A tunable demultiplexer using a polymer-based holographic grating with strain gradient

A tunable demultiplexer based on the holographic grating (HG) using photopolymer is described. The system is based on the 1st order Born approximation of volume diffraction, optical aberration of the lens system, and mode correlation of fiber coupling. The merits of the holographic grating are that it has relatively easy fabrication process, non-uniform grating period and multiplexing are possible, and anisotropic diffraction can be exploited. And also the strain tuning method on the polymer grating for wavelength tuning is proposed. In the setup, the polymer grating is attached on the two XYZ linear stages. If one stage is fixed and the other stage moves away, the polymer grating is extended. Hence all the transmission wavelengths move to longer wavelength with grating period variation caused by the strain induced on the polymer. The objective of this method is to change the transmission wavelengths of the demultiplexer linearly or arbitrarily.

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