Abstract: The apparatus of this invention includes a macrobend/microbend unit which imposes first and second macrobends, and microbends between the first and second macrobends, on an optical fiber under analysis. If light is travelling in one direction on the optical fiber, the bending of the optical fiber is such that some light will escape from the core of the optical fiber at the first macrobend. A first photodetector is arranged to receive light emitted from the first macrobend, and generates a signal indicative of whether light is present at the first macrobend. If light is travelling in the optical fiber in the other direction, the second macrobend causes some light to be emitted. A second photodetector arranged to receive light from the second macrobend, generates a signal indicative of whether light is present at the second macrobend.

Abstract: An optical integrated circuit (OIC) 10 and an optical fiber array 20 are joined using index matching material, and mounted on a planar bridging structure 30 to form a device which can be readily connected to other devices using conventional optical connectors. The OIC and the fiber array comprise a silicon substrates 100, 200 having bottom surfaces that include reference areas 14, 24, and top sides that include a number of optical paths 16, 50. These paths are positioned above each reference area by an exact distance. Additionally, the bottom sides of the OIC and the fiber array include alignment features 13, 23 which are etched into their substrates and bear a predetermined horizontal relation to the optical paths. The planar bridging structure also includes a reference surface 34 that interfaces the reference surfaces of the OIC and the fiber array to assure that the optical paths are in vertical alignment. The resulting device achieves excellent alignment (i.e., less than 0.