Design and performance of expanded beam, multi-fiber connectors

A multi-fiber, molded, monolithic, expanded beam ferrule had been designed, manufactured and tested to confirm the viability of low cost, no-polish, debris insensitive ferrule for single mode applications. This interconnect technology is ideal for passive interconnects at the equipment, card-edge interface with embedded optic technology where cost, density, debris sensitivity and coupling force are of concern. Parts were manufactured to the specifications assumed in the optical simulations. Empirical data from randomly mated connector pairs was collected and confirmed to closely match the predicted results from the optical Monte Carlo simulation.