Chapter 5

Passive Components
San-Liang Lee
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
sanlee@et .nt ust .edu.t w
2
Outline
Optical couplers
Optical splitter
Optical combiner
Star coupler
Wavelength Selective and Routing Devices
Optical filters
Wavelength Mux/Demux
Optical add/drop (OADM)
Wavelength router
Other Passive Devices
Optical isolators
Optical circulators
Optical Switches
3
Key Parameters
Insertion loss
Excess loss
Back Reflection
Polarization dependent loss (PDL)
Splitting Ratio
Splitting uniformity
Channel Isolation or Crosstalk
Optical bandwidth (-1, -3, -20dB)
Isolation ratio (isolators or circulators)
4
Optical Couplers
Fabrication: can be made out of fiber fusing, bulk optics, and
integrated optics
Excess loss = the ratio of power input to power output
Insertion loss = the loss from a given input (1) to an output (4)
Through loss : insertion loss for through path
Tap loss: insertion loss for cross path
(1) 2x2 Directional coupler
1
2
3
4
) ( log 10
4 3
1
dB
P P
P
+
=
) ( log 10
4
1
dB
P
P
= Input (1) to output (4)
5
Optical Couplers (Cont.)
Directivity: the ratio of the backscattered power at the other
port to the input power
Splitting ratio: the percentage division of the input optical
power between the output ports
1
2
3
4
) ( log 10
2
1
dB
P
P
=
% 100
4 3
3
x
P P
P
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
6
Optical splitter and Combiner
For an ideal 1xN splitter (N > 1),
For an ideal Nx1 beam combiner, the output is the
sum of all inputs, but in fact
N P P
in out
=
at each output port

=
i
i in out
P
N
P
,
1
7
Star Coupler
The power of each input is
distributed evenly to all
outputs
Device types: fused fibers,
cascade of directional
couplers, planar waveguides
) ( log 10 loss Splitting dB N =
(

=
N
j out i in
P P
1
, ,
log 10 loss Excess
Slab Waveguide Region
Input Waveguides Output Waveguides
Fused Portion
Splitting uniformity is critical
8
Optical Filters
For channel selection, require
Flat passband
Low adjacent-channel crosstalk
Good alignment to wavelength grid
Wavelength tunable filter is useful for dynamic
channel selection or switching
Fixed- filter
9
Filter Characteristics
3 dB 1 dB
1-dB
bandwidth
3-dB
bandwidth
20-dB
bandwidth
Passband
skirts
Crosstalk
energy
Adjacent
channel
1 1.002 1.004 0.998 0.996
-40
-30
-20
-10
0

0
/
F
i
l
t
e
r

t
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

(
d
B
)
Fixed- filter
10
Filter Types
Thin-Film Filters
Mach-Zehnder type
Fabry-Perot Interferometer
Diffraction gratings
Reflective (fiber) gratings
Acousto-optic tunable filter
11
Thin-Film Filters
Input
T()
R()
GRIN Common
Reflection
WDM filter
Lenses
Pass
12
Fiber Gratings
Cladding
Incident Light
Reflected
Light Grating planes

1

3

2

4

1

3
Incident light
Reflected light
Transmitted
light
Grating response
Fiber Bragg
grating
13
Coupler vs. Multiplexer

N
M
P
1
P
2
P
3
M
=
i out
P P

N
M
P
1
P
2
P
3
M

1

2
L

N

N
M
=
i out
P
N
P
1
=
i out
P
N
P
2
1

1

2
L

N

1

2
L
N

1

2
L
N

1

2
L
N
i out
P P =
Optical coupler is wavelength insensitive, while Mux is
wavelength selective
14
Mux/Demux
Fiber
Lens
Fiber
Lens
Narrowband
filter
Fiber
Glass substrate

1
,
2
...,
8

1

2

3

4

5

6

8

7
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
15
Wavelength Router
Input/Output
Waveguide
Slice-
Substrate
Array-Waveguide
Waveplate
Slab
Waveguide

1
,
2
, ...,
N

N
0

1 N

1 N

1 N

1 N

2 N

2 N

2 N

3 N

3 N

4 N

wavelengthw
Outputv
Inputu
w=(N-u+v) mod N
Route signals according to
their wavelengths
16
OADM
OADM

k

k

k
Selectively extract and Insert optical channels at
intermediate sites
Manage the WDM traffic in the fiber
Optical circulator + fiber grating = Fixed OADM
Flexible and reconfigurable OADMs will be needed in
future DWDM networks
17
OADM Characteristics
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
1530 1532 1534 1536 1538 1540 1542
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

(
d
B
)
In -> Drop
&
Add -> Thru Crosstalk
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
1530 1532 1534 1536 1538 1540 1542
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

(
d
B
)
In -> Thru
Crosstalk
18
OADM with Thin-Film Filters
In
Out
Add
Drop
Add-
1
Add-
2
Drop-
2
Drop-
1
Express
In
19
OADM with Fiber Gratings

1
,
2
....,
n

1
,
2
....,
n

1
Drop
Add
Fiber Gragg grating
Circulator
Circulator
Fiber Gragg grating
Drop
Add
WDM
Drop

1
3
2 1
3
2
1
3
2
1
Fiber Bragg
grating 2
Fiber Bragg
grating n
M
Circ n
Circ 2
Circ 1
Fiber Bragg
grating 1
Drop

2
Drop

n
20
Optical Isolators
Fiber in
SOP
SWP
SWP
SWP
SWP
Fiber in
Fiber out
Faraday
rotator
Faraday
rotator
/2 plate
/2 plate
(b)
(a)
Forward
Backward
For reduce or eliminate back reflection
21
Optical Circulator
1
2
3
1
4
3
2
To de-couple transmitted and received signals
traveling along the same fiber (bi-directional)
Use Faraday rotators, similar to isolators
22
Optical Switches
To dynamically control the physical connections between
input ports and output ports
Design criteria:
Low power loss
Low crosstalk
Polarization independence
Simple interconnection
Low switching energy
Types of switches
Mechanical switch
Waveguide switch
Self-electro-optic effect Devices (SEED)
SOA Gated switch
23
Mechanical Switches
Fiber Fiber
ON/OFF gate
Fiber Fiber
2XN switch
Fiber
Fiber
1XN switch
24
Hot Switches
Applications:
Circuit switch:
Packet switch: require fast switching speed (ns)
Protection switch
Large-scale switch (>1000 ports)
MEMS
Liquid crystal
Agilents champange switch
Control signal
Microlens
Switch
Mirror
Silica Substrate
25
SOA Gate Switches
Passive
Splitters
Amplifier
Gates
Passive
Combiners