Ring-resonator-based wavelength filters

Microring resonators (MR) represent a class of filters with characteristics very similar to those of Fabry–Perot filters. However, they offer the advantage that the injected and reflected signals are separated in individual waveguides, and in addition, their design does not require any facets or gratings and is thus particularly simple. MRs evolved from the fields of fibre optic ring resonators and micron scale droplets. Their inherently small size (with typical diameters in the range between several to tens of micrometres), their filter characteristics and their potential for being used in complex and flexible configurations make these devices particularly attractive for integrated optics or VLSI photonics applications.\ud MRs for filter applications, delay lines, as add/drop multiplexers, and modulators will be covered in detail in this chapter, while other applications such as in optical sensing, in spectroscopy or for coherent light generation (MR lasers) are outside the scope of this chapter.\ud This chapter focuses primarily on 4-port microrings, while 2-port devices will play a minor role here and are covered in more detail in Chap. 9. The present chapter starts with design considerations, the functional behaviour, and key characteristics of a single microring resonator and continues with the design of cascaded MRs allowing the implementation of higher order filters. Finally, complex devices like add-drop filters, tuneable dispersion compensators, all-optical wavelength converters, and tuneable cross-connects are treated.\u

Scalability of a packet-switched WDM MAN with support for optical multicasting

This paper addresses the scalability (in terms of the number of nodes) of a packetswitched WDM all-optical bi-directional ring for metropolitan area networks. The nodes enable adding/dropping packets to/from all WDM channels on the ring. The nodes are optically transparent to data packets that bypass them. At a linespeed of 2.5 Gbps using directly modulated DFB lasers separated by 400 GHz, EDFAs to compensate for optical power loss and Phasars for wavelength multiplexing/demultiplexing it has been experimentally observed that a single ring can support upto 8 transparent nodes

A Metropolitan Optical Network with Support for Multicasting in the Optical Domain

We present the FLAMINGO1 network architecture, an all-optical wavelength-and-timeslotted Metropolitan Optical Network based on a multiple-ring topology. A couple of important aspects of this architecture include all-optical packet switching at intermediate nodes on a ring and the ability to put IP packets directly over WDM channels. The rings of the network are interconnected with intelligent bridges, architecture of which is presented. The network also enables all-optical multicasting at intermediate nodes, the architecture of which is also presented. Power budget calculations have also been dealt with and discussed in detail

Thermal wavelength-selective switch based on micro-ring resonators

A thermally driven wavelength-selective switch, based on integrated-optic micro-ring resonators is described. This configuration allows high ON/OFF ratios combined with small dimensions. Measurements of the thermal behaviour of a single resonator confirm the switching capability

Thermally Tuneable, Wide FSR Switch based on Micro-ring Resonators

A thermally tuneable, wide FSR switch, based on integrated-optic micro-ring resonators is described. This wavelength-selective switch allows high ON/OFF ratios combined with small dimensions. Furthermore allows the structure for a wide Free Spectral Range, since multiple resonators are used. This switch can be used in WDM filter arrays for a transceiver in an access network. Measurements of the thermal behaviour of a single resonator confirm the switching capability of the switch

Integrated Optical add-drop multiplexer using thermally tunable microring resonators

We present a four channel optical add-drop multiplexer based on vertically coupled microring resonators fabricated in Si3N4/SiO2. The device with a Manhattan-like geometry has a footprint of 0.25 mm2 and can find application in metro-networks. The individual micro-resonators have a 50 μm radius and are thermally tunable over a 4 nm range. The maximum power consumption per ring is 0.5 W. Measurements show that each microring has a bandwidth >10 Gbit and can be thermally tuned in less than 1 ms. The measured on-off resonance in the drop ports of each micro-resonator is 10 dB

Propagation of short lightpulses in microring resonators

The propagation of short lightpulses in waveguiding structures with optical feedback, in our case optical microringresonators, has been studied theoretically and experimentally. It appears that, dependent on the measurement set-up, ballistic transport or interference in the time domain of fs and ps laser pulses can be observed. The experiments are analyzed in terms of characteristic time scales of the source, the waveguide device and the detector arrangement and are related to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle