Laser-to-fiber coupling via optical fiber up-tapers

A method for coupling single-mode fiber to laser diodes with high efficiency and greatly reduced alignment sensitivities is discussed. It consists of a spherical ruby lens and a single-mode optical fiber up-taper. Using a double-channel planar buried heterostructure (DCPBH) laser, more than 60% of the light from the lens is coupled into a single-mode fiber via the taper. The lateral and axial tolerances of the lens-taper arrangement are reduced by factors of 20 and 1000 times, respectively, compared with laser coupling to a lensed single-mode fiber. These relaxed alignment tolerances have the potential to allow the taper to interface with a hermetically-sealed laser-lens package via a window and a connector on the package exterior.>