Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Amanda J Price

John Bernard Medberry

William P Kennedy

Wallace J Lannen

Max Seminario

An alignment system that uses a single optical sensor to enable the end of an optical fiber to be aligned with the input of an optical waveguide of an optical device. In accordance with the present invention, it has been determined that the output of a single optical sensor can be processed and converted into digital signals, which are then further processed in accordance with an alignment algorithm to generate feedback signals that enable precise alignment to be achieved. The alignment system includes the single optical sensor, a lens and processing logic. The processing logic includes an electrical processing circuit that generates an amplified, filtered signal with low noise and a wide dynamic range, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts the output of the processing circuitry into digital signals and a computer, which processes the digital signals in accordance with the alignment algorithm being executed by the computer to generate the feedback signals that enable the end of the optical fiber to be aligned with the input of the optical waveguide. The feedback signals are sent to a motion control system that is configured to adjust the spatial positioning of the end of the optical fiber in accordance with the feedback signals.

Method, apparatus and system for aligning an optical fiber end with an optical waveguide

A measurement system is provided that is capable of analyzing light at the input of an optical waveguide of an optical device under test (DUT) and/or at the output of the waveguide, preferably at both. At the input of the waveguide, light having a particular polarization state generated by a polarization controller is output from the polarization controller and coupled into a proximal end of an optical fiber. The measurement system analyzes the polarization state of the light being launched from the opposite, or distal, end of the optical fiber into the waveguide input of the DUT to determine whether and by how much the polarization state of the light has been changed by the optical fiber. The polarization controller is altered, if necessary, to compensate for any changes in the polarization state caused by the optical fiber so that the polarization state of light being launched into the input of the optical fiber is known and is controllable. At the output of the waveguide, the measurement system analyzes the polarization state of the light output from the waveguide to determine any effect the waveguide of the DUT had on the polarization state of the light that propagated through the waveguide.

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Loveland, CO, United States of America

Amanda J Price