Abstract

An N × N arrayed-waveguide-grating multiplexer (AWG) is very attractive in optical WDM networks because it is capable of simultaneously processing N² optical channels at N different wavelengths.¹ The arrayed-waveguide grating consists of input/output waveguides, two focusing slab regions, and a phase array of multiple-channel waveguides with the constant path-length difference ΔL between neighboring waveguides (Fig. 1). The input light is radiated to the first slab and then excites the arrayed channel waveguides. After traveling through the arrayed waveguides, the light beams constructively interfere into one focal point in the second slab. The location of this focal point depends on the signal wavelength because the relative phase delay in each waveguide is given by ΔL/λ. The dispersion of the focal position x with respect to the wavelength λ is given by

© 1995 Optical Society of America