A polymer waveguide assembly. The assembly includes a polymer waveguide
have a plurality of waveguide cores and an associated plurality of lenses
respectively. The assembly also includes a molded lens structure having a
support region, a primary refractive surface and a secondary refractive
lens. The polymer waveguide is positioned onto the support surface of the
molded lens structure so that the waveguide lenses are in optical
alignment with the primary refractive lens and the secondary refractive
lens of the molded waveguide structure. The lenses of the polymer
waveguide are capable of collimating in the X and Y directions
respectively. The primary refractive lens and the secondary refractive
lens are both capable of collimating light in the Z direction. With this
arrangement, a substantial; portion of the light passing through the
secondary lens toward the waveguide cores is within the acceptance angle
of the plurality of waveguides lenses respectively. The secondary lens
thus creates a shallow angle of convergence relative to the input of the
plurality of lenses of the waveguide. As a result, issues caused by
misalignment are minimized and optical coupling is improved.