The third-generation filter features the same high performance of previous models in a package that is 40% smaller, with reductions in both the height and footprint dimensions.
With multiple bandwidth options and a fast tuning speed, the bandpass filter is suitable for any application that requires wavelength tuning. The optical design is an extension of the company’s proven MEMS switch technology platform. Exhibiting the same longevity and durability as the company’s other products, the filter features a MEMS variable optical attenuator and a MEMS 1×N optical switch.
The two-port device demultiplexes the incoming multiwavelength signal and selects the desired wavelength channel using a tilting MEMS mirror as the tuning mechanism.
Features include thermal stability, repeatability, a Gaussian-shaped passband, and RS-232 and I2C control interfaces. Backreflection is >40 dB, polarization-dependent loss is <0.3 dB, tuning resolution is 10 pm, tuning speed is <30 mW, optical power is <500 mW, and operating temperature is from -40 to 85 °C.
The filter can tune within the C- (1529 to 1564 nm) and L-bands (1575 to 1610 nm) and can be optimized for either a 50- or 100-GHz channel plan. Because it has both continuous scan and channel parking capability, it can be used in a wide range of optical filter applications, including noise suppression and signal tracking.
It can act as an optical channel monitor for dense wavelength division multiplexing systems, as an optical spectrum analyzer for test and measurement, or as a tunable demultiplexer at a reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer node. Its compact size and reliability make it suitable for military and defense avionic systems, and it is well suited for applications that require frequent or continuous tuning.