Experimental investigation on coupling efficiency between semiconductor laser diodes and single-mode fibres by an etching technique

The coupling efficiency between semiconductor laser diodes (LDs) and single-mode fibres (SMFs) can be improved by matching their respective modes. This may be achieved by constructing a conical microlens on the end of an Al-coated vapour-axial deposition (VAD) SMF. A simple process to etch an SMF end selectively to produce such a conical microlens is described.A minimum coupling loss of 3 dB has been obtained using 1.3-m InGaAsP/InP buried heterostructure LDs. Experimental results on coupling efficiency and loss penalty due to lateral misalignment are also reported. This conical microlens is easy to manufacture and reproduce.