Short Courses
SC265 Passive Optical Components and Filtering Technologies
Sunday, February 24, 4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Bruce Nyman¹, Christi Madsen²; ¹Princeton Lightwave, USA, ²Texas A&M Univ., USA
Level: Beginner (No background or minimal training is necessary to understand course material)
Course Description
Today’s WDM systems utilize advanced wavelength demultiplexers such as ROADMs and erbium-doped fiber amplifiers. These and other passive components are used throughout WDM networks. For example, a typical optical amplifier will contain an isolator, a pump and signal multiplexer, optical taps and a gain flattening filter. In this Short Course, we will discuss the passive components found in a typical WDM system. For each one, students will be able to identify the device requirements and technology options. While passive devices may be simple in function, there are many performance issues such as insertion loss, return loss, polarization dependent loss, polarization mode dispersion and chromatic dispersion. Also, all of these characteristics have temperature and wavelength dependencies. Component fabrication techniques for amplifier components include fused fiber, dielectric filters, and fiber Bragg gratings. For demultiplexers and optical add/drops, fiber Bragg gratings and waveguide routers must also be considered. A common requirement is accurate measurements. An understanding of the various measurement methods and issues will be provided.
Optical filters are a fundamental building block in processing optical signals and will be addressed in the latter half of the course. A signal processing approach is taken to their description, which allows us to compare the properties of such diverse filters as waveguide grating routers, Fabry-Perot etalons, ring resonators and thin-film filters. The source of dispersion in filters and its relationship to their magnitude response will be discussed. Applications for optical filters will be presented for signal conditioning, such as dispersion compensation, and optical sensing.
Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:
- Identify the tradeoffs to obtain a more idealized dispersionless, boxlike spectral response.
- Explain the basic commonality and differences between optical filter types.
- Identify the device requirements and technology options of the passive components in a WDM system.
- Compare filter choices for applications, such as chromatic dispersion compensation and monitoring.
- Discuss the passive components found in a typical WDM system.
- Understand the various measurement methods and important parameters.
Intended Audience
This course is for those who need an introduction into the various types of optical components and filters used in WDM systems.
Instructor Biographies
Bruce Nyman joined Princeton Lightwave in 2005 as vice president of system solutions. Previously he was with JDS Uniphase, where he developed optical amplifiers and measurement equipment. From 1982 to 1996 he was with AT&T Bell Labs. From 1990 to 1996 he was involved in the development of optically amplified undersea systems. His efforts included soliton WDM systems and measurement equipment for optical components. Before that, he was at the Engineering Research Center where he developed measurement equipment for semiconductor manufacturing. He received doctorate, master's and bachelor's degrees from Columbia University. He is a member of the IEEE and Sigma Psi.
Christi Madsen is a distinguished member of technical staff in the integrated photonics research department at Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs where she has demonstrated novel devices for tunable add/drop and dispersion compensation with implementations in planar waveguides, MEMs, photoinduced gratings and thin-film devices. Prior to joining research, she worked for AT&T Submarine Systems. She has coauthored a book entitled Optical Filter Design and Analysis: A Signal Processing Approach and has numerous patents and papers in the field. She received a B.S.E.E. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986, a M.S.E.E. from Stanford University in 1987, and a doctorate from Rutgers University in 1996. She is a fellow of OSA, a senior member of IEEE and a LEOS Distinguished Lecturer for 2004-2005.