Coupling Efficiency and Reflectance Analysis of Graded Index Expanded Beam Connectors

Sy Dat Le (1) , Philippe Rochard (1) , Jean-Baptiste Briand (2) , Lionel Quétel (2) , Sébastien Claudot (3) , Monique Thual (1)

1 FOTON - Fonctions Optiques pour les Technologies de l'informatiON
2 IDIL Fibres Optiques
3 Souriau-Sunbank-esterline ECT

This article deals with coupling efficiency and re-flectance analysis of graded-index expanded-beam connectors. We point out the best conditions to take advantage of expanded beam connectors for relaxing lateral offset tolerances without going down to critical angle misalignments tolerances. The influence of manufacturing defaults and coupling misalignments by lateral offset and tilt angle on coupling efficiency and reflectance are theoretically analyzed, investigated, and compared to experimental results. The study explains an interesting reflectance of expanded beam con-nectors compared to standard single-mode fibers. We demonstrate and explain why we can both obtain high coupling efficiency and low reflectance.

Mots clés: Coupling efficiency; expanded beam; graded index fiber; optical coupling; optical connector; reflectance

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Sy Dat Le, Philippe Rochard, Jean-Baptiste Briand, Lionel Quétel, Sébastien Claudot, et al.. Coupling Efficiency and Reflectance Analysis of Graded Index Expanded Beam Connectors. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 2016, 34 (9), pp.2092-2099. ⟨10.1109/JLT.2016.2525804⟩. ⟨hal-01300833⟩