Wavelength Division Multiplexing Filters Research Articles

Multipoint temperature measurement system composed of fiber-optic Fabry–Perot interference sensors and a wavelength-division multiplexing filter

A multipoint optical-fiber remote temperature measurement system was developed using reflection-type sensors consisting of a Fabry–Perot interference (FPI) structure with good temperature characteristics combined with a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) filter. The FPI sensor was fabricated using a short temperature-sensing region sandwiched between single-mode fibers. FPI optical fibers and a WDM filter functioned as the temperature sensors and wavelength-selective optical source using an amplified spontaneous emission light source, respectively. This system was operated in a dense WDM configuration using an arrayed waveguide wavelength filter.

Ultra-compact and high-performance four-channel coarse wavelength-division (de)multiplexing filters based on cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers with Bezier-shape directional couplers

Using cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers (CMZIs) provides an attractive option for realizing coarse wavelength-division (de)multiplexing (CWDM) filters with low losses, low crosstalk, flat tops, and high scalability. However, they usually have large footprints and insufficient fabrication tolerances, due to the inferior performance of conventional directional couplers (DCs) used for MZIs. Here, a four-channel CMZI wavelength-division (de)multiplexer based on novel Bezier-shape DCs with compact footprints, broad bandwidths and decent fabrication tolerances. For the fabricated (de)multiplexer with 20-nm channel spacing, the excess loss is less than 0.5 dB and the crosstalk is lower than −19.5 dB in the 1-dB bandwidth of 12.8 nm. For the case with a core-width deviation of ±20 nm, the device still performs very well with low losses and low crosstalk. Compared to the state-of-the-art MZI-based CWDM filters, the present device has slightly high performances and a footprint of 0.012 mm2 shrunk greatly by ∼3-folds. This work can be extended for more channels and other material platforms.

Twelve-channel LAN wavelength-division multiplexer on lithium niobate

Abstract A twelve-channel local-area-network (LAN) wavelength-division multiplexing (LWDM) filter is proposed and demonstrated with a uniform channel spacing of 4.5 nm (800 GHz) in the O-band of 1270–1330 nm by using x-cut lithium-niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) photonic waveguides for the first time. The present LWDM filter consists of twelve single-channel bandpass filters based on multimode waveguide gratings (MWGs) assisted with a TE0/TE1 mode (de)multiplexer. In particular, two stages of MWGs in cascade are introduced for each single-channel bandpass filter, in order to achieve high sidelobe suppression ratios, thus reducing interchannel crosstalk. For the fabricated twelve-channel LWDM filter, all the channels have very excellent box-like spectral responses with low excess losses of ∼0.6 dB, broad 1-dB bandwidths of ∼2.9–3.4 nm (which is close to 75 % of the channel spacing), and ultra-low interchannel crosstalk of <−40 dB in experiments. In addition, the present device is highly tolerant to the random variations of the etching depth (±20 nm) and the grating waveguide width (±20 nm) of the LNOI photonic waveguides, showing great potential for high-capacity WDM systems.

Optical Fiber Bragg Grating Filter for Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) Applications

A Fiber Bragg grating is an aperiodic or periodic disorder of the effective index of refraction in the optical fiber core, having nanometres range period. For short periods of the index modulation, the disorder in index of refraction perturbation induces the light reflection in a limited wavelength range, for which condition of Bragg is satisfied. Incidence of a broad-spectrum light onto one fiber end containing a fiber Bragg grating, induces reflection of the portion of the light corresponding to wavelength of the Bragg grating to the input end, while the remaining light reaches the other end. Optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks employed in long distance and metro areas; several nodes are present to distribute the signal. The optical add-drop multiplexer (OADM) is the significant equipment which is responsible for separation of distinct wavelengths and redirection of the linked signals across the network to the corresponding users. The operating principle of the optical add-drop multiplexer deems an accurate filtering operation, provided by Bragg gratings. In this paper, optical fiber Bragg grating filter is designed and analysed for Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) application.

