JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 13, NO.

3, MARCH 1995 447

Transmission Characteristics of Arrayed

Waveguide N x N Wavelength Multiplexer
Hiroshi Takahashi, Member, IEEE, Kazuhiro Oda, Member, IEEE,
H h m a Toba, Member, IEEE, and Yasuyuki Inoue, Member, IEEE

f 1, f 2 . f 3 . f 1. f 5
Abstmct-To realize practical wavelength division multiplexing
(WDM) systems, a high-performance N x N wavelength mul-
tiplexer is introduced that is based on an arrayed-waveguide
grating. Its transmission characteristicsare theoretically derived
and experimentally confirmed. A prototype is constructed using
f5 -
f4 4

(a)
the previously proposed techniques that attain low insertion loss fl,fZ.f3.fl.f5
and polarization independent operation. It has 16 channels (N =
16) with a spacing of 0.8 nm, or 100 GHz, in the 1.55-pm band.
Frequency relation between input and output ports, free spectral
range, and passband width are determined. A demonstration of
IM-DD pulse transmission shows that there is no degradation (b)
- fS

of bit error rate resulting from the finite passband width and fi,fz,€3.Ei.f5 f 1, E2 ' ,f 3 , E4, E5

crosstalk of the multiplexer. It is confirmed that the multiplexer

can realize highly reliable N-channel WDM and WDM-based
N x N interconnect optical networks.

t+
f z ' Ez
I. INTRODUCTION

A N INTEGRATED-OPTIC N x N wavelength multiplexer

based on an arrayed-waveguide grating is the key device
in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical systems
fl,fZ,f3.f4,f5
fl,fZ.f3.f4.f5
fl,f2,f3,f4,f5
fl,fZ,f3.f4,f5
fl,fZ,f3.f1,f5
-
-
+ --cfl,fZ,f3.f1,f5
+fz,E3,f4.f5,fl
-f3.
--Cfl.f5.
fl,f5.fl.f2

--f5,fl.f2,f3,fl
fl,f2.f3

[ 11451. The multiplexer is composed of an arrayed-waveguide

grating, input-output (1-0) waveguides, and focusing slab
waveguides. The arrayed-waveguide grating consists of reg- Fig. 1. Basic functions of arrayed-waveguide N x N multiplexer. (a)
Multiplexing. (b) Demultiplexing. (c) Add-drop multiplexing operation. (d)
ularly arranged waveguides that join the two slabs and the N x N interconnect.
lengths of adjacent waveguides differ by a constant value.
The length difference results in the wavelength-dependent
wavefront tilting so light convergence in the output slab is The third function is adddrop multiplexing (ADM) [6]. This
frequency dependent; the arrayed-waveguide operates like a function achieves both demultiplexing and multiplexing, si-
diffraction grating. The point is that the arrayed-waveguide multaneously. One or more frequencies can be dropped and
grating operates at high diffraction orders, which leads to inserted by opening the respective loops. The last function
wavelength resolutions of better than a nanometer despite its is N x N full-interconnection. The frequency multiplexed
small overall size (of the order of centimeters). In addition, the signals input to each of the left-hand-side ports are separated
multiplexer has another interesting point. Since the arrayed- according to frequency and connected to different leftside
waveguide is a transmission-type grating, both plural input ports. The N demultiplexers, N multiplexers, and N 2 fibers
and plural output waveguides are supported. It is well known in an earlier reported WDM-based N x N network [7] are
that this offers wavelength-selective N x N connection. replaced by a single multiplexer. This usage was first proposed
Fig. 1 shows how the arrayed-waveguide N x N wave- by Saleh [8].
lengthlfrequency multiplexer can offer four basic functions. The multiplexer can achieve low insertion loss if it is
First and second are simple multiplexing and demultiplexing. based on silica waveguides [9]. The problem of polarization
dependence, that is, the pass wavelength shift between TE
Manuscript received March 25, 1994; revised November 27, 1994. and TM modes, can be resolved by adopting the waveplate
H. Takahashi, K. Oda, and H. Toba are with Lightwave Communications
Laboratory, "IT Transmission Systems Laboratories, Nippon Telegraph and method. Although there are several methods that can eliminate
Telephone Corporation, Kanagawa, 238-03 Japan. the polarization dependence [lo]-[ 131, the waveplate method
Y. Inoue is with the Photonic Component Laboratory, NlT Opto- is most promising since it can completely cancel the TE-TM
Electronics Laboratories, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation,
Ibaraki, 319-11, Japan. shift regardless of the level of waveguide birefringence [111.
IEEE Log Number 9409163. The excess loss due to the insertion of the waveplate into the
0733-8724/95$04.00 0 1995 IEEE

