Mechanical fabrication of precision microlenses on optical fiber endfaces

Gareth Milton; Yousef A. Gharbia; Jayantha Katupitiya

doi:10.1117/1.2148428

1 December 2005 Mechanical fabrication of precision microlenses on optical fiber endfaces

Gareth Milton, Yousef A. Gharbia, Jayantha Katupitiya

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 44, Issue 12, 123402 (December 2005). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2148428

Abstract

We present a purely mechanical means of producing highly concentric spherical lenses at the endfaces of optical fibers. The production process has two stages. First, conical lenses are produced in a grinding process that ensures excellent concentricity. Then, the conical lenses are transformed to spherical lenses using a novel process called loose abrasive blasting. The cone grinding is carried out on a microgrinding machine, which has a sophisticated control system that enables the production of precision conical lenses. The blasting is carried out on a diamond blasting machine. Plots showing automatic centering performance of the microgrinding machine and scanning electron microscopy images of the conical and spherical lenses are presented.

©(2005) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

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Gareth Milton, Yousef A. Gharbia, and Jayantha Katupitiya "Mechanical fabrication of precision microlenses on optical fiber endfaces," Optical Engineering 44(12), 123402 (1 December 2005). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2148428

Published: 1 December 2005

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