32 x 32 arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer with uniform loss and cyclic frequency characteristics

A 32 x 32 arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer with uniform-loss and cyclic-frequency characteristics has been fabricated on a silica-based planar lightwave circuit. The device consists of an 80-channel arrayed-waveguide multiplexer with 100GHz spacing and 32 optical combiners which are connected to the 72 output waveguides of the multiplexer. The peak-to-peak loss and channel centre frequency variations are 1.2dB and 22.3GHz, respectively, for entire 32 x 32 input/output combinations. These values have been substantially improved from conventional arrayed-waveguide multiplexers with peak-to-peak loss and centre frequency variations of 4.7dB and 75.6GHz, respectively.