Novel wavelength-accurate InP-based arrayed waveguide grating

A 13-channel, InP-based arrayed waveguide grating （AWG） is designed and fabricated in which the on-chip loss of the central channel is about -5 dB and the crosstalk is less than -23 dB in the center of the spectrum response. However, the central wavelength and channel spacing are deviated from the design values. To improve their accuracy, an optimized design is adopted to compensate the process error. As a result, the central wavelength 1549.9 nm and channel spacing 1.59 nm are obtained in the experiment, while their design values are 1549.32 nm and 1.6 nm, respectively. The route capability and thermo-optic characteristic of the AWG are also discussed in detail.