- _____
1
1 1' I

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 448 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLQGY, VOL. 13, NO. 3, MARCH 1995

arrayed-waveguide is dramatically reduced to 0.4 dB by using TABLE I

a polyimide film waveplate [14]. These technologies lead to V A R M B L E S USED IN THIS PAPER

the realization of a practical multiplexer with the low insertion hlrilll 2 I I1 VaI e
U

loss of 3 dB and no polarization dependence [151, [161. Nuiiihcr 01 t n p u ~ / ~ i i t p t in.ivcguidu\

~ I 6
I:oc;il lcngtli of f o c u ~ ~ n\l;ih g 9381pm
As just described, complete fabrication technologies have 1';i111 I c i i g ~ h difl'crcnce of :irr;iyed-\\.avel?uide 126.46pm
been developed but before the multiplexer can be applied, I'ilcli o f ;irr;iyctl-\r.;l\,cpiiidc 2Spm
Difl'riiction order I1R
its transmission characteristics must be fully checked. This Spacing of inputloulpul \v;ivryuidc\ 2S)im
paper describes the light transmission characteristics of an Frequency cl~iinnel yxiciny In m H z
Free spcctral r:inge 1600GHz
arrayed-waveguide N x N wavelength multiplexer. Section 11 Diffroction angle in tnput 4 : i h wwcguidc
details the multiplexer theory, especially the frequency relation Diffr;iclion ;ingle in output slxh \\weguide
Effective refractive index o l slilb waveguide 1.4529
between input and output ports and the free spectral range. The Effective refr;iclive index of chiinnel w;lveguide I. 4 S I 3
passband width is also described and the spectral transmission Group index for n, I .4152
Center uwvelength I.SS381pm
response of the multiplexer is revealed to be the same as that of Spot size (h;ilf widtli ;it Ik?of iIi:ixinlun? power) 4.5prn
a Gaussian bandpass filter. Section I11 describes the testing of a Frequency shift from piiv\ frriliirncy
prototype arrayed-waveguide 16x 16 wavelength multiplexer. Opticid frequency
Wavelength
The measured transmission spectra, the wavelengthlfrequency Light velocity in vacuuni 299192458mls
Optical power o f selected cliannel
relation between the input and output ports, and the tolerance Optical power o f extinguished ch;innel
for frequency fluctuation of the source light are discussed. Crosst;ilk, PJP,
V a r i m c e of effective noise in receiver
Demultiplexing operation at a channel speed of 622 Mb/s is Q value in G;iussi:in noise error rille formula
successfully demonstrated. Section IV discusses the bit error Bit rate

