Fiber Grating Based Optical Recirculating Filter with an Optimized Response

A novel optical recirculating filter for RF applications is described, which exploits a specially designed fiber grating with a ramped spectral profile to enable optimization of the filter response. The design overcomes the limitations imposed by loss in conventional fiber recirculating filters. Additionally, a tunable free spectral range is demonstrated by using the device in a grating array. Both theoretical and experimental results are presented and discussed.