Wavelength-division multi demultiplexers for two-channel single-mode transmission systems

Low-loss lensless 2-channel wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) couplers may be produced on the beam-splitter principle with interference filters and three butt-coupled fiber ends not only for multi-mode Operation but also for single-mode transmission links. These devices are constructed with single-mode fibers-for bidirectional transmission only in the transmission channel, but for unidirectional operation in all channels. The interference filter, used in the experiment to separate the emissions of two LD's with wavelengths of 834 and 868 nm, may be implemented both as a longwave-pass (LWP) and a shortwave-pass (SWP) edge filter with high edge steepness and low polarization effects. WDM single-mode couplers exhibit very low insertion losses lying in the O.5-dB region. Their fat-end crosstalk attenuations attain values of between 15 and 30 dB and their near-end crosstalk attenuations are better than 65 dB.     

Characteristics of S-shaped waveguide structures by the annealedproton exchange process in LiNbO3

The loss of S-shaped waveguide bends in annealed proton-exchanged LiNbO₃ integrated optical devices is found to be dependent on the length of thermal annealing time. The minimum transition length required in order to have losses as low as 0.2 dB is 2.0 mm for a 0.1-mm lateral offset. Intersecting waveguides based on S-shaped structures have been characterized for passive crossovers. An angle greater than 6° is required to provide a crosstalk of less than -30 dB. At a particular angle, intersecting waveguides offer the possibility of making a 3-dB coupler if an insertion loss of 1.2 dB is not a big concern. Zero-gap couplers based on S-shaped structures have been characterized for applications as 3-dB couplers as well. This type of 3-dB coupler has a much lower insertion loss of roughly 0.4-0.5 dB. Both 3-dB intersecting waveguides and 3-dB zero-gap couplers are less sensitive to wavelength variations     

Return loss measurements of WDM filters with tunable coherent optical frequency-domain reflectometry

Reflectivity measurements of wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) filters were performed with polarization independent coherent optical frequency domain reflectometry (C-OFDR). The spectral resolution of 0.012 mn allowed to characterize side lobe spacing and reflectivity with 90-dB dynamic range. The off-channel reflectivity was also measured for estimating the interchannel crosstalk in WDM systems and the experimental results were fitted to a theoretical equation, extracting the physical parameters of the filter.     

Adiabatic 3-dB couplers, filters, and multiplexers made with silicawaveguides on silicon

The performance of adiabatic 3-dB couplers and V-branches is reported. These devices are broadband and divide power equally. They have no observable polarization dependence. Typical excess losses relative to a straight waveguide is 0.1-0.2 dB for the 3-dB couplers and about 0.4 dB for the V-branches. Fiber to fiber insertion loss of 0.31 dB was measured for a 2.5-cm straight waveguide. The devices were used to fabricate transmission filters peaked at 1.55 μm and power combiners having two channels at 1.48 and 1.55 μm. The device fabrication was improved by use of a flowable top cladding layer containing boron and phosphorous which easily filled-in between closely spaced waveguides     

A new Faraday rotator using a thick Gd:YIG film grown by liquid-phase epitaxy and its applications to an optical isolator and optical switch

A new Faraday rotator using a thick garnet film grown by liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) has been proposed and film growth technology for the rotator has been investigated. The new Faraday rotator had good features of very low cost and small size, due to high productivity of the LPE-grown film and low magnetic saturation field, respectively. By using the new Faraday rotator, an optical isolator and magnetooptic switch for single-mode fiber systems have been developed. The optical isolator featured 0.8-dB insertion loss and 25-dB isolation at 1.3-μm wavelength. The magneto-optic 1 × 2 switch was independent of light polarization and featured 1.3-1.7-dB insertion loss, -25-dB crosstalk, and 30-μs switching time at 1.3-μm wavelength. Minimum switching voltage was ±5 V. Magneto-optic devices using the new Faraday rotator is practical for use in1.2-1.7-mum wavelength fiber-optic systems, because of good optical properties, compactness, and low cost.     

Wavelength-tunable optical filters: applications and technologies

The authors review noncoherent, frequency-tunable filter (receiver) technologies. They describe three basic mechanisms of wavelength filtering: filters that are based on the wavelength dependence of interferometric phenomena, with emphasis on Fabry-Perot interferometer filters; filters that are based on the wavelength dependence of coupling between optical fields (modes) induced by external perturbations (both acoustooptic and electrooptic filters are described); and filters that are based on resonant amplification of optical signals in semiconductor laser diode devices (these devices provide gain in addition to wavelength selectivity). For each technology the authors explain briefly the principles of operation and quantify the relevant system parameters: tuning range, channel separation, number of channels, crosstalk isolation, gain and distortion, speed of wavelength tuning, and complexity. They present a unified picture of filtering mechanisms in an appendix     

Crosstalk in fiber Raman amplification for WDM systems

The crosstalk between channels in Raman amplification for two-channel WDM system is calculated. Theory shows that severe crosstalk can occur even in the linear amplification (or pump undepletion) region. To ensure small crosstalk, the signal gain and injected pump power should be limited to values well below the threshold of Raman amplification. As a numerical example, a 30-dB gain penalty and 3-dB pump power penalty occur when a 30-dB signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) is required. Thus, the conversion efficiency of Raman amplification in WDM systems is very low     

Analysis and Application of 3-D LTCC Directional Filter Design for Multiband Millimeter-Wave Integrated Module

In this paper, we describe a systematic design and analysis procedure towards the successful implementation of 3-D low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) multilayer loop directional filters at millimeter-wave frequencies. Directional filters represent a fundamental building block combining multiple filtering for mixing and multiplexing operations, hence reducing complexity while maintaining compactness. In this paper, different vertical coupling schemes are realized in order to implement the directional filters with the different performance optimums. The further use of the rectangular loop has been demonstrated as the optimum topology leading to the best performances. The filters have been measured to have less than 2.5-dB insertion loss in the bandpass path and higher than 25-dB rejection at 40 GHz, while occupying an area of 1.7times1.7 mm². They demonstrate 4.7%-6.3% fractional bandwidth with better than 20-dB isolation. 40-GHz multiplexers for multiband applications with 4-GHz/8-GHz frequency separations have been designed and measured to have approximately 3-dB insertion loss in each band with better than 20-dB isolation between the outputs in passbands. This is the first complete report on LTCC directional filter-based designs towards the system-on-package (SOP) solution for the multiband millimeter-wave wireless modules     

Compact, low-crosstalk, and low-propagation-loss quantum-well Y-branch switches

We demonstrate a quantum-well Y-branch switch designed for low crosstalk, low propagation loss, and compact size. The active waveguide core is composed of InGaAsP-InP quantum wells for reverse-bias electrorefractive switching. We achieve -20-dB crosstalk and 2-dB/cm propagation loss with a 2-mm-long switch.     

Surface-acoustic-wave devices for communications

Surface-wave components have demonstrated performance capabilities in the VHF/UHF range which are available with no other filtering technique. The major advantages of the filters are their small size, high reliability, low cost, high Q, good reproducibility, temperature stability, wide dynamic range, and linear phase response, as well as special characteristics relevant to specific applications. Surface-acousticwave (SAW) devices are used for bandpass filtering [1], matched filtering for radar pulse compression [2], [3] or spread-spectrum signal processing [4], delay lines [5], and frequency control elements [3], [6]. Within the context of communication systems' applications, this paper reviews the state of the art for SAW components from high-performance fixed-tuned devices to tunable or programmable filters. Major technological advances discussed include unidirectional SAW filters [7] which eliminate bidirectionality loss and simultaneously suppress in-band spurious responses to achieve an insertion loss below 1 dB with a 0.04-dB peak-to-peak ripple. A novel surface-wave sub-system [8] which offers revolutionary signal processing functions through transform processing is also described.     

Miniature low-pass EMI filters

This paper describes miniature ceramic feedthru type electromagnetic interference (EMI) filters. Electrically, the devices function as low-pass filters with a 3-dB cutoff frequency in the low-megahertz range. The filters are mechanically rugged and in many applications can be placed in the I/O connector or substituted for the existing feedthrus. The monolithic distributed filter covered in the paper behaves as a section of transmission line at all frequencies and is essentially free of undesired resonances. The theory of lossy transmission line is used to show that with a distributed dissipative filter, the effect of terminating impedances is dramatically reduced. The effect of operating environment on the electrical characteristics is also presented.     

A wide-angle X-junction in polymer using truncated-structuralbranches (TSB)

We present a detailed design and characterization for a compact X-junction we proposed recently. Even at a wide full-branching angle of 1.4°, simulation predicts the crosstalk and insertion loss to be -20.1 and 0.2 dB, respectively; the wavelength bandwidth is 230 nm (1390-1620 nm). Devices made in polymer realize -16.1-dB crosstalk and 0.3-dB loss     

Integrated-optic acoustically-tunable filters for WDM networks

The background needed to understand the integrated-optic collinear acoustically tunable optical filters (ATOFs) and the fabrication and performance of both simple and multielement acoustooptic tunable filters is presented. The most important sources of crosstalk between channels simultaneously selected by a single device are discussed. ATOFs have the combined virtues of narrow passband (subnanometer bandwidth), broad tuning range (hundreds of nanometers have been demonstrated), and simultaneous independent multiple-channel filtering. The theory and practice of collinear integrated optic acoustooptic filters is presented. Devices which involve higher-order integration are discussed, including multiple-state filters for enhanced sidelobe suppression and polarization-independent configurations. Various sources of interchannel crosstalk are derived and demonstrated in multiwavelength filtering experiments     

A thin-film filter-based 1/spl times/2 reconfigurable fiber-optic add-drop module with a quadruple fiber-optic collimator

Due to a limited optical crosstalk in most thin-film filter (TF)-based fiber-optic modules, we propose and experimentally verify a low optical crosstalk TF-based 1/spl times/2 reconfigurable fiber-optic add-drop structure. Our key idea is to employ a passive noise rejection scheme by introducing a double reflection on the TF as well as a spatial separation through a combination of a quadruple and a single fiber-optic collimators. Our experimental results show a much improved <-39.1-dB optical crosstalk at the Thru port. In addition, the measured average optical losses at the Drop and the Thru ports are 1.40 and 1.23 dB, respectively, when the TF is in the optical path. When the mirror is in the optical path, all wavelength optical beams are directed to the Thru port with a measured average 2.50-dB optical loss. A low polarization-dependent loss of <0.17 dB is also determined. Furthermore, our design concept can be used to form a low optical crosstalk fixed three-port add-drop filter and a high dynamic-range wavelength-sensitive variable fiber-optic attenuator.     

A Thin-Film Filter-Based 1$, times,$2 Reconfigurable Fiber-Optic Add&#8211;Drop Module With a Quadruple Fiber-Optic Collimator

Due to a limited optical crosstalk in most thin-film filter (TF)-based fiber-optic modules, we propose and experimentally verify a low optical crosstalk TF-based 1$, times,$2 reconfigurable fiber-optic add–drop structure. Our key idea is to employ a passive noise rejection scheme by introducing a double reflection on the TF as well as a spatial separation through a combination of a quadruple and a single fiber-optic collimators. Our experimental results show a much improved$≪ - $39.1-dB optical crosstalk at the Thru port. In addition, the measured average optical losses at the Drop and the Thru ports are 1.40 and 1.23 dB, respectively, when the TF is in the optical path. When the mirror is in the optical path, all wavelength optical beams are directed to the Thru port with a measured average 2.50-dB optical loss. A low polarization-dependent loss of$≪$0.17 dB is also determined. Furthermore, our design concept can be used to form a low optical crosstalk fixed three-port add–drop filter and a high dynamic-range wavelength-sensitive variable fiber-optic attenuator.     

Vertically coupled microring resonators using polymer wafer bonding

A new technique is presented to make vertically coupled semiconductor microring resonators that eases the fabrication process with devices more robust to ring-to-waveguide misalignments. Single-mode microring optical channel dropping filters are demonstrated for the first time in this configuration with Qs greater than 3000 and an on-resonance channel extinction greater than 12 dB. A 1×4 multiplexer/demultiplexer crossbar array with second-order microrings was also made and exhibited channel-to-channel crosstalk lower than 10 dB     

A V-band front-end with 3-D integrated cavity filters/duplexers and antenna in LTCC technologies

This paper presents a compact system-on-package-based front-end solution for 60-GHz-band wireless communication/sensor applications that consists of fully integrated three-dimensional (3-D) cavity filters/duplexers and antenna. The presented concept is applied to the design, fabrication, and testing of V-band (receiver (Rx): 59-61.5 GHz, transmitter (Tx): 61.5-64 GHz) transceiver front-end module using multilayer low-temperature co-fired ceramic technology. Vertically stacked 3-D low-loss cavity bandpass filters are developed for Rx and Tx channels to realize a fully integrated compact duplexer. Each filter exhibits excellent performance (Rx: IL<2.37 dB, 3-dB bandwidth (BW) /spl sim/3.5%, Tx: IL<2.39 dB, 3-dB BW /spl sim/3.33%). The fabrication tolerances contributing to the resonant frequency experimental downshift were investigated and taken into account in the simulations of the rest devices. The developed cavity filters are utilized to realize the compact duplexers by using microstrip T-junctions. This integrated duplexer shows Rx/Tx BW of 4.20% and 2.66% and insertion loss of 2.22 and 2.48 dB, respectively. The different experimental results of the duplexer compared to the individual filters above are attributed to the fabrication tolerance, especially on microstrip T-junctions. The measured channel-to-channel isolation is better than 35.2 dB across the Rx band (56-58.4 GHz) and better than 38.4 dB across the Tx band (59.3-60.9 GHz). The reported fully integrated Rx and Tx filters and the dual-polarized cross-shaped patch antenna functions demonstrate a novel 3-D deployment of embedded components equipped with an air cavity on the top. The excellent overall performance of the full integrated module is verified through the 10-dB BW of 2.4 GHz (/spl sim/4.18%) at 57.45 and 2.3 GHz (/spl sim/3.84%) at 59.85 GHz and the measured isolation better than 49 dB across the Rx band and better than 51.9 dB across the Tx band.     

Twisted differential line structure on high-speed printed circuit boards to reduce crosstalk and radiated emission

Differential signaling has become a popular choice for high-speed digital interconnection schemes on printed circuit boards (PCBs), offering superior immunity to crosstalk and external noise. However, conventional differential lines on PCBs still have unsolved problems, such as crosstalk and radiated emission. When more than two differential pairs run in parallel, a line is coupled to the line adjacent to it because all the lines are parallel in a fixed order. Accordingly, the two lines that constitute a differential pair are subject to the differential-mode crosstalk that cannot be canceled out by virtue of the differential signaling. To overcome this, we propose a twisted differential line (TDL) structure on a high-speed multilayer PCB by using a concept similar to a twisted pair in a cable interconnection. It has been successfully demonstrated by measurement and simulation that the TDL is subject to much lower crosstalk and achieves a 13-dB suppression of radiated emission, even when supporting a 3-Gb/s data rate.     

Interleave filter based on coherent optical transversal filter

The principle of the transversal interleave filter previously proposed as a novel class of interleave filter is described. The principle of a conventional 1 /spl times/ 1 coherent optical transversal filter is reviewed. Then, the fundamental operating principle and the three design conditions required for the novel interleave filter are explained. As examples, three types of filter design, namely 1) a general/transposed design; 2) an asymmetric design; and 3) a symmetric design, are presented, and their interleave filter characteristics are discussed. The designed interleave filters with a free spectral range of 100 GHz was fabricated using silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology. The asymmetric design achieved a wide 3-dB passband width of 55 GHz, whereas an ordinary lattice-form interleave filter could not realize a 3-dB passband width larger than 50 GHz because of the halfband property. A small polarization-dependent wavelength shift of 0.01 nm is demonstrated by inserting a single half waveplate in the middle of the circuit. The general/transposed and symmetric designs realized a practical interleave filter with a boxlike transmission spectrum and low chromatic dispersion. The two-stage interleave filter formed by cascading the general and transposed designs has the advantages of a low crosstalk of less than -46 dB and a wide 20-dB stopband width of 40 GHz, whereas the single-stage symmetric design has an extremely small chromatic dispersion of within /spl plusmn/5 ps/nm. In addition, the design concept to realize a 1/spl times/N transversal interleave filter is extended.     

Crosstalk Analysis of a Fiber Laser Sensor Array System Based on Digital Phase-Generated Carrier Scheme

A detailed study on analyzing the crosstalk in a wavelength division multiplexed fiber laser sensor array system based on a digital phase generated carrier interferometric interrogation scheme is reported. The crosstalk effects induced by the limited optical channel isolation of a dense wavelength division demultiplexer (DWDM) are presented, and the necessary channel isolation to keep the crosstalk negligible to the output signal was calculated via Bessel function expansion and demonstrated by a two serial fiber laser sensors system. Finally, a three-element fiber laser sensor array system with a 50-dB channel-isolation DWDM was built up. Experimental results demonstrated that there was no measurable crosstalk between the output channels.