral Photonics will display a 50+ channel device with singlemode waveguides in the visible spectral range with channel-spacing of less than 40 um. Chiral Photonics will display the PROFA inside Go!Foton’s booth #1603.
Traditional solutions for coupling PICs use GRIN lens technology, lensed fibers with V-grooves, or other approaches that rely on air gaps and more complex production alignment techniques, the company explains. These techniques are suitable for moderate channel densities but pose substantial thermal expansion/excursion and related reliability challenges, in Chiral Photonics' view. An additional limitation of a conventional, lens-based coupling technique is its inability to control channel spacing and NA independently, the company concludes.
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