Patent ID: 7549804

Claim:
A device comprising: a housing having a longitudinal axis (z) and a pair of axes (x, y) at right angles to each other in a plane perpendicular to the z axis, the housing including first and second segments having opposed surfaces that are fixedly arranged with respect to the other by a collar, the opposed surfaces separate from each other and substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis, the collar contacting an end surface of the first segment that is substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the housing and contacting a surface of the second segment such that contacting surfaces of the collar and second segment are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing; the first segment fixedly carrying an optical bench having an upper surface upon which a circuit for energizing a semiconductor optical source for emitting a linearly polarized optical beam in the general direction of the z axis is mounted, the optical bench having a cutout upon which a focusing element is mounted, the opposed surface of the first segment adjacent to an end surface of the collar; the second segment fixedly carrying (a) an optical fiber element having an end face positioned along the z axis to intercept the optical beam, and (b) a linear optical polarizer positioned between the optical source and the end face; the first and second segments being fixedly positioned relative to each other along the x, y and z axes for causing the optical beam, as incident on the end face, to have a predetermined geometry and position; and the second segment being fixedly positioned about the z axis for causing the optical beam, as incident on the end face, to be in a predetermined power range.