Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a uniform wavelength period

We have realized a first optical filter composed of optical delay lines and couplers that has a periodic response with respect to wavelength, whereas a conventional optical filter is known to have a periodic response to relative optical frequency. This new filter can be constructed by using a phase-generating coupler (PGC) that supplies the optical delay lines with a wavelength-dependent nonlinear phase. The PGC, which is also composed of optical delay lines and couplers, can simultaneously provide a desired phase and an arbitrary amplitude coupling ratio. We applied our transformation method to a conventional Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) as an-example of an-optical frequency filter and converted it to an optical wavelength filter. We fabricated the designed MZI on a silica-based planar lightwave circuit and successfully realized what is believed to be the first MZI with a uniform wavelength period. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.