Fabrication of alignment grooves in LiNbO3 substrates for simplified optical fibre pigtailing

A technique for fabricating alignment grooves in LiNbO₃ substrates, for simplified optical fibre attachment, is reported. The grooves are produced through the etching of material that has been domain inverted via spatially selective electric field poling. The etched grooves are of very high surface quality, and have a profile that is determined by the area of domain inversion produced. The technique lends itself to a method of fibre alignment that is simplified, more reliable, and less labour intensive than existing schemes