rate degradation due to crosstalk. The maximum bit rate which

can pass through the multiplexer is also determined. These
findings show that the multiplexer can be used in a 16-channel frequency) at the exit of one input waveguide is transferred to
WDM transmission system and indicate the possibility of a the appropriate output waveguide with little deformation.
16x16 interconnect network with a throughput of 5 Tb/s. The arrayed-waveguide grating consists of regularly ar-
Finally, we summarize our results in Section V. ranged waveguides that connect the two slabs. The lengths
of adjacent waveguides differ by a constant value AL. This
structure produces a wavelength-dependentphase shift and the
11. THEORY arrayed-waveguide operates like a concave diffraction grating.
This section theoretically describes the arrayed-waveguide From the phase match condition, the grating equation is given
N x N wavelength multiplexer. Here, we use optical frequency bY
instead of wavelength since frequency is more useful than
wavelength for describing the free spectral range and passband +
n,d sin 8; n, A L n,d sin 8, = mX + (1)
width. In this paper, we use the letter "f' to denote optical
where
frequency, whereas in our previous reports, it indicated the
focal length of the slab waveguide. The focal length in this
paper is denoted as L f . The definition and values of all
parameters used in this paper are listed in Table I. n, and n, are the effective refractive indexes of the slab and
channel waveguide, respectively. 8, and 8, are the diffraction
A. Waveguide Layout and Basic Equations angles in the input and output slab, respectively. d is the
pitch of the arrayed-waveguide grating, m is the diffraction
Fig. 2 shows a schematic waveguide layout of the order of the grating, and X is the wavelength. i and j are the
multiplexer. It consists of N input waveguides, N output numbers of the input and output waveguides, respectively. Ax
waveguides, two focusing slab waveguides, and an arrayed- is the spacing of the input and output waveguide along the slab
waveguide grating, all of which are integrated on the same waveguide edge. Here we define the center wavelength as XO
substrate. The locations of the 1-0 waveguide ends and arrayed which satisfies
waveguide ends are based on the Rowland circle construction
as is used for concave reflection grating monochromators. n, AL = m X o . (2)
Each arrayed waveguide aperature faces the end of the center
1-0 waveguide and is widened to reduce slab-channel coupling This is the pass wavelength for the route ( 2 , j ) = (0, 0), from
loss. The array has a sufficient number of waveguides so that the center input waveguide to the center output waveguide.
all the light power diffracted in the slab can be collected. This Throughout this paper, the input and output waveguides are
means that the arrayed waveguide has a numerical aperture numbered according to their pass wavelength. Wavelengths
(NA) larger than the 1-0 waveguide, and that the diffracted longer than Xo are output by positive-numbered ports (see
light in the output slab converges to the same spot size as Fig. 2(a)).
the input waveguide. That is, the combination of the arrayed Angular dispersion, which is the relation between the
waveguide and the two slab waveguides constructs a 1:l diffraction angle and frequency f, is obtained by differ-
image-formation system. Accordingly, the light field (of one entiating (1). In the vicinity of & = 8, = 0 the result

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 TAKAHASH er al.: CHARACTERISTICS OF ARRAYED WAVEGUIDE N x N WAVELENGTH MULTIPLEXER 449

INPUT/OUTPUT WAVEGUlDt TABLE II

FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENT OF THE MULTIPLEXER. COLUMN:
INPUT; ROW: OUTPUT. ASSIGNMENT WITHOUT PERIODICITY
-8 -7 ... -I 0 I .__ 6 7
-8 fi6 fis .._ fg fs f7 ... fz fl
-7 fis f14 .., fs f7 fh _.. f i fo
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
-1 fY fs ... f2 fl ftl .,. f-5 f-6
0 fs f7 ... fl lo f-I ... f-6 f-7
1 f7 fh ... fll f-l f-2 ... f-7 f-8
.. .. .. . . . .. ..
6 fz fi ... f-s f-6 f-7 ... f - 1 2 f - 1 3
7 fl ftr _.. f-6 f-7 f-X ... f - 1 3 f-14

TABLE III
FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENT OF THE MULTIPLEXER. COLUMN:INPUT;
ROW: OUTpuT. A N EXAMPLE OF PERIODIC ASSIGNMENT
-X -7 ,,. -I 0 I ... 6 7
-8 fo f-I ... f-7 fs f7 ,.. f? fi
-7 f- i f-2 ... fs f7 fh ... fi fo
.. .. .. . . . .. ..
-1 f-7 f8 ... fZ fI it1 ... f-5 f-6
0 fs f7 ... fl f0 f-I ... f-6 f-7
I f7 fh ... 10 f.1 1.2 ... f-7 f8
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
6 fz fi ... f-s 1 6 1'-7 ... f? f3
7 fl fll .. f-6 f-7 Is ... f3 fz

/ WAVEPLATE

ARRAYED-WAVEGUIDE SLAB WAVEGUIDE frequency channel spacing of the multiplexer is given by

(a)
INPUT/OUTPUT WAVEGUIDE

The pass frequency relations for the 16x16 connection are

summarized in Table II. Here, the frequency spacing fi.- fi+l
is Af which is given by (5). If the frequencies are not
periodically assigned, 31 frequencies are needed for 16x16
interconnection, that is the number of frequencies is given by
2N - 1 (see Table 11).

