Abstract

Optical thin film interference filters are well suited for the demanding application of optical add/drop. They are passive in nature with low insertion loss and possess a square filter function. They are easily packaged into robust, environmentally stable fiber pigtailed packages. This paper discusses a number of applications and issues surrounding the use of thin film optical filters for optical add/drop. It includes a discussion of switched or reconfigurable optical add/drops, hybridization of switches and filters, and the effect of concatenation of a series of identical filters.

© 1999 Optical Society of America