Microfixtured assembly for lensed optoelectronic receivers

A new approach for passively aligning, fixing and lens-coupling a photodetector array to an array of optical fibers is described. A two-part assembly is constructed from two pieces of silicon that have different crystallographic cuts. One piece, the base, is fabricated from (100) silicon and contains features for positioning the photodetector chip, the optical fibers and a mating second piece. That second piece, the lens insert, is fabricated from (110) silicon and contains the lenses plus features for mating with the first piece and establishing the input/output focal distances