Novel, High-Throughput, Fiber-to-Chip Assembly Employing Only Off-the-Shelf Components

Abstract

Cost-efficient assembly of single-mode fibers to silicon chips is a significant challenge for large-scale deployment of Si photonics. We have previously demonstrated a fully automated approach to parallelized assembly of fiber arrays to nanophotonic chips meant to be performed with standard high-throughput microelectronic tooling. Our original approach required a customization of a standard fiber component, which could limit cost-efficiency and scalability. Here, we demonstrate a novel approach to fiber assembly employing off-the-shelf fiber components only. The new concept employs a dual vacuum pick-tip that can be integrated in standard high-throughput microelectronic tooling. We validate this approach with assemblies of standard 12-fiber interfaces to nanophotonic chips. The assembly performance is assessed via x-ray tomography cross-sections, polished mechanical cross-sections, and optical coupling measurements.