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Simplified Laser to Fiber Coupling via Optical Fiber Up-Tapers.

01 January 1988

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A new method for coupling single-mode fiber to laser diodes with high efficiency and greatly reduced alignment sensitivities is demonstrated. It consists of a spherical ruby lens and a single-mode optical fiber up-taper. Using a DCPBH laser, more than 60% of the light from the lens is coupled into a single-mode fiber via the taper. The lateral and axial tolerances of the lens-taper arrangement are reduced by factors of 20 and 1000 times, respectively, compared with laser coupling to a lensed single-mode fiber. These relaxed alignment tolerances have the potential to allow the taper to interface with a hermetically sealed laser-lens package via a window and a connector on the package exterior.