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 po- sitioning 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. Index Terms—Optical receivers, optoelectronics, silicon wafer board.