High uniformity lens arrays having lens correction and...

Details High uniformity lens arrays having lens correction and... High uniformity lens arrays having lens correction and...

2000-05-16

2002-09-10

Epps, Georgia (Department: 2873)

Optical: systems and elements

Single channel simultaneously to or from plural channels

By surface composed of lenticular elements

C359S621000, C359S622000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06449098

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to the field of optical switching and fiber optics. The present invention relates to optical switching devices and fiber optic components. More particularly, the present invention relates to high uniformity lens arrays having lens correction and methods for fabricating the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An optical switching device couples light beams from an input fiber to an output fiber. In many optical switching systems, the light beams represent data in digital form. Typically, light beams form an input fiber are collimated and directed toward a desired location such as an output fiber. Lens arrays are used to collimate and direct beams of light to a desired location for optical switching devices. For example, lens arrays may be used to focus collimated beams of light to a mirror device, which redirects the beams of light.
FIG. 1
depicts an illustration
100
of a prior art lens array
104
outputting collimated light beams
108
. Lens array
104
receives light beams outputted form fiber input block
102
through fibers
106
. Light beams from fibers
106
are directed to corresponding lenses
104
A of lens array
104
. Lenses
104
A collimate the beams of light. Lenses
104
A may also focus the beams of light to a location based on the curvature and position of lenses
104
A for lens array
104
. Furthermore, the position of fibers
106
with respect to lenses
104
A also affect the manner in which lenses
104
A collimate and focus light beams.
A problem associated with prior art lens array
104
is uniformity. That is, if lenses
104
A are not formed uniformly for lens array
104
, collimated light beams
108
may not be collimated or focused correctly. For example, a small error in position of lenses
104
A on the order of 1 &mgr;m may cause significant focal angle or position error for a light beam. As shown in
FIG. 1
, if one of the lenses for lens array
104
is positioned incorrectly relative to the corresponding input fiber, light beams will enter the lens off center and, thusly, be directed at an improper angle and location that may cause data loss in some switching systems.
Furthermore, a small error in the shape or curvature lenses
104
A for lens array
104
may affect the focal distance for light beams passing through the lens. As a result, the light beams may not be collimated and may converge or diverge thereby causing undesirable results. For a large optical switch, the distances that light beams must travel become large and thus the parameters for focal position and focal distance become tight.
Uniformity is also necessary for the position and curvature of the lens array
104
with respect to the fibers
106
when the collimated light beams
108
of
FIG. 1
are incident on the lens array
104
and focused onto an output fiber. That is, an error in relative position of a lens and an input fiber may cause the light beam passing through the lens to be focused off center, which reduces coupling of optical power into an output fiber and increases loss. Furthermore, an error in curvature of the lens causes light to be focused in front or past the end of a fiber, which also reduces coupling of optical power into the fiber and increases loss.
Typically, for such error in the prior art lens array, the error tolerance is either accepted or the error is corrected by remaking the lens array with precise control of the lens fabrication. Thus, a disadvantage in the prior art is that error tolerances may not be acceptable for ultra-low-loss optical switches. Furthermore, to fix the error of a single lens for a lens array by remaking the lens array is inefficient.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A lens array having corrective measures is disclosed. The lens array includes a substrate. A plurality of primary lenses are formed from the substrate. A corrective measure is formed for each primary lens having a uniformity error such that the corrective measure corrects the uniformity error.
A method of fabricating a lens array is disclosed. A plurality of primary lenses are formed from a first side of a substrate. A uniformity of the plurality of primary lenses are measured. A corrective measure is formed for each primary lens having a uniformity error based on the measured uniformity such that the corrective measure corrects the uniformity error.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings, and from the detailed description, which follows below.


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