Integration of laser-support fiber adjustment in opto-electronic modules

In this study, practical assembly methods are developed to connect fibers to photonic chips. In contrast to trial and error efforts using laser hammering or mechanical bending approaches, we introduce the integration of laser-assisted mechanical micro-scale deformation within the module itself. The technology is based on introducing a locally compressive plastic strain into the fiber supports. We can then obtain a predictably adequate correction of the pre-aligned fibers, a necessary step because during the fixation process degradation of the aligned positions can occur. We manufacture modules for single fiber configurations and more advanced modules for fiber-array configurations. We have also started numerical simulations of laser-adjusting to investigate further design aspects.