When developing a multi-channel photonic product, engineers often look at the average optical loss of the fiber array.
But your customer doesn’t buy the average channel.
Your product specification is often determined by the worst-performing channel.

One channel with significantly higher optical loss can:

🚨 Reduce the dynamic range of the complete system
🚨 Lower the achievable sensitivity
🚨 Increase channel-to-channel calibration
🚨 Reduce production yield
🚨 Limit the performance you can guarantee to your customer

As the number of optical channels increases, maintaining consistent performance across every channel becomes increasingly challenging.
This is why, at MicroAlign, we don’t only focus on minimizing optical loss.
We also focus on minimizing the variation in optical loss between channels.

By actively aligning every individual fiber core, we produce fiber arrays with:
✅ Low optical loss per channel
✅ Excellent channel-to-channel consistency
✅ Fiber core positioning accuracy below 100 nm
✅ Performance independent of the number of channels in the array

For sensing applications, this translates into higher usable dynamic range and more predictable product performance. Instead of designing around the weakest channel, you can take advantage of the performance of the entire photonic system.

In multi-channel photonics, the average channel is interesting… but the worst channel defines your product.

That is why every fiber matters, because your customer experiences the worst one.

Author: Dario Lo Cascio Program Manager at MicroAlign