B. Periodic Assignment
It is well known that only N frequencies are logically
required for the N x N connection shown in Fig. l(d) [7]. In
order to achieve this, the periodicity of the arrayed-waveguide
must be utilized. Each route has periodic pass frequencies, the
spacing of which is referred to as the free spectral range (FSR).
If FSR = N A f , we can attain an N x N connection with
N frequencies. For example, Table II shows that f-14 is the
pass frequency for route (7, 7), but f P l 4 + FSR is also a pass
frequency for (7, 7). Therefore, f 2 can be assigned instead
ARRAYED-WAVEGUIDE of f-14. Based on this regularity, Table I1 can be modified
(b) into Table 111. Only f-7 to fs are used and the number of
Fig. 2. (a) Schematic waveguide layout of arrayed-waveguide N x N frequencies is N . Other assignments such as j o to f ~ sare
multiplexer. 1-0 waveguides are numbered -8 to 7 from the bottom ( N =
16). (b) Detail near slab waveguide.
also possible.
Here, we carefully discuss the FSR since it must be designed
to exactly equal N Af . For the order of m + 1, (1) is modified
is to
d0
--
mA2 ng
(3)
dj n,dcn, (n, + An,)dsin& + (n, + An,) AL
ng = n, - A-dn,
+ (n, + An,)dsin8, = ( m + 1 f +FSR
) L (6)
(4)
dA
where e is the light velocity in a vacuum. ng is regarded as +
where n, An, and n, An, are the effective refractive +
the group refractive index of the channel waveguide [17]. The indexes of the slab and channel waveguides, respectively, at

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 450 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 13, NO. 3, MARCH 1995

the frequency of f + FSR. The index change is given by It. is found from this equation that the frequency response of
the multiplexer is the same as that of a Gaussian bandpass
filter. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) is obtained
from (11) as follows:

Dragone and Adar obtained a similar frequency response

From (l), (6), and (7), the FSR is given by @a), shown
at the bottom of this page. In deriving @a), we assumed
that the FSR was relatively smaller than f and approximated
+
f(f FSR) as f 2 . Since A L >> ($sin& dsind,), it is
possible to approximate n, - Adh,/dX as ng,thus giving a
simpler expression of FSR
C more useful notation with which to estimate the frequency
+
FSR = n g ( A L d sin I9i + d sin 19,)
by using numerical calculations [3], [19]. In their paper, the
transmission T(Sf ) is described as the summation of complex
exponential terms. This equals a Fourier transform of the input
+ waveguide field. If the field is Gaussian, transmission will be
Gaussian since the Fourier transform of Gaussian function is
Gaussian. Although it looks different from their equations, our
(1 1) is a special case of their equation and gives a simpler and
“I. (8b) response of the multiplexer.

+
The term ( d sin I9i d sin 0,) indicates that the FSR depends AND RESULTS
111. EXPERJMENTAL
on the input and output ports. For diagonal ports such as (0,
+
O), (1, -l), and (2, -2) where 8; 19, = 0, the FSR equals A. Multiplexer Fabrication
c/ngA L as derived in previous reports. We designed a multiplexer having 100 GHz spaced 16
channels for use in a dense WDM system in the 1.55-pm band.
C. Frequency Response The design parameter values are shown in Table I. We fab-
Frequency response of the transmission coefficient of a ricated the multiplexer chip using Ge-doped silica waveguide
multiplexer is an important parameter in determining its ap- technology [9]. The chip size is 3 cm x 4 cm. To eliminate the
plication feasibility. Each input light is diffracted in the input polarization dependence of the arrayed-waveguide grating, a
slab, passed through the arrayed waveguide, focused in the polyimide film half waveplate was inserted in a groove formed
output slab, and coupled into one of the output waveguides. in the middle of the grating [14]-[16]. The film is 14.5 pm
The focal position depends on the optical frequency so the thick and the groove is 18 pm wide. The excess loss due to the
frequency response is obtained from the coupling coefficient waveplate insertion is estimated to be only 0.4 dB. Two 16-
of the focused light into the output waveguide. The mode field fiber arrays were connected to the input and output waveguides
patterns of the focused light and the propagation mode of the with UV curable adhesive. Finally, the multiplexer chip was
output waveguide are almost the same. Here, we assume they packaged with a Peltier element for temperature control.
are Gaussian. The coupling coefficient of two Gaussian fields
is given by a simple function in Gaussian form as follows [181 B. Transmission Loss Spectra
Fig. 3 shows the measured transmission spectrum for route
(9) (0, 0). Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from an Er-
doped fiber amplifier was used as a broadband light source.
where x is the distance between the two fields and wo is their The light output from the multiplexer was measured with a
spot size. The distance x is proportional to the frequency shift spectrum analyzer. Three peaks were observed. The spacing
Sf from the pass frequency and is given by between them, that is, the FSR, is about 13 nm, which confirms
that 16 0.8-nm-spaced channels were possible. The insertion
Ax loss is 5 dB, which includes all losses of the packaged
x= -6f [m].
Af multiplexer such as waveguide propagation loss, grating loss,
and fiber-waveguide connection loss. This is slightly higher
The ratio A x / Af is the linear dispersion which is the product
than the previously reported value of 3 dB [15]. We think that
of the angular dispersion and the focal length. Accordingly,
the fiber-waveguide connection was slightly misaligned. The
the frequency response is given by
loss at the other wavelength is -35 dB. The crosstalk of the
multiplexer is estimated to be -30 dB.
Fig. 4 shows the normalized spectral response of the mul-
tiplexer in the vicinity of the pass wavelength. The horizontal

