Abstract
As optical communication is being substituted for telecommunication, the demand of a large variety of fiber optic components is increasing. V-groove substrates, one of the module components, are used to connect optical fibers to optical planar circuits and to arrange fibers. Their applications are multi-channel optical connectors and optical waveguide fiber coupling, etc. Because these substrates are a critical part of the splitter in a multiplexer and a multi fiber connector, precise and reliable fabrication process is required. For precisely aligning core pitch between fibers, machined core pitch tolerance should be within sub-microns. Therefore, these are generally produced by state-of-the-art micro-fabrication like MEMS. However, most of the process equipment is very expensive. It is also difficult to change the process line for custom designs to meet specific requirements using various materials. For various design specifications such as different values of the V angle and low-priced process, the fabrication method should be flexible and low cost. To achieve this goal, we have suggested a miniaturized machine tool with high accuracy positioning system. Through this study, it is shown that this cutting process can be applied to produce V-groove subtracts. We also show the possibility of using a miniaturized machining system for producing small parts.
