Disclosed is an optical interconnection device that includes an alignment ferrule assembly formed from an alignment substrate and optical fibers. The optical interconnection device also has an alignment assembly formed by a planar support member with guide features. A receiving region resides between the guide features in which the alignment substrate is secured. An evanescent optical coupler can be formed using the optical interconnection device as a first device and another optical interconnection device as a second device. The second device is constituted by a planar lightwave circuit that operably supports waveguides and an adapter. The adapter of the second device is configured to engage the alignment assembly of the first device to place the optical fibers and the optical waveguides of the respective devices in evanescent optical communication.

A method of preparing a preformed fiber optic circuit for later termination to at least one fiber optic connector includes providing a substrate for supporting a plurality of optical fibers, the substrate including at least one layer of flexible foil, wherein the flexible foil may be formed from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) according to one example and peeling a layer including at least the optical fibers from the at least one layer of flexible foil.

Devices with gamma () grooves are disclosed. The grooves can be used to form optical fiber arrays. The grooves can be formed using a dry etch, such as RIE, by modifying resist features of an etch mask to have convex curved sidewalls. The profile of the resist features is transferred to the substrate by the dry etch to form the grooves. The grooves are formed without K containing etchants, avoiding K.sup.+ ions contamination of process tools as well as health issues caused by handling alkali containing devices.

Disclosed is an optical interconnection device that includes an alignment ferrule assembly formed from an alignment substrate and optical fibers. The optical interconnection device also has an alignment assembly formed by a planar support member with guide features. A receiving region resides between the guide features in which the alignment substrate is secured. An evanescent optical coupler can be formed using the optical interconnection device as a first device and another optical interconnection device as a second device. The second device is constituted by a planar lightwave circuit that operably supports waveguides and an adapter. The adapter of the second device is configured to engage the alignment assembly of the first device to place the optical fibers and the optical waveguides of the respective devices in evanescent optical communication.

Methods and systems for joining photonic components. A method includes suspending nano-particles in a medium, wherein the nano-particles include metal nano-particles. The method further includes applying a layer of the nano-particle medium to a first substrate, and exposing the layer of nano-particle medium to a thermal process to remove at least a portion of the medium and expose the nano-particles. A second substrate is placed on the nano-particles in alignment with the first substrate, and a heat is applied to the nano-particles to cause connection of contact points between adjacent nano-particles to cause a secure alignment of the first and second substrates. The heat applied to the layer of nano-particles is less than 300 C.

Assemblies and optical connectors including one or more optical fibers laser-bonded to a substrate, as well as methods for fabricating the same, are disclosed. In one embodiment, an assembly includes a substrate having a surface, an optical element bonded to the surface of the substrate, a bond area between the optical fiber and the surface of the substrate, wherein the bond area includes laser-melted material of the substrate that bonds the optical fiber to the substrate, and a metal buttress structure adjacent to the bond area.

The liquid-assisted micromachining methods include methods of processing a substrate made of a transparent dielectric material. A working surface of the substrate is placed in contact with a liquid-assist medium that comprises fluorine. A focused pulsed laser beam is directed through a first substrate surface and through the opposite working surface to form a focus spot in the liquid-assist medium. The focus spot is then moved over a motion path from its initial position in the liquid-assist medium through the substrate body in the general direction from the working surface to the first surface to create a modification of the transparent dielectric material that defines in the body a core portion. The core portion is removed to form the substrate feature, which can be a through or closed fiber hole that supports one or more optical fibers. Optical components formed using the processed substrate are also disclosed.

A method for forming features in transparent dielectric materials is described. The method includes laser micromachining of a transparent dielectric material. The transparent dielectric material is in contact with a liquid containing a fluorinated compound. Features formed by the method have low surface roughness and highly uniform linear dimensions.

Devices with gamma () grooves are disclosed. The grooves can be used to form optical fiber arrays. The grooves can be formed using a dry etch, such as RIE, by modifying resist features of an etch mask to have convex curved sidewalls. The profile of the resist features is transferred to the substrate by the dry etch to form the grooves. The grooves are formed without K containing etchants, avoiding K.sup.+ ions contamination of process tools as well as health issues caused by handling alkali containing devices.

The micro-optical systems disclosed herein employ a glass tube having a body, a front end, a back end, an outer surface, and a bore that runs through the body between the front and back ends and that has a bore axis. The outer surface has a maximum outer dimension between 0.1 mm and 20 mm and includes at least one flat side. At least one optical element is inserted into and operably disposed and secured within the bore. The micro-optical assemblies are formed by securing one or more micro-optical systems to a substrate at the flat side of the glass tube. The glass tube is formed by a drawing process that allows for the dimensions of the glass tube to be small and formed with relatively high precision. An example of a compact WDM micro-optical assembly that employs micro-collimators is disclosed.