Fiber arrays can be coupled with laser diode arrays, also known as diode bars, to direct radiation from each emitter into individual fibers. Their primary function is to facilitate the coupling of light between different photonic components, such as from a source array to fibers or from fibers to planar waveguides on a photonic integrated circuit. Linear fiber arrays are typically constructed by placing individual fibers into V-grooves. Fiber arrays (or fiber-optic arrays or fiber array units) are one- or two-dimensional arrays of optical fibers. Often, such an array is formed only for the very end of a bundle of fibers, rather than over the whole fiber length. ". To assemble the silicon photonics integrated chip into an optical transceiver, optical fibers need to be coupled with silicon waveguide. Silicon optical fibers carry an increasing fraction of television programs and Internet traffic. In general, grating couplers are more tolerant to fiber alignment but work only in a specifically designed, narrow wavelength band.
[PDF Version]