Highly scalable 2-D fiber collimator array based on an array of through-holes in silicon

A highly scalable 4*4 fiber collimator array with long collimation length has been fabricated by utilizing a two-dimensional array of precision-controlled through-holes in silicon. A fiber array and a lens array were prepared by precisely positioning corresponding fibers and lenses utilizing the holes in separate silicon substrates, and the two arrays were integrated to implement the collimator array. The achieved average angular pointing accuracy and positioning accuracy of the collimator array were about 0.1 and better than 2 (mu)m, respectively. At a distance of 10 cm from the collimator, the measured collimated beam size was 400 (mu)m with its full divergence angle of 0.18.