Put-in microconnectors for alignment-free coupling of optical fiber arrays

A novel optical fiber coupling scheme, i.e. put-in self-aligning, is proposed. This is composed of put-in microconnectors made by a self-aligned process and provides alignment-free coupling of optical components and single mode fibers. The authors have fabricated a put-in microconnector consisting of an etched fiber jack and an optical plug formed on the rear surface of a planar microlens substrate.<<ETX>>