3D-printed facet-attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assembly
Wafer-level mass production of photonic integrated circuits (PIC) has become a technological mainstay in the field of optics and photonics, enabling many novel and disrupting a wide range of existing applications. However, scalable photonic packaging and system assembly still represents a major chal...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Light Publishing Group
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Light: Advanced Manufacturing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.light-am.com/article/doi/10.37188/lam.2023.003 |
| _version_ | 1797771978429431808 |
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| author | Yilin Xu Pascal Maier Mareike Trappen Philipp-Immanuel Dietrich Matthias Blaicher Rokas Jutas Achim Weber Torben Kind Colin Dankwart Jens Stephan Andreas Steffan Amin Abbasi Padraic Morrissey Kamil Gradkowski Brian Kelly Peter O’Brien Wolfgang Freude Christian Koos |
| author_facet | Yilin Xu Pascal Maier Mareike Trappen Philipp-Immanuel Dietrich Matthias Blaicher Rokas Jutas Achim Weber Torben Kind Colin Dankwart Jens Stephan Andreas Steffan Amin Abbasi Padraic Morrissey Kamil Gradkowski Brian Kelly Peter O’Brien Wolfgang Freude Christian Koos |
| author_sort | Yilin Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wafer-level mass production of photonic integrated circuits (PIC) has become a technological mainstay in the field of optics and photonics, enabling many novel and disrupting a wide range of existing applications. However, scalable photonic packaging and system assembly still represents a major challenge that often hinders commercial adoption of PIC-based solutions. Specifically, chip-to-chip and fiber-to-chip connections often rely on so-called active alignment techniques, where the coupling efficiency is continuously measured and optimized during the assembly process. This unavoidably leads to technically complex assembly processes and high cost, thereby eliminating most of the inherent scalability advantages of PIC-based solutions. In this paper, we demonstrate that 3D-printed facet-attached microlenses (FaML) can overcome this problem by opening an attractive path towards highly scalable photonic system assembly, relying entirely on passive assembly techniques based on industry-standard machine vision and/or simple mechanical stops. FaML can be printed with high precision to the facets of optical components using multi-photon lithography, thereby offering the possibility to shape the emitted beams by freely designed refractive or reflective surfaces. Specifically, the emitted beams can be collimated to a comparatively large diameter that is independent of the device-specific mode fields, thereby relaxing both axial and lateral alignment tolerances. Moreover, the FaML concept allows to insert discrete optical elements such as optical isolators into the free-space beam paths between PIC facets. We show the viability and the versatility of the scheme in a series of selected experiments of high technical relevance, comprising pluggable fiber-chip interfaces, the combination of PIC with discrete micro-optical elements such as polarization beam splitters, as well as coupling with ultra-low back-reflection based on non-planar beam paths that only comprise tilted optical surfaces. Based on our results, we believe that the FaML concept opens an attractive path towards novel PIC-based system architectures that combine the distinct advantages of different photonic integration platforms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:44:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-91c6d27f50564463a78165322edfcde4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2689-9620 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:44:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Light Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Light: Advanced Manufacturing |
| spelling | doaj.art-91c6d27f50564463a78165322edfcde42023-07-26T13:21:23ZengLight Publishing GroupLight: Advanced Manufacturing2689-96202023-01-014111710.37188/lam.2023.0033D-printed facet-attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assemblyYilin Xuhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2991-9198Pascal Maierhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6655-6592Mareike TrappenPhilipp-Immanuel DietrichMatthias BlaicherRokas Jutas0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4568-7614Achim WeberTorben Kind1Colin Dankwart2Jens Stephan3Andreas Steffan4Amin Abbasi5Padraic Morrissey6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3876-7317Kamil Gradkowski7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3405-6347Brian Kelly8Peter O’Brien9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3184-3759Wolfgang Freude10Christian Kooshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2690-0691Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engesserstr. 