SBIR Phase I: The Interfractor - A New Optical Dispersive Component

这个小企业创新研究的第一阶段项目将开发一种新型的强大的光学色散元件，它将缓释光栅与适当优化的介电膜结合在一起，在一个衍射级中实现高色散和高效率（超过90%），而不受偏振的影响。在采用密集波分复用（DWDM）传输的现代光纤通信系统中，光栅效率对波长管理至关重要。动态增益均衡器、可重新配置的通道阻塞器、可编程的光加丢模块和波长选择开关都需要从输入光纤中分离波长，通常使用衍射光栅，这也是插入损耗的最大来源。由于光纤中任何特定波长的光信号的偏振可能随时间而变化，因此通过器件的净功率损耗必须与偏振无关。在两种极化情况下，实现高光栅效率是非常困难的。interfrator通过衍射和薄膜干涉效应的新颖专有组合实现了这一目标，并且可以在DWDM组件所需的宽温度范围内制造出鲁棒性。Interfractor最直接的商业用途将是改善自由空间光学波长管理产品中的插入损耗，如动态增益均衡器、可重构信道阻塞器、可编程加丢模块和波长选择开关，这些产品目前正在采用密集波分复用（DWDM）传输的现代光纤通信系统中实施。一旦interfrators能够生产出来，这项技术就会被应用到产品中。interfrator也将是一个独立的产品，用于光学分析仪器，如光谱仪，需要高色散和高效率的组合。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop an Interfractor which is a new type of robust optical dispersion element that combines a relief grating with appropriately optimized dielectric films to achieve both high dispersion and high efficiency (in excess of 90%) into one diffraction order, independent of polarization. Grating efficiency is critical for wavelength-management in modern fiber-optic telecommunication systems that employ dense wave-division-multiplexing (DWDM) transmission. Dynamic gain equalizers, reconfigurable channel blockers, programmable optical add-drop modules, and wavelength-selective switches all require spatial separation of the wavelengths from an input fiber, typically with a diffraction grating, which is also typically the largest source of insertion loss. Because the polarization of the optical signal of any particular wavelength within a fiber may change over time, the net power loss through the device must be independent of polarization. It is very difficult to achieve high grating efficiency in both polarizations. The Interfractor achieves this goal with a novel and proprietary combination of diffractive and thin-film interference effects, and can be fabricated to be robust over the wide temperature range required of DWDM components. The most immediate commercial use of the Interfractor will be to improve the insertion loss in free-space optical wavelength-management products, such as dynamic gain equalizers, reconfigurable channel blockers, programmable add-drop modules, and wavelength selective switches now being implemented in modern fiber-optic telecommunication systems that employ dense wave-division-multiplexing (DWDM) transmission. This technology will be implemented in products as soon as Interfractors can be manufactured. The Interfractor will also be a stand-alone product for use in optical analytical instruments, such as spectrometers, that require a combination of high dispersion and high efficiency.