Multichannel fiber ferrule for a stable laser-diode array module

We developed a multichannel fiber ferrule for a stable laser-diode array module. To apply YAG laser welding to parallel butt couple between the laser-diode and the single-mode fiber arrays, hermetically sealed and precisely aligned equi-interval fibers are required. We describe a V-grooved ceramic ferrule for embedding fibers. Fibers are fixed by soldering, using a flat ceramic lid and aligned with a 250 /spl mu/m pitch. Our ferrule allowed a metallic, stem mounting laser-diode, to be fixed by YAG laser welding. All 30 samples tested have a leak rate of less than 1/spl times/10/sup -10/ atm/spl middot/cc/s. Optical coupling of fabricated modules was 9.7/spl plusmn/0.2 dB and coupling loss change from 25/spl deg/C to 115/spl deg/C was within 0.5 dB. >