Why does the worst fiber matter?
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 […]
More laser power or less optical loss?
More laser power or less optical loss? When a photonic module doesn’t meet its optical power budget, the first instinct is often straightforward: Increase the laser power While this may compensate for excess optical loss, it is rarely the most efficient solution. Higher laser power can lead to:🔷 Reduced laser lifetime 🔷 Increased power consumption […]
Not all fiber arrays are created equal
Not all fiber arrays are created equal. Most fiber arrays used in photonics today are based on V-groove technology. While highly mature and widely adopted, V-groove arrays inherit the manufacturing tolerances of both the fibers and the carrier. These include:• Fiber core eccentricity• Fiber diameter variations• Fiber non-roundness• V-groove dimensional tolerances• Assembly and glue-induced variations […]
In photonic sensing, performance is not determined by the best channel but by the worst one
🔬 In photonic sensing, performance is not determined by the best channel — but by the worst one. As integrated photonics moves toward multi-channel sensing architectures with increasing numbers of optical fibers, two parameters become critical: • Low optical loss per channel• Consistent optical loss across all channels This is exactly where MicroAlign’s active-aligned fiber […]
Press Release : MicroAlign Secures €2.5 Million EIC Accelerator Grant to Industrialize Scalable Fiber Arrays for Quantum Computing and Beyond
Eindhoven, The Netherlands – March 18, 2026 — MicroAlign, a photonics technology company specializing in ultra‑high‑precision optical‑fiber alignment, has been awarded the prestigious EIC Accelerator Grant of €2.5 million, along with an equity investment component, to accelerate the industrialization of its fiber‑array manufacturing. The EIC Accelerator Grant gives MicroAlign a decisive step towards industrial scale, accelerating automation of its production process […]
Press release: MicroAlign Breakthrough
MicroAlign Breakthrough: From 12 to 24-Channel High Accuracy Fiber Arrays for Quantum Photonic Computing. Eindhoven, the Netherlands, December, 2025 – MicroAlign, a fiber array manufacturing company specializing in alignment of optical fibers, has achieved a major milestone in high-accuracy fiber array technology. The company successfully scaled its fiber array port count from 12 to 24 […]
Adoption project progress
The Adoption project is moving forward, and we’re excited to share what’s happening behind the scenes. As part of the demonstrators within the EU hashtag#Adoption project (grant 101070178), several PICs have been assembled using MicroAlign fiber arrays. Due to the specific PIC geometries, top-to-bottom angular polish of the fiber array units was required. A process […]
MicroAlign at NXTGEN Hightech Conference
At the NXTGEN Hightech Conference in Amersfoort on October 9th, samples of the MicroAlign fiber arrays were shown at the NXTGEN Hightech Semicon 09 Inlite booth. Within the hashtag#NXTGEN Inlite project, MicroAlign is conducting a series of prototype tests to establish a reliable production process for fiber arrays with an exceptional fiber-core position accuracy of […]
FIT4Q Project Meeting in Bremen
On October 6th, 2025, Photonics Foundry hosted the second in-person meeting of the Trilateral FIT4Q project at their facilities in Bremen. The project’s goal is to reduce fiber-to-PIC coupling loss by improving the alignment accuracy between fiber and waveguide, a key step toward advancing scalable photonic integration for quantum technologies. Each partner contributes their expertise […]
Team Growth Spotlight
At MicroAlign, our technology advances because of the people behind it. Today, we’re proud to share a milestone not only for the company, but for our team. Tim Stevens, our colleague, who joined us early on in the journey, has grown with MicroAlign and is now taking on the role of Head of R&D. From […]