A study of double-variable-curvature microlenses (DVCM) for promoting coupling efficiency between the high-power 980-nm pumping laser diodes and the single-mode fibers has been proposed. In comparison with the previous works on asymmetric fiber microlenses fabricated by the multi-step processes with complicated fabrication, the advantages of the DVCM structure for achieving high coupling are a single-step fabrication, a reproducible process, and a high-yield output. In the fusing procedure, the slight arc fusion was mainly applied for fine polishing merely instead of reshaping for the reason that the fabricated double-variable-curvature fiber endface (DVCFE) was very close to the ideal shape. Hence, the fabrication time was reduced and the yield was promoted due to the withdrawn step of tip elimination. In this study, the geometric center of the fiber was defined through, the cladding diameter and the core diameter, for comparison to measure the offset. The offset measured by the core diameter was more accurate and coincidence with the coupling efficiency in the experiment. In the fabricated 45 DVCMs, to achieve the average coupling efficiencies higher than 84%, the offsets were ought to be controlled in merely less than 0.6£gm with the curvature radii in the minor axis ranged from 2.4 to 2.9£gm (with tolerance of 0.5£gm). Alternatively, the offsets were ought to be controlled in less than 0.3£gm though the curvature radii in the minor axis ranged from 2.4 to 3.7£gm (with larger tolerance of 1.3£gm). However, it was more difficult to control over the offsets than the curvature radii in the minor axis while fabricating the DVCMs. In conclusion, to achieve higher yield, it was relatively practical to control the offsets of fiber microlenses to be less than 0.6£gm with 2.4 to 2.9£gm curvature radius. As a result, the coupling efficiencies were all higher than 80%.

A study of double-variable-curvature microlenses (DVCM) for promoting coupling efficiency between the high-power 980-nm laser diodes and the single-mode fibers has been proposed. The purpose of the fiber microlens fabrication was to make the mode field match between the laser beam and the fiber as the beam propagating through the fiber microlens. To make the mode match, the shapes of the fiber microlens demanded nothing else but the offset and the curvature radii in minor and major axes. The double-variable-curvature fiber endface (DVCFE) was manufactured through a single-step fully automation grinding process and had less average offset of 0.3£gm, consequently. The radii of curvature in minor and major axis were controlled as an average of 1.2£gm and 33.6£gm, respectively. In the fusing procedure, the slight arc fusion was mainly applied for fine polishing merely instead of reshaping for the reason that the fabricated DVCFE was very close to the ideal shape. Hence, the fabrication time was reduced and the yield was promoted due to the withdrawn step of tip elimination. Furthermore, while the fusion parameters were set to be: fusing distance: 10£gm, arc intensity: 3bits, and fusing time: 200ms in the slight fusion process, the offset was reduced to 0.2£gm due to the shape constraint and surface tension of the DVCFE. And the radii of curvature increased 1.7£gm to 2.9£gm in the minor axis and increased 4.5£gm to 38.1£gm in the major axis, respectively. Owing to the controls of the fully automated grinding procedure and the omission of the tip elimination, the coupling efficiency and yield were improved. As a result, in the experiment, the average and maximum coupling efficiency of 83% and 88% were demonstrated, respectively. And the coupling efficiencies of the 20 samples were higher than 80%. In other words, the proposed DVCM structure of this study was a high coupling efficiency, a high yield output, and reproducible and fully automated single-step grinding process.

Two new schemes of fiber microlenses for coupling between the high-power 980nm laser diodes and single-mode fibers (SMFs) are proposed. The quadrangular-pyramid-shaped fiber microlens (QPSFM) is fabricated by grinding a quadrangular-pyramid-shaped endface and then through heating in a fusing splicer to form an elliptical microlens endface. In comparison to the traditional wedge-shaped fiber microlens, the QPSFM structure can control two axial curvatures to form an elliptical microlens endface, and then control the aspect ratio of fiber far-field pattern to match the elliptical mode fields of lasers. The coupling efficiency of 83% for the QPSFM has been demonstrated. Another scheme of fiber microlens is the conical-wedge-shaped fiber microlens (CWSFM). The CWSFM is fabricated by grinding a conical-shaped fiber endface, then grinding a pair of wedge planes on the conical-shaped fiber endface, and finally through heating in a fusing splicer to form a good elliptical microlens endface. The coupling efficiency of 84% for CWSFM has been demonstrated. The fabrication of QPSFM requires five-step grinding processes. The range of grinding offset is 0.5~3.0£gm, and the average of grinding offset is 1.5£gm. The fabrication yield of QPSFM is low due to the large grinding offset. The fabrication of CWSFM requires only three-step grinding processes. The range of grinding offset is 0.3~1.5£gm, the average of grinding offset is 0.8£gm. The fabrication yield of CWSFM is high due to the small grinding offset. The fabrication yield is about 60% for 70% coupling efficiency; whereas the fabrication yield becomes 96% for 60% coupling efficiency. The laser-to-SMFs coupling of the fiber microlens was modeled based on the diffraction theory. The coupling efficiency, the tolerance of alignment, and the tolerance of fiber microlens offset were calculated according to this model. There is a good agreement between the simulation and the experiment values. In this study, two new scheme of fiber microlenses of the QPSFM and CWSFM with high coupling efficiency have been demonstrated. The CWSFM structure has the benefits of simple process and high yield that is suitable for use in commercial high power laser module.