Echelle diffraction grating demultiplexers with a single diffraction passband

Planar multiplexers based on echelle gratings are very popular devices for optical communication applications. However, the available channel number is restricted by the concept of free spectral range (FSR) due to their high operating diffraction order. Now, we can break the restriction of the FSR concept, and most of wavelengths in the operating passband of echelle grating multiplexers can be used based on a variable diffraction order design. We present the design, fabrication, and characterization of the echelle grating multiplexer with a single diffraction passband based on silica platform. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.