Efficient WDM optical crossconnect using widely tunable FBGs

Summary form only given. Wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) optical crossconnects will be highly useful in future reconfigurable optical networks. Conventional architectures for WDM crossconnects using (de)multiplexers and space switches can be quite expensive and the components are not generally of high filtering quality. Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) offer an attractive option in WDM routing systems because FBGs: (a) are fiber compatible with low loss, and low cost, (b) have high spectral selectivity, thereby enabling narrow channel spacing, and (c) exhibit high reflectivity, thereby ensuring good crosstalk suppression. We demonstrate a WDM crossconnect that uses the wide tuning range of ultra-strong FBGs. The crossconnect uses cascades of FBGs, in which the FBGs can be tuned completely out of the WDM signal band resulting in low crosstalk and power penalty.