Mirror-folded polarization-independent wavelength filter

A 1.55- mu m polarization-independent optical bandpass filter with a 3-dB bandwidth of 6 AA and a tuning range of at least 100 AA is demonstrated. The photonic circuit of the filter consists of a waveguide TE-TM mode splitter, two parallel electrooptic TE-to-TM, TM-to-TE mode converters as the wavelength selective element, and a reflective mirror at the far end of the crystal. The circuit can be viewed as a mirror-folded version of the polarization-independent filter. It is shown that by passing the light two times through the narrowband mode converters, the filter bandwidth can be reduced by about a factor of two compared to a conventional single-pass filter of the same length. A novel tunable mode converter structure is also demonstrated that allows coherent in-phase mode conversion during the two passes through the mirror-folded filter.<>