Optical fiber pigtail assembly
View Patent ↗A fiber tail assembly (FTA) with a micro-lens formed in the fiber tip is used to couple the laser light out of the package and along the fiber. The FTA is soldered at two points where metallized bands are deposited on the fiber pigtail, one at a fiber mount near the diode where it can be soldered into alignment with the laser diode, and two at the snout which forms a feed through the housing and seal for the package. Typically, the FTA is metallized along its entire length within the package. In this invention the two-metallized bands are separated by a region that is unmetallized.
1. An optical fiber pigtail assembly comprising:
a) a laser disposed within a housing; and,
b) an optical fiber pigtail comprised of an optical fiber disposed within an opening of said housing, said optical fiber pigtail having an end for coupling light there into from the laser diode, the optical fiber pigtail having a first region about the end that is metallized and soldered fixedly with respect to said housing, the optical fiber pigtail having a second metalilized region spaced from the first region by an other region wherein the second region is soldered to the housing about the opening to provide a seal therewith, said other region being absent of metal to lessen heating that may otherwise occur in the presence of a high intensity light from the laser passing therethrough, wherein the first metallized region along an optical axis of the fiber pigtail is of length L 1 and wherein no more than 0.5 mm of length of the first metallized region on either side of a solder joint is unsoldered.
2. An optical fiber pigtail assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein a portion of the first region soldered to one or more solder pads has an unsoldered metallized portion extending from the solder and wherein the unsoldered metallized portion is less or equal to 0.5 mm, and wherein the second metallized region along the optical axis of the fiber pigtail is of length L 2 and wherein no more than 0.5 mm of length of the second metallized region on either side of a solder joint is unsoldered.