Flat-top and low-dispersion interleavers using Gires-Tournois etalons as phase dispersive mirrors in a Michelson interferometer

We demonstrate a flat-top and low-dispersion optical interleavers using Gires-Tournois etalons (GTEs) as phase dispersive mirrors in a Michelson interferometer. The spectral characteristics of the 50- and 25-GHz interleavers using one GTE and two GTEs are compared. The interleavers with two GTEs in a 50-GHz channel spacing application exhibit a 0.5-dB passband larger than 43.8 GHz, a 25-dB stopband greater than 40 GHz, and a channel isolation higher than 30 dB. The chromatic dispersion of the interleaver can be compensated within a +/-10 ps/nm. The results clearly show that the interleaver interferometer using phase dispersive nature of the GTE technique can simultaneously produce low dispersion, low insertion loss, and both a 0.5-dB passband and a 25-dB stopband wider than other interferometer techniques. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.