The purpose of this paper is to present the latest results from research and development into future optical printed circuit board (OPCB) interconnects and low‐cost assembly methods.
A novel method of high‐precision passive alignment and assembly to OPCBs was invented and a full evaluation platform developed to demonstrate the viability of this technique.
The technique was successfully deployed to passively align and assemble a lens receptacle onto an embedded polymer waveguide array in an electro‐OPCB. The lens receptacle formed a critical part of a dual lens pluggable in‐plane connection interface between peripheral optical devices and an OPCB. A lateral in‐plane mechanical accuracy of ±2 μm has been measured using this technique.
As this is a free space optical coupling process, surface scattering at the exposed waveguide end facet was significant.
This paper details a novel method of passively assembling arbitrary optical devices onto multi‐mode optical waveguides and outlines the procedure and equipment required. A lens coupling solution is also presented which reduces susceptibility of a connecting optical interface to contamination.
