Experimental Identification of the Failure Modes and Failure Mechanisms of Fiber to Waveguide Couplings Under Cyclic Tensile Loading

Optical fiber (SMF) ribbons aligned to waveguides on a photonic chip need to be properly secure. They are held in place with optical adhesive for the fiber and ribbon strain relief that attenuates the stresses exerted on the fiber ribbon. To ensure the reliability of this attach each of these elements must be carefully selected and meticulously assembled on the device. A experimental pull test is used to exacerbate failure mechanism and modes to improve design and selection of optically enabled assemblies.