A phase angle tracking method used for optical collimator alignment

Optical collimators are very important components in the construction of practical fiber network. But unfortunately, the problem of low-efficiency alignment is always a bottleneck of optical collimators assembly. Currently, most fiber alignment algorithms are only suitable for lateral axes, and for angular alignment, manual coupling is still widely used in product line. In recent years, engineers have tried to apply some automatic algorithms such as Hill-climbing algorithm to realize angular alignment, but since the pivot point is not always the end point of the fiber tip, an angular movement will cause an extra offset in lateral axis. Consequently, the whole alignment process will cost much more time. In this paper, a novel automatic angular alignment method based on phase angle tracking is presented. Phase angle tracking is used to detect the increasing direction of optical power and driver the collimator to the maximum power point. Experiment results show that the novel automatic angular alignment method can reduce the total time less than 160 seconds. It is obviously that this method is rapidly improved the efficiency in optical collimators assembly.