High Reliability Evaluation and Lifetime Prediction of 50 GHz Athermal AWG Module

Abstract

A 96-channel (50 GHz-spacing) athermal AWG has been developed. It has a wide operating range due to reduced temperature dependence than conventional AWG. The temperature dependence of the center wavelength of the developed module satisfied the ±0.05 nm range in all channels in the temperature range of −40 °C to 85 °C, and the insertion loss variation was also less than ±0.5 dB. As a result of validating its reliability through tests based on Telcordia-GR-1209 and GR-1221, the temperature dependence of the center wavelength satisfied the ±0.022 nm range, and the insertion loss variation was also less than ±0.2 dB. Accelerated life testing showed an expected service life of over 36.7 years, ensuring long-term safety of communication quality in harsh indoor and outdoor environments.