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

该小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目提出开发一种新型的光学色散元件，该元件将浮雕光栅与适当优化的介电薄膜相结合，以实现高色散和高效率，独立于偏振。光栅效率对于采用密集波分复用（DWDM）传输的现代光纤通信系统中的波长管理至关重要。动态增益均衡器、可重新配置的信道阻塞器、可编程光分插模块和波长选择开关都需要对输入光纤的波长进行空间分离，通常使用衍射光栅，这通常也是插入损耗的最大来源。此外，由于光纤内任何特定波长的光信号的偏振可以随时间改变，因此通过器件的净功率损耗必须与偏振无关。在两个偏振中实现高光栅效率是非常困难的。所提出的技术通过衍射和薄膜干涉效应的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得鲁棒。该光学色散元件的拟议用途将是改善自由空间光学波长管理产品中的插入损耗，例如动态增益均衡器和可重新配置的通道阻塞器，现在被部署在现代光纤通信系统中。 该技术将在其他产品中实现，以尽快在其自己的波长管理产品中实现。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project proposes to develop a new type of optical dispersion element that combines a relief grating with appropriately optimized dielectric films to achieve both high dispersion and high efficiency 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. Further, 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 proposed technology achieves this goal with a proprietary combination of diffractive and thin-film interference effects, and can be fabricated to be robustOver the wide temperature range required of DWDM componentsThe proposed use of this optical dispersion element will be to improve the insertion loss inFree-space optical wavelength-management products, such as dynamic gain equalizers andReconfigurable channel blockers, now being deployed in modern fiber-optic telecommunicationSystems. This technology will implement in other products to change in its own wavelength-management products as soon as the product can be manufactured.