Wavelength monitor utilizing a tunable bragg grating and blazed grating

Abstract

A wavelength monitoring device is provided having an optical reflecting element for reflecting an incoming optical signal to a detector, wherein the device features a narrowband optical reflecting element for reflecting only a narrowband portion of the incoming optical signal to the optical reflecting element. The narrowband optical reflecting element has a reflection function having a bandwidth and shape that determines the narrowband portion of the incoming optical signal. The narrowband optical reflecting element may be a Bragg grating for spectrally processing the incoming optical signal, while the optical reflecting element may be a blazed Bragg grating for reflecting the spectrally processing incoming optical signal to the detector. The detector determines an amount of optical power reflected by the Bragg grating and discriminates between reflections of individual gratings, and is a spatial filter for providing a direct correlation between individual detector elements and a specific wavelength range. The narrowband optical reflecting element includes a glass element having a Bragg grating arranged therein. The glass element may be either an optical fiber having a diameter of about 125 microns, or a large diameter waveguide having a diameter of at least about 0.3 millimeters.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.