Aam Toine Staring

A compact nine-channel multiwavelength laser

A phased-array-based multiwavelength laser has been realized on a chip area of 3.5/spl times/2.5 mm/sup 2/. The device has nine channels, spaced at 400 GHz around a central wavelength of 1.55 /spl mu/m. Its performance is characterized by a minimum threshold current of 101 mA, a maximum fiber-coupled power of 0.37 mW, and a linewidth of 21 MHz. In addition, simultaneous four-channel operation is demonstrated.

Loss reduction for phased-array demultiplexers using a double etch technique

Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is an effective technique to exploit the huge bandwidth of optical fibres. Key components in such WDM-systems are demultiplexers which spatially separate the different wavelength channels. Phased-array demultiplexers combine ease of fabrication and low insertion losses. Silica-based phased-array demultiplexers are realised with low losses from 2-3 dB [1,2]. InP-based demultiplexers show slightly higher on-chip losses of 4-6 dB [3,4]. In addition they have considerably higher fibre coupling losses (several dB’s), but the advantage of InP-based demultiplexers is that they can be integrated with active components. Earlier we reported a low-loss demultiplexer with reduced fibre coupling loss by applying deeply etched InGaAsP waveguides with a relatively large core and a low index contrast, which had an almost circular mode profile [5]. The component had 4-5 dB on-chip loss and fibre coupling loss of about 1 dB to a tapered fibre. In this article we report a method to further reduce the on-chip losses.

A COMPACT PHASED ARRAY BASED MULTI-WAVELENGTH LASER

Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is widely regarded as a promising option to increase the bandwidth and flexibility of broadband optical communication systems. In such systems, multi wavelength laser sources [I], both for selectable single wavelength and simultaneous multiple wavelength operation, will be important components.

Integrated-optics versus micro-optics : a comparison

It is the purpose of this paper to assess the relative merits and prospects of integrated-optic versus micro-optic devices for fiber-optic telecommunication systems. Firstly, this comparison is made from a market perspective. Then, the analogy between electronic and photonic integrated circuits is investigated. Finally, a specific comparison is made for wavelength demultiplexers for dense WDM applications. A comparison similar to this one but also including polarization-diversity hybrids can be found in Ref. 1.