An optical fiber connector comprises a multi-fiber ferrule having an array of grooves recessed relative to an upper surface of a medial portion thereof, wherein each groove has a depth greater than a maximum diameter of an uncoated fiber segment received therein, and is shaped such that an optical fiber received therein lacks contact with the groove over large arc length thereof (e.g., an arc spanning at least 120 or at least 150 degrees). A method for fabricating a multi-fiber connector with a multi-fiber ferrule includes flexing a medial portion of the ferrule into a non-linear configuration to expand an average width of at least some grooves defined in an upper surface of a medial portion thereof, receiving optical fibers in the grooves, pushing the fibers away from the bottom of each groove, and securing the optical fibers in the grooves.

An optical connection apparatus comprising a prism that extracts N×M beams of outgoing light from an optical circuit, a two-dimensional GRIN lens array of N×M GRIN lenses, a spacer, having a thickness according to the optical path length in the prism, that transmits N×M outgoing beams from the two-dimensional GRIN lens array, and a two-dimensional fiber array that causes the N×M beams to be incident on optical fibers, the ends of optical fibers being disposed at the focal point of each of the beams transmitted through the spacer.

An optical cross-connect component is disclosed. The optical cross-connect component includes an optical fiber group having m×n optical fibers, one ends and the other ends of the m×n optical fibers being arranged in a matrix of m rows×n columns, a plurality of first connectors housing the one ends of the optical fiber group, and a plurality of second connectors housing the other ends of the optical fiber group. The m×n optical fibers are housed in any of the plurality of first connectors, and one first connector collectively houses therein n optical fibers arranged in at least any one row of the m rows. The m×n optical fibers are housed in any of the plurality of second connectors, and one second connector collectively houses therein m optical fibers arranged in at least any one column of the n columns.

An optical cross-connect component mutually connecting an end of a first optical fiber group and an end of a second optical fiber group is disclosed. The optical cross-connect component includes a plurality of first connectors housing therein the end of the first optical fiber group, and a plurality of second connectors housing therein the end of the second optical fiber group. The m×n optical fibers in the first optical fiber group are housed in any of the plurality of first connectors, and the m×n optical fibers in the second optical fiber group are housed in any of the plurality of second connectors. The end of the first optical fiber group and the end of the second optical fiber group are connected so as to be butted to each other.

A system for automatically inserting fibers is disclosed. The system comprises a cable having a plurality of fibers, a ferrule having a plurality of bores, a moving mechanism movable in a first direction, a second direction, and a third direction that are perpendicular to each other, a cable holder mounted on the moving mechanism and holding the cable, and a vision device. The moving mechanism moves the cable holder under the guidance of the vision device to align the plurality of fibers with the ferrule and insert the plurality of fibers into the plurality of bores.

This optical fiber connection structure connects a multicore fiber and a bundle structure bundling a plurality of optical fibers. The multicore fiber has a plurality of cores arranged in a lattice. The bundle structure includes closely packed optical fibers of the same diameter. The bundle structure is configured such that signal light optical fiber groups including signal light optical fibers and a dummy fiber group including dummy optical fibers are stacked in multiple layers. The signal light optical fiber groups are configured with the signal light optical fibers aligned in the mutually contacting direction. The signal light optical fiber groups and the dummy fiber group are stacked orthogonal to the alignment direction of the optical fibers constituting the respective fiber groups.

A ferrule mold having a reverse-image of a through-hole array for optical fibers is formed. A non-polymeric ferrule material is deposited in the reverse-image mold, followed by removing the mold to create a multi-fiber connector ferrule having at least two fiber through-holes. An optical fiber is inserted in each through-hole until each fiber endface is positioned approximately even with a connection surface of the ferrule. A fiber recess for each of the optical fibers is formed such that each fiber is recessed from the multi-fiber ferrule connection surface by a distance of at least 0.1 micron. The recess may be formed by differential polishing of the non-polymeric ferrule and endfaces of the optical fibers. Alternatively, a layer of spacer material may be deposited over the multi-fiber ferrule connection surface. An antireflection coating is deposited over the ends of the recessed fibers.

A two-dimensional (2D) optical fiber array component takes the form of a (relatively inexpensive) fiber guide block that is mated with a precision output element. The guide block and output element are both formed to include a 2D array of through-holes that exhibit a predetermined pitch. The holes formed in the guide block are relatively larger than those in precision output element. A loading tool is used to hold a 1×N array of fibers in a fixed position that exhibits the desired pitch. The loaded tool (holding the pre-aligned 1×N array of fibers) is then inserted through the aligned combination of the guide block and output element, and the fiber array is bonded to the guide block. The tool is then removed, re-loaded, and the process continued until all of the 1×N fiber arrays are in place. By virtue of using a precision tool to load the fibers, the guide block does not have to be formed to exhibit precise through-hole dimensions, allowing for a relatively inexpensive guide block to be used.

Ferrule assemblies having a lens array are disclosed. In one embodiment, a ferrule assembly includes a ferrule body and a fiber array ferrule. The ferrule body includes a first end face and a second end face, at least one cavity for receiving one or more optical fibers disposed between the first end face and the second end face, and at least one body alignment feature at an outer surface of the body. The fiber array ferrule includes a first end face and a second end face, an array of alignment holes extending between the first end face and the second end face, and at least one ferrule alignment feature at an outer perimeter of the fiber array ferrule. The second end face of the fiber array ferrule is coupled to the first end face of the body.

A laser welding apparatus includes a laser head for irradiating laser beams transferred through a plurality of transferring optical fibers to a processing target connected thereto via a connector, wherein the laser head includes an optical fiber block having an accommodating space for accommodating the plurality of transferring optical fibers to be arranged along a first direction, and an optical system disposed in front of the optical fiber block and irradiating the laser beams transferred through the plurality of transferring optical fibers to the processing target.