CPC G02B 26/103 (2013.01) | 14 Claims |
1. A fibre positioning system for positioning a tip of an optical fibre, the system comprising:
a piezoelectric tube scanner disposed along an optical axis, the piezoelectric tube scanner having:
a first end fixedly mounted with respect to a mounting structure;
a hollow interior to receive a length of the optical fibre; and
a second end to bend in a lateral direction perpendicular to the optical axis in response to one or more first actuation signals from a controller; and
a glass end cap fixedly mounted at the second end of the piezoelectric tube scanner to be optically spliced to the tip of the optical fibre such that bending of the piezoelectric tube scanner results in lateral movement of the tip of the optical fibre with respect to the optical axis; and
a linear actuator to linearly move the piezoelectric tube scanner and the length of optical fibre in a direction along the optical axis in response to one or more second actuation signals from the controller;
wherein the optical fibre and the length of the optical fibre form part of an optical source, and
the piezoelectric tube scanner is bendable such that a lateral range of motion of the tip of the optical fibre is greater than a mode field diameter of an output beam produced by the optical source, the mode field diameter is measured at an output of the optical source.
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