Simple compact diode-laser/microlens packaging

A technique has been demonstrated in which the precisely polished substrate of a microlens is directly attached to the front face of a diode laser and heatsink to form a compact stable package. An experimental package using mass-transported GaP spherical microlenses and InGaAs-AlGaAs ridge-waveguide lasers (0.98-/spl mu/m wavelength) showed a well-collimated beam with a near diffraction-limited 0.7/spl deg/ divergence. The high-index microlens and the favorable lens configuration showed high tolerance for alignment errors in the optical-path-difference and Strehl-ratio calculations.