On-chip wavelength division multiplexing filters using extremely efficient gate-driven silicon microring resonator array

Silicon microring resonators (Si-MRRs) play essential roles in on-chip wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems due to their ultra-compact size and low energy consumption. However, the resonant wavelength of Si-MRRs is very sensitive to temperature fluctuations and fabrication process variation. Typically, each Si-MRR in the WDM system requires precise wavelength control by free carrier injection using PIN diodes or thermal heaters that consume high power. This work experimentally demonstrates gate-tuning on-chip WDM filters for the first time with large wavelength coverage for the entire channel spacing using a Si-MRR array driven by high mobility titanium-doped indium oxide (ITiO) gates. The integrated Si-MRRs achieve unprecedented wavelength tunability up to 589 pm/V, or VπL of 0.050 V cm with a high-quality factor of 5200. The on-chip WDM filters, which consist of four cascaded ITiO-driven Si-MRRs, can be continuously tuned across the 1543–1548 nm wavelength range by gate biases with near-zero power consumption.

Straight and curved distributed Bragg reflector design for compact WDM filters.

Grating-assisted contra-directional couplers (CDCs) wavelength selective filters for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) are designed and experimentally demonstrated. Two configuration setups are designed; a straight-distributed Bragg reflector (SDBR) and curved distributed Bragg reflector (CDBR). The devices are fabricated on a monolithic silicon photonics platform in a GlobalFoundries CMOS foundry. The sidelobe strength of the transmission spectrum is suppressed by controlling the energy exchange between the asymmetric waveguides of the CDC using grating and spacing apodization. The experimental characterization demonstrates a flat-top and low insertion loss (0.43 dB) spectrally stable performance (<0.7 nm spectral shift) across several different wafers. The devices have a compact footprint of only 130µm2/Ch (SDBR) and 3700µm2/Ch (CDBR).

Long-range wireless optical power transfer system using an EDFA

A wireless optical power transfer (WOPT) system using an erbium-doped fiber amplifier as an optical power source is proposed to achieve long range, high power, and hazard-free power delivery in the air. The transmitter generates a wide band of amplified spontaneous emission around the central wavelength of 1550 nm. A wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) filter (λ=1552.25 nm) is deployed to obtain a safe narrowband beam illuminating the receiver units. A ball lens retroreflector reflects a small portion of the incident beam back to the transmitter, establishing a closed ring resonance loop. An improved safety mechanism is proposed to terminate the resonance when an obstacle blocks the transmitter-receiver line of sight. The measured incident power of 1 W decreases to 0.79 mW after the WDM filter is deployed which is well within defined maximum permissible exposure standards. For the demonstration of free-space transmission, transmitter-receiver separation is extended to 30 m. The experimental results show that a single-channel WOPT system provides an optical power of 400 mW with a channel linewidth of 1.027 nm over 30 m and an electrical power of 85 mW is acquired using a gallium antimonide photovoltaic.

Analysis of Thermal Crosstalk in Photonic Integrated Circuit Using Dynamic Compact Models

Thermal modeling of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) is required for circuit design and the development of thermal control algorithms. In this work, we present a methodology for obtaining a compact dynamic thermal <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$RC$ </tex-math></inline-formula> model of a PIC. PICs are sensitive to thermal coupling, and in this article, it is shown that traditional resistive coupling does not suffice, and a new coupling method is derived. The case study to which the new methodology is applied is a dense wavelength-division multiplexing ring filter with eight channels. With the obtained <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$RC$ </tex-math></inline-formula> model, the computational time is reduced from 5.5 h for finite element simulation to < 1 s for a single-step response. Using the compact model, circuit-level analysis of frequency response is carried out. Because of its high computational efficiency, the compact model opens possibilities for simulating thermal tuning algorithms.