C
FSR = (n, - A$+) A L + (n, - A%)(dsinOi + dsinI9,) [Hzl.

1 T - ~ -~ -

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. ,
TAKAHASHI et al.: CHARACTERISTICSOF ARRAYED WAVEGUIDE N x N WAVELENGTH MULTIPLEXER
. . . . . .
1530 1550 1570
WAVELENGTH (nm)
Fig. 3. Measured transmission spectrum from input #O to output #O.
Relative Frequency (GHz)
Fig. 4. Spectral response of multiplexer transmission in the vicinity of pass
wavelength.Circles: measured; lines: calculated with W O values of 4 and 5 pm.
axis is the relative frequency. The circles and lines denote the
measured and calculated results, respectively. The calculation
was based on (11) with W O values of 4 and 5 pm. The
graph shows that the frequency response of the multiplexer
is Gaussian as described in Section 11. The spot size of the
waveguide is estimated to 4.5 pm from the graph. This agrees
with the reported value of 4 pm [20]. The measured FWHM
is 30.2 GHz, which also agrees with (12).
C. Pass Frequency Between Ports
We measured the pass frequencies for many 1-0 combi-
nations by using a Michelson interferometer-based optical-
frequency counter with an accuracy of GHz. The results are
presented in terms of relative frequency referenced to 192,940
GHz, which is one of the frequencies obtained for route (0,
0), the center peak in Fig. 3.
First, we investigate the FSR. Each transmission peak shown
in Fig. 3 was selected by an optical bandpass filter and its
frequency was measured to estimate the peak spacing, that
is, the FSR. The measurements were also done for 1-0 port
combinations of (1,7) and (-3, -6) in addition to (0,O). The
results, summarized in Table IV, indicate that the measured
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~
45 1
TABLE V
MEASURED S 16 x 16 CONNECTION
PASS~ ~ Q U E N C I EOF VALUES ARE RELATIVE
FREOUENCY REFERENCED TO 192.940 GHz. COLUMN: h P U T , ROW: OUTPUT
FSR is smaller at (1, 7) and larger at (-3, -6) than that at
(0, 0).
We evaluated ng from the measured FSR of 1607 GHz for
(0, 0) to be 1.4752. This value was used to calculate FSR
values for connections (1, 7) and (-3, -6) using (8b). The
calculated values display the same tendency as the measure-
ments. It is confirmed that the FSR is larger at negative ports
and smaller at positive ports than at (0, 0) , as is indicated
by (8).
Next, we measured all the pass frequencies for 16x 16 1-0
combinations in order to confirm the interconnect operation
as shown in Fig. l(d). The results are summarized in Table
V. The 16 relative frequencies, -700 to 800 GHz in steps of
about 100 GHz, were obtained. It is confirmed that a 16x16
interconnect operation is possible with 16 frequencies.
Influence of port dependence on FSR to frequency assign-
ment is observed in Table V. The orders of rn - 1, rn, and
+
rn 1 are used in the upper hatched, center unhatched, and
lower hatched regions, respectively. The frequencies in the
upper hatched area are lower than desired. This discrepancy
results from the fact that the FSR in the upper hatched area
is larger than that in the center diagonal area. With periodic
assignment, the frequencies of (-1, -8) and (0, 7) should be
the same but a frequency shift of up to 12 GHz was observed.
Section IV clarifies how much the 12-GHz shift affects signal
transmission.
D. Pulse Transmission Experiments
Fig. 5 shows the setup used for pulse transmission ex-
periments. Eight DFB lasers were prepared for an 8-channel
demultiplexing experiment. Laser #5 was tuned to the center
wavelength of the multiplexer. This was the channel in which
the main signal was transmitted. The seven other lasers were
tuned so that 7 wavelengths were located around the main
channel with a spacing of 0.8 nm, or 100 GHz. They supplied
the dummy channels to demonstrate demultiplexing. The main
and dummy channels were intensity-modulated by a 622 Mb/s,
NRZ, pseudorandom bit stream (PRBS) with word length of
 452 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 13, NO. 3, MARCH 1995

