Designing waveguide filters with optical thin-film computational tools

• Published in: Optics communications Vol. 197; no. 4; pp. 309 - 316
• Main Authors: Escoubas, L., Drouard, E., Flory, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2001; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Circuit properties; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Filters; Filters, zone plates, and polarizers; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Guided waves; Integrated optics components; Integrated optics. Optical fibers and wave guides; Optical and optoelectronic circuits; Optical communication systems, multiplexers, and demultiplexers; Optical elements, devices, and systems; Optics; Physics; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Thin films; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); Waveguides, couplers, and arrays; Thin films; Filters; Guided waves; Integrated optics components; Integrated optics; Optical filter; Optical telecommunication; Theoretical study; Optical waveguide; Bragg reflection; Abelès method; Reflectance; Thin film; Mode matching method
• ISSN: 0030-4018; 1873-0310
• DOI: 10.1016/S0030-4018(01)01451-1

By comparing computation results obtained with the film mode matching (FMM) method to those obtained with the Abelès optical thin-film computation method, we demonstrate that the Abelès method may be used to compute the spectral transmittance or reflectance of filters for waveguides. Some classical examples of integrated optics components are presented to check the validity of the Abelès computation method (ACM) for waveguides: an integrated Bragg reflector, an integrated narrow band-pass filter and a high-pass dichroic filter. Results obtained with the Abelès method can be very close to those obtained with the rigorous FMM method. Moreover, computation time can be divided by a factor of 10,000 on a conventional PC. An automatic synthesis software based on the ACM is then used to design an integrated gain flattening filter. Thus, we show that spectral filters for waveguides of arbitrary spectral transmittance or reflectance can be designed with thin-film synthesis softwares based on the well-known Abelès method.