High Channel Low Loss Optical Splitter using Silica-based PLC on Quartz Substrate

Abstract

We have designed and fabricated the 2x32 optical splitter and the 1x64 optical splitter with the low insertion loss <16.5dB and <19.3dB, respectively for 1.31µm-band and 1.49µm-1.55µm-band by using silica-based PLC on a quartz substrate. IntroductionRecently, the broadband services have spread quickly in Japan. The most spread service is an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) at present, however the number of members contracting to a FTTH (Fiber To The Home) using the optical fiber has extended in several years quickly. In all broadband services, the FTTH has the characteristics of the high speed and the most stabilized transmission. In a few yeas ago the charge of the first investment and utilization of the FTTH were high compared with the ADSL, therefore the FTTH was not spread wider. Presently, the charge of the first investment become lower, as a result the spread of the FTTH has started suddenly. The communication carriers have introduced the PON (Passive Optical Network) system in which the group of users shares the same fiber in order to reduce a total cost. In this PON system the optical splitter such as 1xN or 2xN is used to branch one signal to a lot of signals equally.Furthermore in the other country, it is expected that the FTTH has spread and a demand for the optical components using the FTTH has increased. Especially, in Asian countries such as China, the plan of an optical communication network using the 2x32 splitter for the central office side or the 1x64 splitter for the subscriber side is already advanced. In this system, it is strongly required that an optical splitter has the characteristics of a flat wavelength response and a low insertion loss for the wavelength range of 1.31µm-band (1.26µm -1.36µm) and 1.49µm-1.55µm-band (1.48µm -1.625µm).In this paper, we report the fabricated results of a 2x32 splitter and a 1x64 splitter which are a flat wavelength response and a low insertion loss by using silica-based PLC (Planer Lightwave Circuit) on a quartz glass substrate.

Design and optimization of 1 × 8 PLC splitter with backpropagation neural networks and genetic algorithm

“…The abrupt change in the optical mode field at the branching point leads to significant radiation loss [7,8], which is the primary cause of increased device losses and reduced uniformity. Researchers have tackled this issue by introducing structures such as narrow straight waveguides [9], tapered waveguides [10], multimode waveguide transition sections [11], and bent waveguide offset connections [12] to mitigate the loss of Y-branch waveguides. After improving the basic structure of Y-branch waveguides, optimizing their structural parameters becomes an unavoidable issue.…”