Patent ID: 6014390
Filing Date: 2000-01-11
Classification: G02B,G02F

Abstract:
A wavelength tunable transmitter comprising:(a) a waveguide grating router comprising(i) a source of incident plane wave of light having an input wavelength .lambda..sub.i and a phase, and(ii) at least a first free space region configured to receive the input light from the source and generate first order and a pair of second order Brillouin zones having the same wavelength .lambda..sub.i, the pair of second order Brillouin zones defining a pair of waveguide outputs having substantially the same phase, and(b) a truncated Mach-Zehnder interferometer comprising two incoming transmission paths for receiving the pair of outputs, a means for altering the phase of one transmission path relative to the other, and a means for combining the transmission paths to a single output having a predetermined wavelength .lambda..sub.i, wherein one of each of the pair of outputs in the second order Brillouin zones is coupled to one of the transmission paths of the interferometer, whereby the second order Brillouin zones are employed as an output from the waveguide router to enable high speed modulation of the predetermined wavelength .lambda..sub.i at the single output, andwherein the source comprises a series of amplifiers so that selective activation of one of the series of amplifiers will determine the predetermined wavelength .lambda..sub.i at the single output.