Design and performance of a reconfigurable liquid-crystal-based optical add/drop multiplexer

Author

Ertel, J. ; Helbing, R. ; Hoke, C. ; Landolt, O. ; Nishimura, K. ; Robrish, P. ; Trutna, R.

Author_Institution

Agilent Labs., Palo Alto, CA, USA

Volume

24

Issue

4

fYear

2006

fDate

4/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1674

Lastpage

1680

Abstract

The authors describe a reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer designed for 50-GHz channel spacing over either the C- or L-bands. The system may also function as a variable optical attenuator. The design features a reflective liquid-crystal modulator, a compact free-space spectrometer, polarization diversity, and fine-scale attenuation control.

Keywords

electro-optical modulation; light polarisation; liquid crystal devices; multiplexing equipment; optical attenuators; optical communication equipment; optical fibre communication; reflectivity; spectrometers; 1 to 2 GHz; 4 to 8 GHz; 50 GHz; C-band; L-band; channel spacing; fine-scale attenuation control; free-space spectrometer; liquid-crystal-based multiplexer; polarization diversity; reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer; reflective liquid-crystal modulator; variable optical attenuator; Add-drop multiplexers; Channel spacing; L-band; Optical add-drop multiplexers; Optical attenuators; Optical design; Optical modulation; Optical polarization; Optical variables control; Spectroscopy; Liquid-crystal (LC) devices; multiplexing; optical communication; optical fiber communication; optical interconnections; optical switches;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2006.871025

Filename

1618756