32-channel arrayed waveguide grating multiplexer using low loss fluorinated polymer operating around 1550 nm

A 32 × 32 arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer operating around the 1550 nm wavelength has been designed and fabricated using highly fluorinated polyethers. The propagation loss of the slab waveguide is about 0.3 dB/cm at 1550 nm wavelength. The channel spacing of the AWG multiplexer is 0.8 nm (100 GHz). The insertion loss of the multiplexer is 10.3-15.3 dB and the crosstalk is less than −20 dB.     

Design and fabrication of arrayed waveguide grating using fluoropolymer PFS-co-GMA

A 33×33 polymer arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer is optimized and fabricated. This device is made of polymeric materials named 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrene-co-glycidylmethacrylate (PFS-co-GMA). The central wavelength and wavelength spacing are designed to be 1550.918 and 0.8 nm, respectively. The calculated results are: the 3-dB bandwidth is about 0.24 nm, insertion loss is about 8.4 dB and crosstalk is −33.7 dB. The corresponding measured results are: the center wavelength is about 1550.85 nm, wavelength channel spacing is about 0.81 nm, 3-dB bandwidth is about 0.35 nm, crosstalk is about −20 dB, insertion loss is between 10.4 dB for the central port and 11.9 dB for the edge ports.     

Compact SOI arrayed waveguide grating demultiplexer with broad spectral response

A compact eight-channel flat spectral response arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) materials has been fabricated on the planar lightwave circuit (PLC). The 1-dB bandwidth of 48 GHz and 3-dB bandwidth of 69 GHz are obtained for the 100 GHz channel spacing. Not only non-adjacent crosstalk but also adjacent crosstalk are less than −25 dB. The on-chip propagation loss range is from 3.5 to 3.9 dB, and the total device size is 1.5 × 1.0 cm².     

Performance analysis of metro WDM network based on an optical cross connects and arrayed waveguide grating demultiplexer

In this paper, we have demonstrated the quality-of-service offered by the metropolitan area network which is based on optical cross connect (OXC) and arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) demultiplexer operating at 10 Gb/s with 0.1 nm channel spacing for NRZ signal transmission. The data is successfully transmitted to a distance of 40 km with a reasonably good BER of 2.388 × 10⁻³⁵. The OXC and AWG demultiplexers in the proposed architecture allow incremental expansion in terms of the number of wavelength channels to be transmitted. Dispersion and crosstalk are the main signal-degrading factors arising from the operation of the OXC and the effectiveness of each factor is individually investigated.     

Polymeric arrayed waveguide grating using imprint method incorporating a flexible PDMS stamp

A polymeric arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) has been proposed and demonstrated by employing the nanoimprint method. A flexible PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) stamp with the device patterns engraved was developed from a rigid master mold made of quartz glass, featuring uniform precision contact with and easy separation from polymer films. The device was fabricated by replicating the pattern on the stamp in a core polymer layer, with no etching process involved. For our device, the number of the output channels is eight and the center wavelength of each output channel is positioned from 1543.7 nm to 1548.3 nm with the spacing of 0.8 nm. The achieved channel crosstalk was about 10 dB and the 3 dB bandwidth approximately 0.8 nm.     

An Efficient Technique for Analyzing Transmission Characteristics of Arrayed Waveguide Grating Multiplexers

An efficient technique is presented for analyzing transmission characteristics of arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexers. As an example, calculations using this technique are performed for a polymer 33 × 33 AWG multiplexer around the central wavelength of 1.55 m with the wavelength spacing of 0.8 nm. Computed results show that this technique possesses high accuracy for analyzing the power profile, diffraction efficiency, transmission spectrum, free spectral range and crosstalk of the AWG multiplexer.     

Investigation of all-optical analog-to-digital quantization using a chalcogenide waveguide: A step towards on-chip analog-to-digital conversion

We have investigated all-optical analog-to-digital quantization by broadening the pulse spectrum in a chalcogenide (As₂S₃) waveguide and subsequently slicing the measured spectrum using an array of filters. Pulse spectral broadening was measured for 8 different power levels in a 6 cm long As₂S₃ waveguide and used to analyze an 8-level all-optical quantization scheme employing filters with full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) bandwidth of 2 nm. A supercontinuum spectrum with −15 dB spectral width up to 324 nm was observed experimentally at large powers. This large spectral broadening, combined with filtering using a 128 channel arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with 2 nm filter spacing, has the potential for all-optical quantization with 7-bit resolution. In order to encode the quantized signal we propose an encoder scheme which can be implemented using optical Exclusive-OR gates. Demonstrating all-optical quantization using a planar waveguide is an important step towards realizing all-optical A/D conversion on a chip.     

