The design and application of an automatic optical inspection system for the advanced fiber coupler assembly manufacturing process

Abstract

In this paper an automatic optical inspection system for the advanced fiber coupler assembly manufacturing process is presented. Coupling efficiency variations were compared with axial displacement. The main standard components of light peak fiber couplers were used in the experiment to determine the corresponding offset and position of the optimal optical coupling efficiency in order to achieve a positioning effect. This study used the parameters of lens curvature, focal length and light source for validation using optical design software. An infrared CCD camera was used to extract the coupled light spot images. The curve fitting method and coupling simulation database were used for image processing and to calculate optimal coupling efficiency. Under optimal coupling efficiency, the minimum amount of movement of the translation stages was used to calculate the offset of each axle or the coupling efficiency when tilted. Moreover, a coupling efficiency database was established. The optical axle center offset in the alignment was calculated by comparing the data in the database. Finally, the optical axle center offset or tilt direction was identified through the program to achieve the position of optimal coupling efficiency.