Abstract

Imaging fiber bundles from Schott Fiber Optics [1] and 8x8 individually addressable vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays from Sandia National Laboratories [2] have been investigated for their mutual compatibility for flexible parallel optical interconnects. The 2-D anay (250 μm x 250 μm pitch) of selectively oxidized 850 nm VCSELs have 3 μm x 3 μm active area, threshold current around 0.5 mA and maximum power of 3.5 mW with wallplug efficiency at 2mW output of about 25%. Three kinds of fiber bundles were tested each containing 15379 fibers with 9 μm core diameter and 13.5 μm pitch in a close-packed hexagonal (honeycomb) pattern, and the core to total cross-sectional area ratio of 0.45. The distinguishing features were the numerical apertures: 0.25 (half acceptance angle, θa = 14.5°), 0.55 (33.4°) and 1.0 (90°). The maximum lateral extent of the fiber-bundle was less than the inner dimension of the VCSEL-array facilitating butt coupling of the fibers.

© 2000 IEEE