All-optical signal processing offers the prospect of realizing high sampling bandwidth and overcoming many of the limitations of electronics. This work introduces the use of planar Bragg gratings in all-optical signal processing. The key fabrication technique is direct grating writing (DGW). One significant advantage of the DGW system is the small spot size of the focused laser beam used to inscribe the waveguide and grating. Rather than using the wide area exposure such as that from a phase mask, DGW uses a direct UV laser spot such that the dimensions of the UV induced structure are determined by the focal spot size. For complex grating engineering this feature is superior to the conventional phase mask techniques, allowing accurate control of the chirp, phase shifts, apodisation and other parameters to produce intricate optical response.

Date Published: 22 February 2012
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 8333, Photonics and Optoelectronics Meetings (POEM) 2011: Optoelectronic Devices and Integration, 833309 (22 February 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.919071

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8333:
Photonics and Optoelectronics Meetings (POEM) 2011: Optoelectronic Devices and Integration
Erich Kasper; Jinzhong Yu; Xun Li; Xinliang Zhang; Jinsong Xia; Junhao Chu; Zhijiang Dong; Bin Hu; Yan Shen, Editor(s)