ALIGNMENT OF OPTICAL AXES BY USING ELECTROSTATIC FORCE

A new alignment method of optical axes for efficient coupling is devel oped, and its performance is examined. The optical axis is positioned by bending the flexible fiber like a cantilever beam by using an elect rostatic force. It is shown that the end of the flexible fiber is scan ned over an approximately 10 mum x 10 mum area in two dimensions, and the low-loss coupling is attained by searching the peak transmission i ntensity of light signal through coupling. The feasibility of applying this alignment method for practical use is discussed in terms of whet her it satisfies the specifications for a coupling in which multiple a xes are aligned individually.