Polarization 0 :
.. :
.. :
.. :
.. :
.. :
.. :
. :
. :
.
. ._ . _ .
Controller
................................................................................................... .

or

LO-5 00
LN Modulatof
1 548 1553 1558
Fig. 5. Experimental setup for pulse transmission. Input #O and output #O
of the multiplexer are used. LD: laser diode; PPG: pulse pattern generator. WAVELENGTH (nm)
Fig. 7. Power spectrum of demultiplexed light. Main channel LD/#5 is
01 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. selected with more than -30 dB suppression of dummy channels.
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .
...................................................................................................
. . . .

. . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
...................................................................................................
.. .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
. . . . . . . . .
...................................................................................................
. . . . . . . . .
-80 i i i i i i i i j

15
OPTICAL POWER (dBm)
Fig. 8. Measured bit error rate of main channel. Horizontal axis is optical
power per channel. Circles: back-to-back; diamonds: 1-channel transmission;
squares: 8-channel transmission.

source light frequencies. Fig. 9 is the measured power penalty

versus the frequency shift from the center frequency. The
penalty was estimated against the power needed to attain a
BER of when the source light was exactly tuned to the
center of the passband. It is found from the graph that a 1
dB penalty allows f8-GHz frequency fluctuation in the light
source. The 3-dB tolerance is 30 GHz which is the same as the
passband width (FWHM) so the tolerance of the multiplexer is
determined by the transmission loss spectrum. This is because
the signal band width is relatively narrower than the passband
width of the multiplexer.
The pass frequency shift due to fluctuation of the multi-
plexer temperature is also an issue to be investigated. Fig.
10 is the relation between the measured pass frequency and
multiplexer temperature. The slope is -1.5 GHdOC. This
results from the temperature dependence of the refractive index
E. Tolerance of the waveguide glass and the thermal expansion of the silicon
The tolerance for frequency detuning of the source light substrate. As a result, multiplexer temperature must be held to
must be considered. We measured the bit error rate for several within f5.3"C to achieve a penalty of less than 1 dB.

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 . I

TAKAHASHI et al.: CHARACTERISTICS OF ARRAYED WAVEGUIDE N x N WAVELENGTH MULTIPLEXER 453

4t-9 C Crosstalk
.-0 R c = Pc/PS
3 - .-(I)
5c
2 - 2
I-

1 - Pc
I I
7-T I I ,
0 -

-l-20
1
-10 0 10 20
FREQUENCY SHIFT (GHz)
Fig. 9. Measured power penalty caused by source light frequency shift in
622-Mb/s transmission.
the noise distribution function at both mark and space levels
to be Gaussian and define the bit error rate as

40
h
N I
I
z 20 The BER is decided by the value of Q. For example, the BER
is known to be at Q = 12. Q is defined by Ps/cwhere
4
I
2 is the variance of effective noise in the receiver.
cn Crosstalk is thought to be another kind of noise with two
> 0 power levels, P, and 0. Its variance is P:/4 per channel. The
0 variance of the asynchronously mixed N - 1 signals yielding
z
;
w
-20
crosstalk is given by (N - 1)P:/4 according to the central
limit theorem. So the variance of the noise and crosstalk is
U' + (N - 1)P:/4 in N-channel transmission. In order to
E keep the BER constant even in the presence of crosstalk, Q
must have the same value. That is
-40 I I I I

0 10 20 30 40 50
TEMPERATURE ("C)
Fig. 10. Measured temperature dependence of pass frequency. Horizontal
axis is multiplexer temperature. where PL is the increased signal power needed to compen-
sate for crosstalk noise. Accordingly, power penalty due to
IV. DISCUSSION crosstalk is give by