Systematic identification of crosstalk and bandwidth upper limit in highly cascaded Mach–Zehnder lattice optical filters

Crosstalk among channels in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) filters must be suppressed to enhance receiver sensitivity in direct-detection-based optical communication systems. We present a systematic method to identify the maximum crosstalk and upper limit of the transmission spectrum bandwidth of a highly multi-staged Mach–Zehnder interference (MZI) lattice optical filter with a number of cascade N(N = 1, 2, ⋯ ∞). The scattering matrix including the wafer-level-measurement-based coupling coefficients of directional couplers is used to calculate the transmittance from the input to each output channel and the result is exactly extrapolated to infinite N. This method can be used to design, characterize, and evaluate N-cascaded MZI lattice optical filters that must meet strict WDM specifications.

Rounded square ring resonator based add drop filter for WDM applications using two dimensional photonic crystals

In this paper, Two Dimensional Photonic Crystals based Add Drop filter (ADF) is designed for DWDM applications. The existing work concentrates in Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing and few filters reported for DWDM with non-uniform channel spacing, and low quality factor. The proposed ADF enhances the quality factor using Rounded Square Ring Resonator (RSRR) for ensuring efficient bandwidth in supporting WDM systems. The design consists of bus waveguide, drop waveguide and RSRR with inner quasi-square ring in the square lattice. The dielectric constant of the Si rod is 11.68 which are hosted in the air. The line defect is created by removing 4 rods (Quasi ring) in the center of the inner square ring. The line defect in the ring resonator is used to reduce the radiation field components surrounded by the resonator. The performance parameters of ADF are investigated using 2D Finite Difference Time Domain algorithm. The proposed ADF drops a channel at 1636.2 nm, with the bandwidth of 0.7 nm, high quality factor of 2337, and the dropping efficiency of about 100%. The size of the device is 412.76 µm2. It is highly sufficient to support WDM systems for future Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC). Further, the impact of functional parameters such as transmission efficiency, quality factor, bandwidth are investigated by varying the structural parameters, namely, adjacent rod radius, scatterer rod radius, coupling rod radius, lattice constant, inner rod radius and rod radius.

Phase behaviors for silicon-wire multistage delayed interferometric WDM filters across a whole 300-mm silicon-on-insulator wafer

We report phase behaviors in silicon-wire multistage delayed interferometric (MDI) wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical filters on a 300-mm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. In order to achieve spectrally uniform filter response and make clear the main factor for influencing spectral shape and uniformity across the SOI wafer, we fabricated 1 × 4 channel MDI-type WDM filters as a device under test (DUT) by using a 193-nm ArF-immersion lithography process and formulated the analytic calculation model, which can be fully adaptable to the measured data. By analyzing the measured filter response through an iterative fitting process with our analytic calculation model, we verified that phase behaviors in the DUT were the main factor to determine filter spectral shape and crosstalk, while the wavelength-sensitive coupling ratio of directional couplers had less influence on the filter performance within a 40-nm-wide spectral range. Phase fluctuations at each delayed interferometer (DI) were calibrated to be random processes at inter-dies across the wafer. In order to sustain good spectral shape and uniformity, it is important to minimize excess phase errors at each DI. Reduction of interaction lengths and equivalent refractive index variation of the waveguides could be one of the prominent ways to further improve WDM filter performances.

Coverage Extension of Indoor 5G Network Using RoF-Based Distributed Antenna System

