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)

Citation Download Citation

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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