Abstract

Acousto-optic tunable filters (AOTFs) have recently been used for wavelength selection and routing in multiwavelength optical networks.¹ In most cases, integrated AOTFs and all-digital signals were used.² In this paper the performance of a commercially available fiber-coupled TeO₂ bulk AOTF with a tuning range of 1200—1600 nm, a passband of 5 nm, a polarization sensitivity <0.5 dB, a coupling loss <3 dB, and an rf power per wavelength for full drop of 300 mW (Ref. 3) is evaluated for optical add-drop multiplexing of multiwavelength heterogeneous payloads [AM video CATV channels, 64 FM-subcarrier-multiplexed (FM-SCM) video channels, and OC-12]. Over a 10-km link length, FM-SCM and digital signals showed no degradation in performance. Although no apparent degradation in carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) was observed in CATV signals, some channels showed increased composite second- order (CSO) distortion. Possible causes of AM-signal distortion are discussed, and it is concluded that with some device improvement the overall performance in a CATV environment can be improved.

© 1994 Optical Society of America