We propose and demonstrate a cascaded distributed antenna system (DAS) for efficiently extending the coverage of the mmWave-based 5G indoor network. For this, we exploit the radio-over-fiber (RoF) system based on the intermediate-frequency-over-fiber (IFoF) transmission technique that is enabled to add/drop the specific wavelength to the designated remote antenna unit (RAU) with using optical splitters and coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) filters. Moreover, the IFoF transceivers (TRx) perform the subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) in order to transmit 2 × 8 frequency allocation (FA) 5G signals per a single optical carrier, where each FA has 100 MHz bandwidth, leading each RAU to support 2 × 2 MIMO operation. Consequently, the cascaded structure allows for the adaptive and flexible configuration of the order of MIMO in accordance of the required data throughput at the specific indoor area. We introduce the cascaded IFoF link structure that can support up-to 13.5 dB optical power budget with following errorvector-magnitude (EVM) performance characterizations. And then we experimentally demonstrate the RoFbased cascaded DAS network, showing that more than 1 Gb/s total throughput can be achieved per a single antenna. Furthermore, we examine the use of avalanche photodiode (APD) to further increase the optical power budget (i.e., the coverage) based on experiment as well as simulation.

Design and analysis of a 09 Tb/s six-channel WDM filter based on photonic crystal waveguides

A six-channel wavelength-division multiplexing filter is proposed in this paper, based on a two-dimensional rods-in-air square-lattice photonic crystal (PhC) slab structure. The plane wave expansion method is applied to compute the band structure of the PhC. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulation methodology is used to measure and analyze the performance of the filter. Performances for both the 2D and 3D designs of the structure are analyzed. The analyses show that the device is capable of filtering six different wavelengths, i.e., 1310 nm, 1415 nm, 1455 nm, 1550 nm, 1725 nm, and 1770 nm. Owing to its linear optical operation, the device is able to operate at low power and also offers a high data rate in the range of $ \approx 0.9\,\,{\rm Tb/s} $≈0.9Tb/s to $ \approx 4\,\,{\rm Tb/s} $≈4Tb/s. Moreover, the footprint area of the proposed device is on the order of $ {165}\,\,{{\unicode{x00B5}{\rm m}}^2} $165µm2, which is suitable for high-density integration of photonic circuits.

MEMS tunable SOI waveguide Bragg grating filter with 1.3 THz tuning range for C-band 100 GHz DWDM optical network

A MEMS tunable integrated waveguide Bragg grating-based filter for C-band optical dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) network is presented and analyzed in this work. Waveguide Bragg grating being a notch filter in the transmission spectrum is used to realize a tunable filter by varying the applied voltages to the fixed–fixed beam loaded with this grating. The strain across the grating is enhanced by choosing MEMS beam configuration such that the metal electrode is the bottom-most layer of the composite fixed–fixed beam. Device dimensions are chosen to achieve a narrow full width half maximum of 0.77 nm, allowing filtering of adjacent channels of 100 GHz DWDM network. A large Bragg wavelength shift of 10.4 nm (1552.52–1562.92 nm) was achieved at 45.8 V actuation providing tuning for 14 DWDM channels with inter-channel cross talk below − 21 dB, with tuning range of 1.3 THz.

25-Gbaud 4-WDM Free-Space Optical Communication Using High-Speed 2-D Photodetector Array

We present a newly developed two-dimensional photodetector array (2D-PDA) device and its application for short-range free-space optical (FSO) communication using a wavelength-division multiplexed beam. The 2D-PDA enables direct optical coupling to the FSO beam, simplifying the optical alignment process needed for 10-μm single-mode fiber coupling and reducing the need for beam-tracking function. In the wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) FSO communication demonstration, a four-wavelength 25-Gbaud parallel beam filtered by a 4-WDM filter through free space was successfully received by 4-pixels in the 2D-PDA. This paper discusses the design and fabrication in the 2D-PDA device, as well as the FSO communication demonstration using four combined WDM filters.

Polarization-insensitive silicon nitride Mach-Zehnder lattice wavelength demultiplexers for CWDM in the O-band.

Polarization-insensitive silicon nitride (SiN) 4-channel wavelength (de)multiplexers based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer lattice filters for coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) in the O-band are demonstrated in a SiN-on-silicon photonic platform. For the best-performing device, the insertion loss was < 2.8 dB, the inter-channel crosstalk was < -11.5 dB for a polarization scrambled input, and the passband shift between the orthogonal polarizations was < 1.5 nm. Across the 200mm wafer, the die-averaged insertion loss and maximum crosstalk were 3.1 dB and -10.6 dB, respectively. The higher-than-expected crosstalk was due to dimensional variations. This work shows the potential of SiN photonic circuits for CWDM without polarization diversity.

