Abstract

In this paper we present a very stable low-cost integrated tunable thin-film filter and photodiode with a form-factor appropriate for installation into optical amplifiers, providing additional performance information to the local amplifier and the network management system. The performance characteristics of the tunable filter and the performance of the filter when measuring optical spectra are discussed. We describe and analyze several performance improvements derived from knowledge of the optical spectrum within amplifiers.

© 2004 Optical Society of America