Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Tolerancing the alignment of large-core optical fibers, fiber bundles and light guides using a Fourier approach

Abstract

Optical fiber technology is found in a wide variety of applications to flexibly relay light between two points, enabling information transfer across long distances and allowing access to hard-to-reach areas. Large-core optical fibers and light guides find frequent use in illumination and spectroscopic applications, for example, endoscopy and high-resolution astronomical spectroscopy. Proper alignment is critical for maximizing throughput in optical fiber coupling systems; however, there currently are no formal approaches to tolerancing the alignment of a light-guide coupling system. Here, we propose a Fourier alignment sensitivity (FAS) algorithm to determine the optimal tolerances on the alignment of a light guide by computing the alignment sensitivity. The algorithm shows excellent agreement with both simulated and experimentally measured values and improves on the computation time of equivalent ray-tracing simulations by two orders of magnitude. We then apply FAS to tolerance and fabricate a coupling system, which is shown to meet specifications, thus validating FAS as a tolerancing technique. These results indicate that FAS is a flexible and rapid means to quantify the alignment sensitivity of a light guide, widely informing the design and tolerancing of coupling systems.

© 2017 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Step-by-step guide to reduce spatial coherence of laser light using a rotating ground glass diffuser

Tim Stangner, Hanqing Zhang, Tobias Dahlberg, Krister Wiklund, and Magnus Andersson
Appl. Opt. 56(19) 5427-5435 (2017)

Alignment of sensor arrays in optical instruments using a geometric approach

Travis W. Sawyer
Appl. Opt. 57(4) 794-801 (2018)

Using confidence intervals to evaluate the focus alignment of spectrograph detector arrays

Travis W. Sawyer, Kyle S. Hawkins, and Michael Damento
Appl. Opt. 56(18) 5295-5300 (2017)

Supplementary Material (2)

NameDescription
Dataset 1       Demonstration of a FAS algorithm.
Dataset 1       Demonstration of a FAS algorithm.

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (9)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Equations (3)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved