Polarisation insensitive arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexers with ion-exchanged waveguides in glass

For the first time, 8-channel, 50 GHz arrayed-waveguide multiplexers for 1.55 /spl mu/m wavelength are realised with ion-exchanged waveguides in glass. The minimum insertion loss is 6 dB with channel crosstalk below -15 dB. The TE-TM-shift is only 0.02 nm due to the low birefringence of the waveguides.