Bulk optic echelon multi/demultiplexer

A bulk optic echelon grating for use in optical fiber based communication systems to multi/demultiplex optical signals of differnent wavelengths between a fixed set of fibers, said grating comprising a pluraity of steps of predetermined width and height where said height is such that said grating multi/demultiplexes at at least two wavelength bands over the position of said fixed set of fibers where said wavelength bands are separated in wavelength by less than an octave.

A bulk optic echelon grating for use in multi/demultiplexing signals in the optical region of the spectrum, said echelon comprising a plurality of steps of predetermined width and height where said height is such that said grating is substantially blazed simultaneously at at least two wavelengths which substantially divide evenly into said step height and are separated in wavelength by less than an octave.

A bulk optic device for use in optical fiber based communication systems to multi/demultiplex optical signals of different wavelengths, said device comprising:

• a finite set of optical fibers fixed in place aside of one another and all aimed generally in the same direction;
• and
• a bulk optic echelon grating fixed in place facing said set of fibers to receive optical signal(s) emerging from at least one of said fibers and diffract said signal(s) into at least one other of said fibers, said grating comprising a plurality of steps of predetermined width and height where said height is such that said grating is substantially blazed simultaneously at at least two wavelengths including 1.30 and 1.55 micrometers.

A bulk optic device for use in optical fiber based communication systems to multi/demultiplex optical signals of different wavelengths, said device comprising:

• a finite set of optical fibers fixed in place aside of one another and all generally aimed in the same direction;
• and
• a bulk optic echelong grating fixed in place facing said set of optical fibers to receive optical signal(s) emerging from at least one of said fibers and diffract said signal(s) into at least one other of said fibers, said grating comprising a plurality of steps of predetermined width and height where said height is such that said grating is substantially blazed simultaneously at at least two wavelengths which divide substantially evenly into said step height and are separated in wavelength by less than an octave.

A bulk optic device for use in optical fiber based communication systems to multi/demultiplex optical signals of different wavelengths between optical fibers, said device comprising:

• at least one optical fiber fixed in place along its optical axis and structured and arranged to propagate a plurality of optical signals of different wavelengths;
• and
• a bulk optic echelon grating fixed along said optical axis to receive optical signals emerging from said optical fiber, and diffract them in different angular directions as a function of the wavelength of said optical signals, said grating comprising a plurality of steps of predetermined width and height where said height is such that said grating is simultaneously blazed at at least two wavelengths whose ratio is within the range from 0.8 to 0.9.

A bulk optic device for use in optical fiber based communication systems to multi/demultiplex optical signals of different wavelengths, said device comprising:

• a set of optical fibers fixed in place aside of one another and all aimed generally in the same direction;
• and
• a bulk optic echelon grating fixed in place facing said fibers to receive optical signal(s) emerging from at least one of said fibers and diffract said signal(s) into at least one other of said fibers, said grating comprising a plurality of steps of predetermined width and height where said height is such that said grating multi/demultiplexes at least two wavelength bands among said fixed set of fibers where said two wavelength bands are separated in wavelength by less than an octave.