Silicon-wire delayed interferometric wavelength-division multiplexing filters operating in the broadband spectral range

We present a novel broadband operating multistage delayed interferometric optical demultiplexer (DI-DeMUX). The devices are proposed, theoretically analyzed through the transfer matrix method based on coupled mode theory, and fabricated by 300-mm wafer-scale ArF-immersion lithography process technology. By employing Mach–Zehnder-interferometer-based wavelength-insensitive couplers and optimizing the phase relation between cascade-connected multistage DIs, it was experimentally demonstrated that the operating spectral range of the proposed DI-DeMUX was extended to be >120 nm for various kinds of channel spacing and channel count.

Silicon-based hybrid demultiplexer for wavelength- and mode-division multiplexing.

A silicon-based hybrid demultiplexer for wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) and mode-division multiplexing (MDM) is proposed and demonstrated by integrating an M-channel-mode demultiplexer and N-channel WDM filters based on microring resonators (MRRs) with box-like responses. For the mode demultiplexer, the 2k-th output port is connected with the (2k+1)-th output port through the bus waveguide for the k-th MRR array, so that each MRR-based optical filter works bi-directionally and provides two drop ports. As an example, a 32-channel hybrid MDM-WDM demultiplexer is realized by integrating a 4-channel mode demultiplexer based on dual-core adiabatic tapers and two bi-directional MRR-based WDM filters with eight wavelength-channels. For the fabricated hybrid demultiplexer, the excess loss is 0.5-5dB, the intermode cross talk is -16.5 to -23.5 dB, and the cross talks between the adjacent and nonadjacent wavelength channels are about -25 dB and -35 dB, respectively.

Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuits for Wavelength-Division Multiplexing Applications

Silicon photonics will provide low-cost, high-bandwidth and compact optical components for a wide range of applications in optical communications and interconnects. One of the cited key advantages is the capability of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). However, the nature of high-index contrast of silicon photonic devices leads to significant challenges when implementing on-chip WDM filters, which is one of the key components in WDM circuits. In this paper, we review several demonstrated silicon photonic WDM circuits based on monolithically integrated silicon nitride (SiN) arrayed-waveguide gratings (AWGs) and thermally tunable silicon microring filters. The use of SiN waveguides with lower index contrast than silicon waveguides enables the realization of high-performance AWGs. Meanwhile, they can evanescently couple to silicon waveguides with high efficiency. The thermally tunable silicon microrings can be used as modulators and wavelength (de)multiplexing filters to implement versatile WDM circuits. Reconfigurability of channel spacing and central wavelengths is achieved by individual tuning of the rings. In this paper, we review silicon photonic circuits for multiple-channel modulators, polarization-insensitive WDM receiver, and variable optical attenuators with multiplexer.

Design of a single all-silicon ring resonator with a 150 nm free spectral range and a 100 nm tuning range around 1550 nm

We present a novel and simple method to obtain an ultrawide free spectral range (FSR) silicon ring resonator together with a tuning range covering the entire spectrum from 1500 to 1600 nm. A ring resonator with a large FSR together with a high Q factor, high tuning efficiency, and low fabrication cost and complexity is desired for many applications. In this paper, we introduce a novel way to make such a ring resonator, which takes advantage of the well-known resonance-splitting phenomenon. It is a single ring resonator with an FSR of more than 150 nm around 1550 nm and which has an easy thermo-optic tunability that can produce a tuning range around 90 nm or even more. Moreover, the device is simple to implement and can be fabricated in standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology without requiring any kind of complicated processing or extra materials. The potential applications include single mode laser cavities, wavelength division multiplexing filters, (de)multiplexers, optical sensors, and integrated reflectors.