A connector to an optical fiber comprises a prism, a ferrule and an aspheric
lens.
The prism includes a triangular wedge element having a first surface, a second
surface and a base. The ferrule guides the optical fiber so as to contact the optical
fiber with the first surface of the prism. The aspheric lens is integrated on the
second surface, the integrated aspheric lens being positioned so that the prism
serves to redirect a light beam at an angle relative to an axis of the optical
source input through total internal reflection by utilizing the base of the triangle
wedge element. The aspheric lens serves to collimate the redirected light beam
or focus the light beam before being redirected. This arrangement may, for example,
be used within a WDM system to multiplex and de-multiplex several wavelengths of
light, using a "zig-zag" optical path configuration and thin film filters to separate
the wavelengths.