A. Impact of Crosstalk on BER

Here, we discuss the crosstalk-induced bit error rate degra-
dation in N-channel demultiplexing operation. Fig. 11 shows
the schematic transmission spectrum of the multiplexer. We
assume that even the two channels adjacent to the given main
channel are to be suppressed. The measured spectra shown
in Fig. 3 and Fig. 7 show that this occurs. P, and P, are
the optical powers of the selected and suppressed channels,
respectively. The crosstalk of the multiplexer is defined as
R, = P,/P,.
We assume intensity modulation and direct detection
(IM-DD). Strictly speaking, noise at the mark and space levels
are not equal in an IM-DD system, but we are discussing the
error rate degradation by the crosstalk and do not have to treat
the bit error function carefully. Therefore, we simply assume
Fig. 12 shows the calculated power penalty as a function of
crosstalk for N = 10 and 100 based on (15). It is found
from the graph that even with 100-channel demultiplexing, a
crosstalk value of -30 dB incurs a negligible penalty.
B. Maximum Bit Rate
In our experiments, the bit rate was 622 Mb/s and there
was no pulse deformation due to the passband width of the
multiplexer since the width was 30 GHz. For higher bit-rate
transmission such as 10 Gb/s or more, we must consider the
maximum bit rate of the optical pulses through the multiplexer.
If the source light is modulated by NRZ format with an
ideal intensity modulator, the optical power of the digital

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 454 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 13, NO. 3, MARCH 1995

tiplexer was designed for 100-GHz spaced 16-channel WDM

systems and fabricated using Ge02-doped silica waveguide
technology. From the experimental results and theoretical
considerations, it is confirmed that 1) it is possible to realize
N x N interconnects with N wavelengths when the FSR is N
times the channel spacing, 2) pulse trains of 622 Mb/s or more
can pass through the multiplexer with minimal power penalty,
and 3) the BER degradation due to the crosstalk was negligible
because the crosstalk of the multiplexer was -30 dB. These
findings confirm that the N x N multiplexer is applicable to N-
channel WDM transmission systems and WDM-based N x N
interconnect networks.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors express their gratitude to M. Nakahara, M.
-35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 Kawachi, Y. Ohmori, H. Ishio, and K. Nosu for their con-
tinuous encouragement; K. Okamoto, K. Kawano, K. Kato,
CROSSTALK (dB)
and S. Suzuki for discussions; and K. Onose, H. Okazaki, M.
Fig. 12. Calculated crosstalk induced power penalty at BER = lo-’ in
10- and 1OOchannel transmission. Horizontal axis is the crosstalk of the
Yasu for multiplexer fabrication.
multiplexer P,/ P,.

“010101. . .” pattern is given by a series of sinusoidal functions
of time t as follows:
- +
-- sin2x-t
R 1+
-sin2x-t
3R
2 21 x4 ( 2 3 2 grating for wavelength division multildemultiplexer with nanometer
1
+-sin 2x-t
5 2
+ . ..
where R is the bit rate. The first term in the series represents
eye opening. The other terms are harmonic components which
make the pulses rectangular. At the maximum bit rate, the
harmonic components are negligible because they would be
outside the passband. After passing through the multiplexer,
the eye opening is given by
The exponential term comes from the transmission coefficient
of (1 1). Here, we define the maximum bit rate as that at which
the 80%, or - 1 dB, eye opening is obtained. From (12) and the
condition that (17) equals 0.8, the maximum bit rate is obtained
as 0.82 times the FWHM. For the multiplexer described herein,
the maximum rate is 20 Gb/s. This is why no power penalty
was detected at 622 Mb/s.
Finally, our findings have shown that the multiplexer de-
scribed here has the potential to support a 16-channel WDM
transmission system and a 16x 16 WDM-based optical inter-
connect network with a bit rate of 622 Mb/s per channel. The
maximum system throughput of more than 156 Gb/s can be
expected. If a 2O-Gb/s transmission is possible as previously
described, the multiplexer would provide the throughput of 5
Tb/S.
V. CONCLUSION
We have described the optical transmission characteristics of
the arrayed-waveguide N x N wavelength multiplexer. A mul-
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