Ultrafast tunable delay-line optical filters for dense WDM communications systems

摘要

Abstract: One missing component in the next generation optical communications link is an ultra-fast tunable filter. This is a crucial element in dense WDM systems. Here, a novel fiber delay line configuration is proposed, which operates as such filter. The filter implementation is based upon currently available technologies. It is shown that with the suggested technique, optical selective elements can be generated with a tuning speed of less than a nanosecond. This is three orders of magnitude faster than other currently available filters. The filter can be designed compact, and is immunized to external instabilities. Using compound configurations, the filter can be designed with a very wide range of filter finesse and free spectral range. !3