Patent ID: 6996343

Claim:
A dispersion compensator, comprising a diffraction grating optically coupled to a light-routing device, wherein: the light-routing device is configured to direct light corresponding to an optical input signal to the diffraction grating such that the light is subjected to four diffractions by the diffraction grating; the diffraction grating is configured to spectrally decompose the optical input signal into a plurality of optical components; the diffraction grating and the light-routing device are configured to direct different optical components along different paths to generate relative delays between the components; and the diffraction grating is further configured to spatially recombine the delayed components to generate a processed optical signal the light-routing device includes first and second mirrors, wherein: the diffraction grating decomposes the optical input signal into the plurality of optical components and directs the optical components to the first mirror, thereby performing a first diffraction; the first mirror receives the optical components after the first diffraction and reflects the optical components toward the diffraction grating to perform a second diffraction; in performing the second diffraction, the diffraction grating directs the optical components to the second mirror; the second mirror receives the optical components after the second diffraction and reflects the optical components toward the diffraction grating to perform a third diffraction; in performing the third diffraction, the diffraction grating directs the optical components to the first mirror; the first mirror receives the optical components after the third diffraction and reflects the optical components toward the diffraction grating to perform a fourth diffraction; and during the fourth diffraction, the diffraction grating spatially recombines the optical components received from the first mirror to generate the processed optical signal.