title: Improved distributed-index planar microlens and its application to 2-D lightwave components.
abstract: A recent improvement of a 2-D array of distributed-index (DI) planar microlenses is presented to demonstrate a 2-D integrated optical component using a planar microlens array. These components are made by stacking planar microlens arrays and other planar optical devices. The improved planar microlens has f = 2.0 mm, a N.A. = 0.23, and its spherical aberration is very small. A fiber coupler is demonstrated. From a preliminary experiment, it is shown that the coupling loss of each channel is <0.5 dB for coupling 50-micron core DI fibers.
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 227, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oikawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iga
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Misawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kokubun