Patent ID: 7133587

Claim:
A dispersion compensator comprising: at least one first optical waveguide; a first slab waveguide; an arrayed waveguide connected to said at least one first optical waveguide via said first slab waveguide, said arrayed waveguide comprising a plurality of channel waveguides each of which has a different length; a second slab waveguide; at least one second optical waveguide connected to said arrayed waveguide via said second slab waveguide; and a phase distribution provider configured to provide a phase distribution to said arrayed waveguide, said phase distribution provider comprising: a first refractive index adjuster configured to adjust a refractive index in a first portion of each of the plurality of channel waveguides and configured to provide positive dispersion compensation, and a second refractive index adjuster configured to adjust a refractive index in a second portion of each of the plurality of waveguides and configured to provide negative dispersion compensation, wherein for each channel waveguide, the first and second portions are different sizes.