Optical fibres with GRIN lenses
For collimated beams, LASER COMPONENTS manufactures optical fibres in which a gradient-index lens is directly connected to the optical fibre.
A non-adhesive process ensures a reproducibly high-quality standard. External collimators are no longer necessary with these assemblies to produce parallel directional light.
Gradient-index (GRIN) lenses are cylindrically shaped glass bodies in which the refractive index decreases continuously from the centre to the edge. As a result, the emerging light beam is collimated.
In the assemblies manufactured by LASER COMPONENTS, the numerical apertures of the collimators are 0.5 and 0.2. In the standard configuration, the lenses are mounted on an SMF-28 single-mode fibre and installed in an FC connector in such a way that the ferrule directly terminates with the fibre end. In this configuration, the manufacturer offers assemblies for telecom wavelengths of 1310nm and 1550nm. Other connector types and bare fibre solutions are also supplied upon customer request. The company is similarly flexible when it comes to wavelengths: for example, versions for 650nm and 870nm are also available.