Methods and systems of mechanical tuning multi channel optical components

Abstract

This innovation relates to an integrated multi-band continuous optical filter operating with the mechanical deformation of the guiding waveguides in a controlled manner with a micro-electromechanical device. Notably, the direction of light traveling in multi-channel waveguides changes with the applied mechanical force, causing a shift in the wavelengths reflected back from a concave diffraction grating towards the same channels. The center wavelength of each channel, the filter pass band and the total tuning range of the multi-band filter can be tuned. The presented on-chip reconfigurable optical filter has a wealth of applications in microwave photonics for multi-band communications and multiple optical signal processing for programmable optical networks, such as Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), tunable laser sources, and switches. Furthermore, this innovation could have potential applications in other fields like measurements, particularly in the manufacture of frequency combs.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.