Patent ID: 6870628

Claim:
A method of aligning an optical fiber to an optical port of an integrated optical circuit, so as to maximize power throughput across an interface between the optical fiber and the integrated optical circuit, comprising: at a first workstation, positioning the optical fiber such that a fast axis of the optical fiber is oriented at a first angular position with respect to a first reference surface, and securing the optical fiber to a glass block while the fast axis of the optical fiber is oriented at the first angular position with respect to the first reference surface, wherein positioning the optical fiber includes: positioning a birefringent component on the first workstation such that a fast axis of the birefringent component is oriented at the first angular position with respect to the reference surface; positioning a light source at a second end of the optical fiber, and positioning the optical fiber such that a first end of the optical fiber directs a light beam through a first end of the birefringent component; positioning an interferometer at a second end of the birefringent component so as to receive the light beam, wherein the interferometer is configured to provide an optical path difference corresponding to a delay difference between a fast axis path and a slow axis path through the birefringent component; at a second workstation, positioning the integrated optical circuit such that a fast axis of the integrated optical circuit is oriented at the first angular position with respect to a second reference surface; positioning the glass block with the optical fiber at the second workstation such that the first end of the optical fiber is adjacent to the optical port of the integrated optical circuit and the fast axis of the optical fiber is oriented at the first angular position with respect to the second reference surface; and, illuminating the second end of the optical fiber at the second workstation, and rotating the optical fiber about a longitudinal axis of the optical fiber until the integrated optical circuit detects a maximum light power throughput across the interface between the optical fiber and the integrated optical circuit.