One minute laser-fiber alignment procedure (for optogenetics)
Channel: Tom Davidson
Date: 2011-10-13

Demo of a procedure for quickly aligning a laser beam to be coupled into a fiber optic cable. Skip to 3:30 to see the alignment procedure. The tool used in the demo is a Visual Fault Locator (Eclipse 902-186N), available on Amazon for about $85. 

This coarse alignment procedure is usually sufficient for large-core multimode fiber. For further optimization of coupling (by 'walking the beam'), see Manoj Peiris's excellent video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQvhbJbDG0M