Cost effective packaging of LEDs for fiber optics

Fiber optics in the local area network environment must be cost competitive with copper wire solutions. In this paper several packaging solutions meeting this criteria for LED based fiber optic solutions are described. One solution involves the use of 650 nm LED packaging technology primarily designed for 960 μm diameter plastic optical fiber but when 200 or 400 μm diameter hard clad silica fibers are employed extended distances can be achieved. This package uses leadframe technology with clear transfer molding compound and a molded lens to achieve its performance. For 850 nm LEDs, another solution is designed for effective use with multimode glass fibers such as 62.5 μm diameter core fiber but it can also be used with hard clad silica fibers. In this case injected molded piece parts are used for the precision ferrule sleeve and the precision secondary lens