1 September 2001

Optics Communications 196 (2001) 173180

www.elsevier.com/locate/optcom

Eects of angular misalignments on ber-optic

alignment automation
Z. Tang, R. Zhang, F.G. Shi *
Optoelectronics Packaging and Automation Laboratory, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California,
916 Engineering Tower, Irvine, CA 92697-2575, USA
Received 2 May 2001; accepted 27 June 2001

Abstract
Automation of ber-to-optic alignment is critical to the development of cost eective ber-optic component manufacturing technologies. Key to the alignment automation is the angular alignment automation, which is now unavailable. But angular misalignments are unavoidable in practical ber-optic aligning process. This work evaluates the
eects of pitch, yaw, and roll angular misalignments for a butt coupling scheme involving the optical coupling between
a single-mode ber and a laser diode. It is demonstrated that the coupling eciency and misalignment tolerance are
more sensitive to tilt, i.e., pitch and yaw angular misalignments than lateral ones. It is further demonstrated that the
time for locating the optimal coupling position using conventional hillclimbing automation searching algorithm is a
strong function of angular misalignments. 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
Keywords: Optical coupling; Alignment tolerance; Optoelectronics packaging automation; Angular misalignments

1. Introduction
Automation of ber-to-optic alignment is critical to the development of cost eective ber-optic
component manufacturing technologies. However,
angular alignment automation is currently unavailable, or restricted to relatively constrained
packaging and xturing situations, while angular
misalignment is unavoidable in practical aligning process [1]. Thus, it is of great importance to

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-949-824-5362; fax: +1-949824-2541.
E-mail address: fgshi@uci.edu (F.G. Shi).

identify and evaluate the possible angular misalignment eects in ber-optic coupling and alignment process.
This work, presenting a detailed analysis of the
consequences of initial angular misalignments between a single-mode ber (SMF) and a laser diode
butt coupling, is organized as follows. First, the
coupling eciency and overall optic-ber alignment tolerance for laser-SMF butt coupling are
investigated in the presence of pitch, yaw, and roll
angular misalignments. Then, the eects of angular misalignment on the ber-optic automation
alignment process are presented using hillclimbing
algorithm, which is often the current industrial
standard choice for ber-optic alignment automation.

0030-4018/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

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Z. Tang et al. / Optics Communications 196 (2001) 173180

2. Fiber-optic coupling
A general laser-to-SMF butt coupling scheme
as shown in Fig. 1 is chosen for present study.
Here the eld of a SMF is taken to be symmetric,
and can be described by a Gaussian beam with
beam waist radius of -0f . The laser diode eld is
taken to be elliptical, and has Gaussian distributions in both vertical and horizontal directions
with unequal beam waist radii of -0x and -0y . The
elliptical beam then diverges to the right. At a
plane with the waist spacing, the beam is described
by its waist size -0 -0x and -0y or -0f and distance z of the z plane of interest from the waist. If
-0 and z are known, radius R and waist - can be
found from [2],

2
R z1 K-20 =2Z
1
2 1=2

- -0 1 2Z=K-0

where K denotes the wave number, K 2p=k, and

k is the wavelength in free space.
The coupling eciency for the system presented
in Fig. 1 can be obtained by the overlapping in-

tegral of the two elds in any plane between the

end faces of the ber and the laser [3]. For the
plane 1 as depicted in Fig. 1, the overall coupling
eciency is given by,
g gx g y

where
gx gx
z gd gh gd;h

x x x

y y y

gy gy
z gd gh gd;h
gx
z


2
2
1=-2f 1=-2x
-f -x
2

K =4 1=Rx

gd exp
2
6
4

8
>
<
>
:

1=Rf

2

1=2

2dx2


 39
>
=
1=-2x -2f 1=-2x 1=-2f K 2 =4 1=-2x R2f 1=-2f R2x
7
5

2


2
>
;
1=-2x 1=-2f K 2 =4 1=Rx 1=Rf

Z
X

Fig. 1. Schematic butt coupling in the presence of misalignment. Here -0x , -0y and -0f are the beam waist of the laser diode in X and Y
direction and the ber; z is the distance to a plane of interest from the waist; d is oset; and h is the tilt angle away from Z-axis.

Z. Tang et al. / Optics Communications 196 (2001) 173180

gh exp

8
>
<
>
:

K 2 h2 =2

2
6
 4

175

1=-2x

1=-2x 1=-2f
2
1=-2f K 2 =4 1=Rx

39
>
=
7
5

2 >
;
1=Rf
8

gd;h exp
2

8
>
<
>
:

K 2 hdx



2
2
1=
1=x
f
6
 4
2
1=-2x 1=-2f K 2 =4 1=Rx

39
>
=
7
5

2 >
;
1=Rf
9

Similarly, the expression for gy is obtained by

replacing x in Eqs. (7)(9) with y. Here, -x , -y and
-f are the beam's radii, Rx , Ry and Rf are the radii
of curvature of the laser and the ber beam in the
plane 1, gx and gy represent the respective contribution from respective X and Y direction to g, gx
z
denotes the coupling eciency from X -axis direcx
tion without any kind of misalignments, gd and
x
gh denote the coupling eciencies with misalignments resulting from an oset dx and pitch h (tilt
x
around X -axis) respectively, while gd;h indicates the
y
combined eect of oset and pitch. Similarly, gd
y
and g/ indicate the coupling eciencies resulting
from an oset dy and yaw / (tilt around Y -axis)
y
respectively, while gd;/ indicates the combined effect of oset and yaw.
It is noted that Eqs. (3)(9) indicate the coupling eciency reaches its maximum when the distance between the waists of the two beams is zero,
a case commonly denoted as butt coupling. In this
case, roll angular misalignment (rotation around
Z-axis) does not have any eect on coupling eciency due to the axis-symmetrical structure of the
ber core.
For a laser diode with an aspect ratio of 1.5
(horizontal -0y vs. vertical -0x ) and wavelength of
1.5 lm, being butt coupled with a cleaved SMF,
the optimal coupling eciency can be obtained with

Fig. 2. 3D prole of coupling eciency. (a) 3D coupling prole

without angular misalignments; (b) 3D prole with both pitch
and yaw misalignments of 10. Where the distance z is assumed
to be zero; wavelength is assumed to 1.5 lm; aspect ratio of
laser diode is 1.5.

ber beam waist -0f being equal to -0y -0x 1=2 .

The contour of coupling eciency with no angular
misalignments can also be obtained from Eq. (7),
as presented in Fig. 2.
The respective eects of lateral, transversal and
angular osets on the coupling eciency obtained
from Eqs. (7)(9) are presented in Fig. 3. It is evident that the normalized coupling eciency decreases with the increase of each type of osets,
which are consistent with previous results [24].
As pointed out that, due to the axis symmetrical structure of the SMF, the roll misalignment
does not have any eect on the optimal coupling

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Z. Tang et al. / Optics Communications 196 (2001) 173180

Fig. 3. Comparisons of the eects of angular, lateral, and

transversal misalignments of the ber on coupling eciency.
Here the distance z is assumed to be zero; wavelength is assumed to 1.5 lm; aspect ratio of laser diode is assumed to 1.5.

eciency. However, the pitch and yaw misalignment eects on the coupling eciency are signicant as evident from Fig. 4. The coupling eciency
in the absence of angular misalignment as presented in Fig. 4(a) is compared to the coupling
eciency in the presence of both pitch and yaw
misalignments of 10, i.e. Fig. 4(b). It is evident
from a comparison of the results presented in Fig.
2(a) and (b) that the contour is compressed by
pitch and yaw angular misalignments under the
same conditions. This indicates that the coupling
eciency and the tolerance are reduced signicantly by the misaligned angles.
For laser diodes with relatively larger aspect
ratios, the angular misalignment eect becomes
even more signicant, due to the increased mode
mismatch between the laser diode and the SMF. A
comparison of the angular misalignment eect on
optimal coupling eciency for a laser with dierent aspect ratios, of 1, 2 and 4, are presented in
Fig. 5. Fig. 5(a) presents the coupling eciency in
the presence of pitch angular misalignments. It is
clear from Fig. 5(a) that the coupling eciency can
be signicantly reduced for a few degree pitch
misalignment. Fig. 5(b) indicates the similar con-

Fig. 4. 2D coupling contours with and without angular misalignments. (a) 2D contour without angular misalignment; (b)
2D contour with pitch misalignment of 10.

sequence with respect to the yaw angular misalignments.

3. Fiber-optic alignment automation using hillclimbing algorithm: eects of angular misalignments
The current industrial standard choice of beroptic alignment algorithm is the so-called conventional hillclimbing algorithm [5]. The angular
misalignment eect on the ber-optic automated
alignment using the same algorithm has never been
reported. Before presenting our results, a simple

Z. Tang et al. / Optics Communications 196 (2001) 173180

177

Fig. 6. Flow chart of a conventional 2D hillclimbing algorithm.

Fig. 5. Eects of laser diode beam prole on coupling eciency.
(a) Optimal coupling eciency with changing pitch angle for
dierent aspect ratio of laser diode beam; (b) optimal coupling
eciency with changing yaw angle for dierent aspect ratio of
laser diode beam.

review of the essentials of the algorithm is given as

follows.
3.1. Automated alignment with hillclimbing algorithm
Hillclimbing method, with its advantage of fast
and precise alignment, as well as its easy imple-

mentation, is widely used in today's manufacturing automation where an optimal positioning is

demanded. It provides an optimal searching path
within a short period of time. The detail of this
algorithm is well documented [5]. Fig. 6 shows the
ow chart of a hillclimbing process for a 2D process, where the dimension is dened within X Y
plane. It is noted that for the purpose of illustration, we are not considering the case where side
modes of the laser beam may exists. A 3D alignment process is a combination of XY plane and
Z-axis alignment.
First of all, we consider 2D alignment without
angular misalignment, where the X , Y , and Z-axis
of the ber are paralleling or overlapping to X , Y

