Design of polymer arrayed waveguide gratings for access networks and CWDM applications

The cost-effectiveness and simpler implementing solutions are enabling Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) to gain increasing attention as a carrier in access and metro applications, replacing. the alternative Dense-WDM which is well established in long-haul application. Arrayed Waveguide Gratings (AWG) which multiplex and demultiplex light of different wavelengths forms a key component in the construction of flexible and large-capacity WDM networks. In the present work, a 2×8 CWDM polymer AWG is designed and simulation has been performed to test the transmission spectral response of the device. The device is designed to operate at around 1.52 μm with 20 nm wavelength spacing between the channels. The nonuniformity of the output response and the crosstalk are found to be less than 1.5 dB and -30 dB respectively. The insertion loss of around 7 dB is higher owing to 5 μm spacing between the arrayed waveguides (AW) dictated by fabrication constraints and also due to the sharp bending-radius of the AW dictated by the design constraint. A multitransceiver set is designed using the polymer AWG to study the feasibility of using AWG for the access/Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) applications.