A 32-channel 100 GHz wavelength division multiplexer by interleaving two silicon arrayed waveguide gratings

A 32-channel wavelength division multiplexer with 100 GHz spacing is designed and fabricated by interleaving two silicon arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs). It has a parallel structure consisting of two silicon 16-channel AWGs with 200 GHz spacing and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with 200 GHz free spectral range. The 16 channels of one silicon AWG are interleaved with those of the other AWG in spectrum, but with an identical spacing of 200 GHz. For the composed wavelength division multiplexer, the experiment results reveal 32 wavelength channels in C-band, a wavelength spacing of 100 GHz, and a channel crosstalk lower than -15 dB.     

Arrayed waveguide grating multiplexer with high thermal stability on silicon

In this paper, certain important parameters are optimized for a polymer/Si arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer by using grating theory. A 32-channel multiplexer is designed and fabricated using newly synthesized fluorinated poly (ether ether ketone) with a high thermal stability. The measured wavelength channel spacing is 0.796 nm, and center wavelength and 3-dB bandwidth are 1548 nm and 0.3 nm, respectively.     

Enhanced colorless and broadcast capable symmetrical 10-Gbps bidirectional transmission in WDM-PON using RSOA and EAM

Here we proposed a novel architecture of wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical network (WDM-PON) in which the downlink unicast data, broadcast data and uplink unicast data transmission is possible with the symmetric data rate of 10 Gbps. At remote node (RN) cyclic wavelength routing property of array waveguide grating (AWG) and power splitting capacity of power splitter is used in the architecture so that broadcast channel can be overlaid on downlink unicast channels. At ONU carriers sent from central office (CO) is reused for upstream data transmission with the help of integration of a reflective semiconductor amplifier (RSOA) and an electro-absorption modulator (EAM) so there is no need of extra laser sources at ONUs which makes them colorless. EAM can be operated at very high speed; a modulation bandwidth of tens of GHz can be achieved. Broadcast channel causes a limited interference with downlink and uplink unicast channels so it does not affect the system performance. Since each channel has different wavelength so NRZ data is used which eliminates expensive DPSK receivers and detection becomes very easy. Simulation is performed with all channels having data rate of 10 Gbps having acceptable performance.     

Design and analysis of nano-deep corrugated waveguide grating-based dual-resonant filters in visible and infra-red regions

A theoretical analysis of nano-deep corrugated long-period waveguide gratings on a SU-8 polymer-based channel waveguide with NOA61 optical epoxy coated upper- and lower cladding is presented. The transmission spectra of the gratings show strong rejection bands both at visible (at wavelength region of 450?460 nm) and infra-red (at wavelength region of 1530?1540 nm) regions when a grating period of ?68 μm with optimized grating tooth height is considered. Phase-matching graphs are studied to find the relationship between resonance wavelength and grating period. These results show that the grating parameters significantly affect the characteristics of transmission spectra as well as the resonance wavelength of the grating. Long-period waveguide grating-based band pass filter made by use of same polymer materials are also designed and analyzed. These types of waveguide grating-based filters can widely be used for visible and infra-red wavelength sensing applications.     

基于阵列波导光栅的快速波长检测方法

针对现有波长检测技术的不足,提出一种采用阵列波导光栅（AWG）进行波长快速检测的方法,该方法利用AWG对波长信号进行空间分离,将波长信号转化为光场强度信号,利用传统的光场强度检测手段实现波长检测。给出了分析这种检测方法光学特性的数学模型,应用此模型,分析了AWG性能参数对波长检测性能的影响。分析表明：待检测的波长信号可以通过AWG相邻通道的功率比的对数值进行线性表达;减小AWG通道波长间隔或其半波全宽（3dB带宽）可以提高波长检测灵敏度;此方法对AWG的通道不平坦度不敏感;通过对AWG进行±0．1℃的温度控制,此方法可以达到±0．005nm的波长检测精度。     

Analysis for fabrication errors of arrayed waveguide grating multiplexers

Based on the transmission theory, parameter optimization is performed, and effects of fabrication errors on transmission characteristics are analyzed for a 33×33 polymer arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer around the central wavelength of 1550.918 nm with the wavelength spacing of 0.8 nm. Simulated results show that fabrication errors result in the shift of the transmission spectrum, and lead to the increase of the crosstalk compared with the device theoretically designed. Furthermore, accumulation and compensation of fabrication errors are investigated. In order to realize the normal demultiplexing of the fabricated AWG device, the allowed fabrication errors are discussed.     

