I am looking forward to learning what the combined coupling efficiency will look like incorporating Vanguard Automation’s facet attached microlenses. 

As reported “Poet expects to start sampling LightBar products incorporating Vanguard Automation's microlenses to customers in the second half of 2023.”

"Our optical interposer together with Vanguard Automation's facet-attached-microlenses creates a powerful platform for electro-optical engines for transceivers, co-packaged optics, light engines and sensing devices. Incorporating microlenses improves the coupling efficiency of light as it passes from one photonic device to another, which in turn reduces power consumption of the combined solution. The precise alignment and printing of the microlenses at wafer-level offers significant scalability and enhances our ability to address new markets with a uniquely powerful solution."

As noted below POET is already achieving excellent coupling efficiencies in CW applications.

POET

Laser Coupling: One of the key benefits to using the Optical Interposer is its visually assisted wafer scale passive placement of optical devices such as lasers while simultaneously achieving good coupling efficiency to the waveguides. Fig. 7 shows the coupling performance for CW lasers with integrated spot size converters. 90% (1dB) coupling efficiency has been achieved which is best in class for such passive alignment techniques. 

A proprietary Spot Size Converter has been designed for chip facet fiber coupling achieving facet coupling losses of 0.25dB.

Vanguard

We demonstrated a selection of beam-shaping elements at chip and fiber facets, achieving coupling efficiencies of up to 88% between edge-emitting lasers and single-mode fibers.