Geometric characterization of conical lensed optical fibers

Abstract

This paper presents an interdisciplinary work in which image processing is employed to characterize microlensed fibers. The geometric parameters of a microlens are determinant to reduce the modal diameter of the standard fiber and make it compatible to the photonic chip, increasing coupling efficiency. The presented characterization method uses the video output of a splicing machine. The method was evaluated using commercial microlenses and is shown to be sufficiently sensitive to detect differences in the fiber geometry due to fabrication process variability. Furthermore, the measures are shown to be strongly correlated to the beam waist size.