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Osamu TAKANASHI Tsutomu HAMADA Junji OKADA Takeshi KAMIMURA Hidenori YAMADA Masao FUNADA Takashi OZAWA
We propose a low-cost, high-uniformity, and low excess loss star coupler. The proposed star coupler comprises a planar lightguide, a diffuser, and polymer optical fibers (POFs). High-uniformity of optical power distribution was enabled by utilizing the diffused light transmission. Input light is diffused by the diffuser that is attached between the input POFs and the planar lightguide and transmitted through the planar lightguide. The optimum width-to-length ratio of the lightguide is clarified through simulations and experiments. We fabricated the star couplers based on the optimum width-to-length ratio for evaluation. The fabricated 1616 star coupler showed the excellent uniformity at the distribution ratio of 0.8 dB and the excess loss of 3.3 dB. The fabricated star coupler also provides a wide tolerance for misalignment. The maximum number of nodes to assure high transmission quality and the bandwidth of the proposed star coupler are discussed. The proposed star coupler is remarkably cost effective since it can be produced by injection-molding technology. The proposed star coupler enables easy multi-channel interconnection.