Polymeric 32-channel arrayed waveguide grating multiplexer using fluorinated poly (ether ether ketone)

In wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer is a key component. A polymeric AWG multiplexer has recently attracted much attention due to its low cost processing and a potential of integration with other devices. Fluorinated poly (ether ether ketone)(FPEEK) is excellent material for fabrication of optical waveguides due to its low absorption loss at 1.55-μm wavelength and high thermal stability. A 32-channel AWG multiplexer has been designed based on the grating diffraction theory and fabricated using newly synthesized FPEEK. During the fabrication process of the Polymer/Si AWG device, spin coating, vaporizing, photolithographic patterning and reactive ion etching (RIE) are used. The AWG multiplexer measurement system is based on a tunable semiconductor laser, infrared camera and a Peltier-type heater. The device exhibits a wavelength channel spacing of 0.8nm and a center wavelength of 1548 nm in the room temperature.     

Hybrid photonic crystal 1.31/1.55 μm wavelength division multiplexer based on coupled line defect channels

The objective of this paper is to investigate the implementation of a hybrid photonic crystal (PhC) 1.31/1.55 μm wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) and wavelength channel interleaver with channel spacing of roughly 0.8 nm between the operating wavelengths of 1.54-1.56 μm. It is based on 1-D photonic crystal (PhC) structure connected with an output 2-D PhC structure. The power transfer efficiency of the hybrid PhC WDM at 1.31 μm and 1.55 μm were computed by eigen-mode expansion (EME) method to be about 88% at both the wavelengths. The extinction ratios obtained for the 1.31 μm and 1.55 μm wavelengths are − 25.8 dB and − 22.9 dB respectively.     

A novel wavelength dispersive device with a dispersive element based on staircase-like straight and parallel arrayed waveguides

We propose a new type of arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer/demultiplexer based on modified group refractive index. This device is composed by an array of straight and parallel waveguides of equal length and each waveguide consist of two sections with different width. The length of the two sections are changed from a waveguide to the adjacent one following a linear dependence resulting in a wavelength dispersive waveguide array. An example of the device design for silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform is provided and numerical simulations have been carried out for various arrayed waveguide parameters. We demonstrate that the group index modification can be used for tailoring device dispersion properties, and that it can also result in new dispersion characteristics predicted numerically not observed in conventional AWGs. Additional advantages are that the demultiplexer does not necessarily require bending waveguide sections as in a conventional AWG (de)multiplexers, and thus yields highly compact devices with potentially very low insertion loss. Channel spacing of 1 nm have been predicted for sub-micron waveguides sizes. In this paper it is also proposed a novel wavefront converter based on waveguide array lens-like element with waveguides broadened sections. Numerical results for different input/output geometries are analized.     

Athermal silicon arrayed waveguide grating with polymer-filled slot structure

In this paper, an athermal silicon arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with the assistance of a polymer-filled slot structure is proposed. Arrayed slot waveguides were used to replace arrayed silicon photonic wires (SPWs). By carefully controlling the temperature dependence of the effective index of the polymer-filled slot waveguides, the athermal silicon AWG is realized. Analysis shows that the center wavelength shift of the AWG can be down to 0.14 pm/°C.     

A novel asymmetric arrayed waveguide grating with different lengths of input/output slabs

A novel arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with asymmetric configuration is proposed. In this configuration, the length of the output slab region, the width and the spacing of the output waveguides are unequal to the corresponding parts of the input ones. Compared to a conventional symmetric AWG, the asymmetric AWG proposed in this paper has a smaller size without degrading its performance The analytic method used in a conventional symmetric AWG is extended to the asymmetric AWG. A design example of an asymmetric AWG with low insertion loss, low channel crosstalk and wide bandwidth is presented.     

Integrated photonic crystal spectrometers for sensing applications

A combination of negative refraction and diffraction compensation in a superprism-based photonic crystal structure is used to demonstrate a compact on-chip photonic crystal spectrometer. This structure provides strong dispersion and signal isolation, which are essential for forming an efficient and compact spectrometer. Performance of these spectrometers as spectral pattern detectors is discussed. The experimental results show that a PC structure with 80 μm × 220 μm dimension can locate a single spectral feature with better than 10 pm accuracy over a bandwidth of 50 nm around 1550 nm center wavelength at an output signal-to-noise ratio of 13 dB.