Abstract

A monolithically integrated micro-optical element consisting of a diffractive optical element (DOE) and a silicon-based 45° micro-reflector is experimentally demonstrated to facilitate the optical alignment of non-coplanar fiber-to-fiber coupling. The slanted 45° reflector with a depth of 216 μm is fabricated on a (100) silicon wafer by anisotropic wet etching. The DOE with a diameter of 174.2 μm and a focal length of 150 μm is formed by means of dry etching. Such a compact device is suitable for the optical micro-system to deflect the incident light by 90° and to focus it on the image plane simultaneously. The measured light pattern with a spot size of 15 μm has a good agreement with the simulated result of the elliptic-symmetry DOE with an off-axis design for eliminating the strongly astigmatic aberration. The coupling efficiency is enhanced over 10-folds of the case without a DOE on the 45° micro-reflector. This device would facilitate the optical alignment of non-coplanar light coupling and further miniaturize the volume of microsystem.

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History
Original Manuscript: September 16, 2009
Manuscript Accepted: October 29, 2009
Revised Manuscript: October 29, 2009
Published: November 2, 2009

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Author Affiliations

Hsiao-Chin Lan, Hsu-Liang Hsiao, Chia-Chi Chang, Chih-Hung Hsu, Mount-Learn Wu

Department of Optics and Photonics, National Central University, Jhong-li,32001, Taiwan.

Chih-Ming Wang

Institute of Opto-Electronic Engineering, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, 97401, Taiwan

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