Coupling semiconductor lasers into single-mode optical fibers by use of tips grown by photopolymerization

Renaud Bachelot (1) , Abdesslame Fares (1) , Radouane Fikri (1) , Dominique Barchiesi (1) , Gilles Lerondel (1) , Pascal Royer (1)

1 LNIO - Laboratoire de Nanotechnologie et d'Instrumentation Optique

We show that a polymer tip, integrated by free-radical photopolymerization at the end of a telecommunication optical fiber, allows high-efficiency coupling between the fiber and an infrared laser diode. A coupling efficiency of 70% (1.5-dB loss) was achieved. We obtained this result by controlling the radius of curvature of the tip, the origin of which is discussed in terms of the photochemical influence of oxygen during tip formation. The experimental data were found to be in agreement with results of electromagnetic calculations based on the finite-element method.

Mots clés: Coupling efficiency; Diode lasers; Laser beams; Optical fibers; Scanning electron microscopy; Single mode fibers

Domaines: Optique / photonique; Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Renaud Bachelot, Abdesslame Fares, Radouane Fikri, Dominique Barchiesi, Gilles Lerondel, et al.. Coupling semiconductor lasers into single-mode optical fibers by use of tips grown by photopolymerization. Optics Letters, 2004, 29 (17), pp.1971. ⟨10.1364/OL.29.001971⟩. ⟨hal-02299803⟩