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Z. Tang et al. / Optics Communications 196 (2001) 173180

half and goes up the hill towards maximum point

C again. In this manner, after several times of
iteration, the ``hill-climber'' will nally come extremely close to, or reach, the maximum point
C. Then the ``hill-climber'' changes its path by
searching along Y -axis to nd the maximum point
D. Obviously, we can see that in the current case,
since the searching path of the ber tip is paralleling or overlapping to the X and Y -axis of the
laser diode, the path of nding the maximum point
is straightforward. By repeating the above XY
process, the optimal position of coupling on the
2D contour can be reached quickly. Subsequently,
the ber tip can go along optical axis or mechanical Z-axis to reach optimal coupling position in
3D space.
However, angular misalignments are often encountered in practical aligning process as mentioned earlier, where the X , Y , and Z-axis of the
ber are not paralleling to the X , Y , and Z-axis of
the laser diode during alignment, namely pitch,
yaw, and roll misalignments. The consequences
of these angular misalignments on the total time
taken for reaching the optimal coupling position
using the above-mentioned algorithm will be
demonstrated.

Fig. 7. 2D coupling contour with and without roll misalignments. (a) 2D contour without angular misalignments; (b) 2D
coupling contour with roll misalignments.

and Z-axis of laser diode. As shown in Fig. 7(a), a

2D coupling contour obtained from previous section Fig. 2, we assume that the ``hill-climber''
starts from point A with a distance to the optimal
position of coupling, and go along X -direction rst
with a certain initial step size. On each step, by
comparing the coupling eciency, the ``hillclimber'' decides which direction to go for the next
step. After passing the maximum point on this
direction, which is the center of line AB indicated
by point C in Fig. 7(a), the ``hill-climber'' detects a
power drop, and it continues for a predetermined
number of steps along the downward slope of the
hill to ensure that the hill does not begin to rise
again. Then the algorithm reduces its step size by

3.2. Alignment with preexisting roll misalignments

Roll misalignment is one of the possible angular
misalignments during alignment. A schematic of
automated aligning path with roll misalignment of
20 is illustrated in Fig. 7(b), where the searching
path of ``hill-climber'' is away from the path without roll misalignment as shown in Fig. 7(a).
Assuming the aspect ratio of laser diode is 2.5,
the aligning processes are simulated by above 2D
hillclimbing algorithm for three dierent cases,
and the simulation results are presented in Fig. 8.
Fig. 8(a) and (b) are two cases with roll misalignment of 10 and 20 respectively, while Fig. 9
shows the hillclimbing steps with the changing
angle of roll misalignments. As expected, the total
steps needed to nish the hillclimbing process increase as the roll angle increases while optimal
coupling eciency remains the same for all cases.
When the roll misalignment reaches up to 25, the

Z. Tang et al. / Optics Communications 196 (2001) 173180

179

Fig. 9. Hillclimbing steps vs. preexisting small roll misalignments.

Fig. 8. Eects of roll misalignments on automated alignment

process by 2D hillclimbing algorithm. (a) Hillclimbing steps
with roll angle of 10; (b) hillclimbing steps with roll angle of
20.

steps are 1.8 times more than the condition without roll misalignment for this simulation.
3.3. Alignment with preexisting pitch and yaw
misalignments
Similarly, assuming the aspect ratio of laser
diode is 2.5, the aligning processes are simulated
by above 2D hillclimbing algorithm for preexisting
pitch and yaw misalignments. The results show

that there is not much dierence in the total

number of steps for arriving optimal coupling efciency, although the optimal coupling eciency
has been reduced signicantly. This observation
can be explained for XY plane alignment for aligning path has not distracted from the case without
pitch or yaw misalignments. However, for 3D alignment process, the optical axis is bent away from
the mechanical z-axis due to the exist of pitch and
yaw misalignments. This will lead to a signicant
misalignment from the optical path when doing
z-axis alignment, and it will have a signicant eect
on the next positioning of next XY plane. Therefore, the cumulative negative consequences of pitch
and yaw misalignments on aligning speed can be
huge.

4. Conclusion
The angular misalignment eects on both coupling eciency and automated alignment process
have been identied and presented in details. The
analysis shows that roll misalignment has no eect
on optimal coupling eciency and tolerance.
However, both pitch and yaw misalignments can
decrease the overall coupling eciency signicantly; in the meantime, limit the overall tolerance

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Z. Tang et al. / Optics Communications 196 (2001) 173180

for the optimal coupling. For automated aligning

a SMF to a laser diode with preexisting angular
misalignments, all types of angular misalignments
have eects on the speed of automated alignment
process using conventional hillclimbing algorithm.
The speed of searching of optimal coupling position can be reduced signicantly with relatively
large angular misalignments. Angular alignment
automation is quite necessary to avoid angular
misalignment and speed up alignment process. The
approach developed here can be easily extended to
a variety of schemes of optical trains, and the
analytical results can be used to guide both design
and manufacturing for the automation of advanced optoelectronics packaging process.

Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful for the encouragement given by Drs. J. Guo and J. Jeong.
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