Patent ID: 6879755

Claim:
A tunable dispersion compensator for the compensation of chromatic dispersion in a light signal having a plurality of wavelength channels, each wavelength channel having accumulated a different chromatic dispersion so that said light signal has a dispersion slope, said dispersion compensator comprising: a first and a second tunable optical structure, each comprising: an optical waveguide having a light propagation axis; and a Bragg grating provided in said waveguide across the light propagation axis, said Bragg grating having a plurality of grating components, each said grating component being associated with a limited number of said plurality of wavelength channels and having a characteristic spatially variable Bragg wavelength selected to compensate for a given chromatic dispersion; first and second tuning means for independently tuning the spatially variable Bragg wavelengths of said grating components of a respective one of said first and second optical structures; and an optical coupling assembly having an input port for receiving said light signal, a pair of input/output ports for sequentially propagating said light signal in said first and second optical structures and receiving a reflection thereof by the corresponding Bragg grating, and an output port for outputting said light signal after reflection by the Bragg grating of both of said optical structures, tuning of each said first and second optical structures by said first and second tuning means producing an independent compensation of the dispersion and the dispersion slope of said light signal.