Fused fiber interleaver

Abstract

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an optical interleaver/deinterleaver includes a substrate having at least one window therein. The interleaver/deinterleaver further includes a first optical waveguide and a second optical fiber, which are disposed over a substrate. The first and second optical waveguides are coupled together at at least two locations to form optical couplers at each of the locations. The first optical waveguide has a first length between the two locations, and the second optical waveguide has a second length between the two locations wherein the first length is smaller than the second length. Illustratively, the first optical waveguide is disposed over the window, so that the window is along the first length of the first optical fiber. In accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method of interleaving/deinterleaving optical signals includes providing a first optical waveguide and a second optical waveguide, which is coupled to the first optical fiber at at least two locations. The method further includes adjusting a length of the second optical waveguide to coarsely adjust channel separation, and applying laser energy to the first optical waveguide to finely adjust the channel separation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.