Fabrication of waveguide ‐ fiber array couplers using laser‐machined V‐groove techniques in perspex substrates

Abstract

We report an inexpensive and versatile technique for coupling multichannel waveguides to a fiber array using V‐grooves in perspex substrates that are accurately machined by a computer‐controlled CO2 laser system. An excess loss of less than 1 dB could be achieved for coupling between 1 × 2, 1 × 3, and 1 × 4 branching circuits and an array of N‐port fibers.