Low cost integrated heater substrate for active optical fiber alignment

An optical packaging assembly (10) for securing an optical fiber (12) to a heater substrate (30) in optical alignment with an opto-electronic device (14). The opto-electronic device (14) is secured to a device substrate (18) in the packaging assembly (10). The heater substrate (30) includes a conductive region (44), resistive elements (52) and a solder platform (42). The optical fiber (12) and a solder preform (32) are positioned on the solder platform (42). A voltage potential is applied to the conductive region (44) to heat the resistive elements (52) to cause the solder preform (32) to melt and secure the optical fiber (12) to the heater substrate (30) in alignment with the opto-electronic device (14). The resistive elements (52) are symmetrically disposed around the solder platform (42) to minimize translational and rotational shifts of the optical fiber (12) to primarily one translational axis of motion when the solder preform (32) cools.