5, 76131 Karlsruhe, GermanyficonTEC Service GmbH, Im Finigen 3, 28832 Achim, GermanyficonTEC Service GmbH, Im Finigen 3, 28832 Achim, GermanyII-VI Inc., Reuchlinstraße 10/11, 10553 Berlin, GermanyII-VI Inc., Reuchlinstraße 10/11, 10553 Berlin, GermanyPhotonics Research Group, Ghent University – imec, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 126, B-9052 Gent, BelgiumTyndall National Institute, T12 R5CP Cork, IrelandTyndall National Institute, T12 R5CP Cork, IrelandEblana Photonics Ltd., West Pier Business Campus, 3 Old Dunleary Rd, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, A96 A621, IrelandTyndall National Institute, T12 R5CP Cork, IrelandInstitute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engesserstr. 5, 76131 Karlsruhe, GermanyWafer-level mass production of photonic integrated circuits (PIC) has become a technological mainstay in the field of optics and photonics, enabling many novel and disrupting a wide range of existing applications. However, scalable photonic packaging and system assembly still represents a major challenge that often hinders commercial adoption of PIC-based solutions. Specifically, chip-to-chip and fiber-to-chip connections often rely on so-called active alignment techniques, where the coupling efficiency is continuously measured and optimized during the assembly process. This unavoidably leads to technically complex assembly processes and high cost, thereby eliminating most of the inherent scalability advantages of PIC-based solutions. In this paper, we demonstrate that 3D-printed facet-attached microlenses (FaML) can overcome this problem by opening an attractive path towards highly scalable photonic system assembly, relying entirely on passive assembly techniques based on industry-standard machine vision and/or simple mechanical stops. FaML can be printed with high precision to the facets of optical components using multi-photon lithography, thereby offering the possibility to shape the emitted beams by freely designed refractive or reflective surfaces. Specifically, the emitted beams can be collimated to a comparatively large diameter that is independent of the device-specific mode fields, thereby relaxing both axial and lateral alignment tolerances. Moreover, the FaML concept allows to insert discrete optical elements such as optical isolators into the free-space beam paths between PIC facets. We show the viability and the versatility of the scheme in a series of selected experiments of high technical relevance, comprising pluggable fiber-chip interfaces, the combination of PIC with discrete micro-optical elements such as polarization beam splitters, as well as coupling with ultra-low back-reflection based on non-planar beam paths that only comprise tilted optical surfaces. Based on our results, we believe that the FaML concept opens an attractive path towards novel PIC-based system architectures that combine the distinct advantages of different photonic integration platforms.https://www.light-am.com/article/doi/10.37188/lam.2023.003photonic integrationphotonic assemblyphotonic packagingadditive laser manufacturingmulti-photon lithographyfacet-attached microlensesoptical alignment tolerancesfiber-chip couplinghybrid multi-chip modules |
| spellingShingle | Yilin Xu Pascal Maier Mareike Trappen Philipp-Immanuel Dietrich Matthias Blaicher Rokas Jutas Achim Weber Torben Kind Colin Dankwart Jens Stephan Andreas Steffan Amin Abbasi Padraic Morrissey Kamil Gradkowski Brian Kelly Peter O’Brien Wolfgang Freude Christian Koos 3D-printed facet-attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assembly Light: Advanced Manufacturing photonic integration photonic assembly photonic packaging additive laser manufacturing multi-photon lithography facet-attached microlenses optical alignment tolerances fiber-chip coupling hybrid multi-chip modules |
| title | 3D-printed facet-attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assembly |
| title_full | 3D-printed facet-attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assembly |
| title_fullStr | 3D-printed facet-attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assembly |
| title_full_unstemmed | 3D-printed facet-attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assembly |
| title_short | 3D-printed facet-attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assembly |
| title_sort | 3d printed facet attached microlenses for advanced photonic system assembly |
| topic | photonic integration photonic assembly photonic packaging additive laser manufacturing multi-photon lithography facet-attached microlenses optical alignment tolerances fiber-chip coupling hybrid multi-chip modules |
| url | https://www.light-am.com/article/doi/10.37188/lam.2023.003 |
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