WDM OPTICAL NETWORKS

(EC-18312)

Lecture 3
Optical Filters and Optical Amplifiers

16 Feb. 2025
 Introduction to Optical Filters
• Optical Filters are devices that selectively
transmit light of specific wavelengths or range of
wavelengths while blocking others.
• Types of Optical Filters:
– Bandpass Filters: Allow a range of wavelengths to
pass through and block others.
– Bandstop Filters: Block a certain range of
wavelengths while allowing others to pass.
– Low-pass Filters: Allow wavelengths below a certain
threshold to pass, blocking higher wavelengths.
– High-pass Filters: Allow wavelengths above a certain
threshold to pass, blocking lower wavelengths.
Working Principle of Optical Filters
• Optical filters work based on the interference,
absorption, or diffraction of light.
– Absorption Filters: Use materials that absorb
certain wavelengths.
– Interference Filters: Use thin layers of material to
create interference patterns that selectively
transmit certain wavelengths.
– Diffraction Filters: Use a grating to separate
different wavelengths, allowing only selected ones
to pass.
 Applications of Optical Filters
• Telecommunications: Filters are used in WDM
systems to separate and combine optical
channels.
• Spectroscopy: Filters help in isolating specific
wavelengths for measurement.
• Imaging Systems: Used in optical instruments
like cameras and microscopes to enhance
image quality by filtering out unwanted
wavelengths.
 Optical Bandpass Filters in
Communication Systems
• WDM Systems: Optical bandpass filters are
critical for separating and multiplexing
different wavelength channels in a WDM
system.
• Allows signals of specific wavelength bands to
pass while rejecting unwanted signals
 Design of Optical Filters
• Filter design is based on the material
properties, thickness of layers, and optical
path length.
• Design parameters:
– Wavelength range (central wavelength and
bandwidth).
– Optical loss.
– Filter shape (Gaussian, Lorentzian, etc.).
– Transmission efficiency
 Optical Filters

A simple filter, which selects one wavelength and either

blocks the remaining wavelengths or makes them available
on a third port.
 Key Characteristics
• Low insertion loss. The insertion loss is the input-to-
output loss of the filter. Also, the loss should be
independent of the state of polarization of the input
signals.
• The passband of a filter should be temperature
independent.
• In a cascaded filter WDM system, the passband becomes
progressively narrower. To ensure reasonably broad
passbands at the end of the cascade, the individual filters
should have very flat passbands.
• The passband skirts should be sharp to reduce the
amount of energy passed through from adjacent
channels. This energy is seen as crosstalk and degrades
the system performance.
• Last but not the least, it should have LOW COST
Characterization of Optical Filter

𝜆0 is the center wavelength of the filter, and 𝜆 denotes the

wavelength of the light signal.
 Gratings
• Grating involves interference among multiple optical
signals originating from the same source but with
different relative phase shifts.
• A light wave of angular frequency ω propagating, say, in
the z direction has a dependence on z and t of the form
cos(ωt − βz).
• β is the propagation constant and depends on the
medium. The phase of the wave is ωt −βz.
• Thus a relative phase shift between two waves from the
same source can be achieved if they traverse two paths
of different lengths.
• In WDM systems, gratings are used
– as demultiplexers to separate the individual wavelengths
– as multiplexers to combine them.
 Gratings

(a) A transmission grating (b) A reflection grating

The angle at which the signal is diffracted depends
on the wavelength
 Bragg Gratings
• In general, any periodic perturbation in the
propagating medium serves as a Bragg grating.
• This perturbation is usually a periodic variation
of the refractive index of the medium.
• The fiber with Bragg gratings can be used to
make a variety of devices such as filters,
add/drop multiplexers, and dispersion
compensators.
 Principle of Operation
• Consider two waves propagating in opposite directions with
propagation constants 𝛽0 and 𝛽1
• Energy is coupled if they satisfy the Bragg phase-matching
2𝜋
condition: |𝛽0 - 𝛽1 |= , where Λ is the period of the grating.
Λ
• Suppose the energy from the wave is coupled onto a scattered
wave traveling in the opposite direction at the same
wavelength then
2𝜋
|𝛽0 - (-𝛽0 )|= 2𝛽0 =
Λ
2𝜋𝜂𝑒𝑓𝑓
• Letting 𝛽0 = , 𝜆0 being the wavelength of the incident
𝜆0
wave and 𝜂𝑒𝑓𝑓 is the effective refractive index of the fiber, the
wave is reflected provided 𝜆0 = 2Λ𝜂𝑒𝑓𝑓 . This wavelength 𝜆0 is
called the Bragg wavelength.
• If several wavelengths are transmitted into a fiber Bragg
grating, the Bragg wavelength is reflected while the other
wavelengths are transmitted
 Principle of Operation

• The incident wave is reflected from each period,

Λ, of the grating.
• These reflections add in phase when the path
length, in terms of wavelength 𝜆0 , for each period is
equal to half the incident wavelength 𝜆0 .
• This is equivalent to Λ𝜂𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝜆0 /2, which is the
Bragg condition.
 Fiber Gratings
• Fiber gratings applications: filtering, add/drop
functions, and dispersion compensators
• Being all-fiber devices, their main advantages
are their low loss, ease of coupling (with other
fibers), polarization insensitivity, low
temperature-coefficient, and simple
packaging.
• Hence, extremely low-cost devices.
 Fiber Bragg Gratings
• Fiber Bragg gratings can be fabricated with
extremely low loss (0.1 dB), high wavelength
accuracy (± 0.05 nm is easily achieved), high
adjacent channel crosstalk suppression (40 dB),
as well as flat gains.
• These properties of fiber Bragg gratings make
them very useful devices for system applications.
• Fiber Bragg gratings are finding a variety of uses
in WDM systems, ranging from filters and optical
add/drop elements to dispersion compensators.
 Optical add elements based on fiber Bragg gratings

• It consists of a three-port circulator with a fiber Bragg

grating. The circulator transmits light coming in on port 1
out on port 2 and transmits light coming in on port 2 out
on port 3.
• In this case, the grating reflects the desired wavelength
𝜆2 , which is then dropped at port 3.
• The remaining three wavelengths are passed through.
 Optical add/drop elements based on
fiber Bragg gratings

• It is possible to implement an add/drop function, by

introducing a coupler to add the same wavelength that
was dropped.
• Many variations of this simple add/drop element can be
realized by using gratings in combination with couplers
and circulators.
Fabry-
Perot
Filters
• A Fabry-Perot filter consists of the cavity formed
by two highly reflective mirrors placed parallel to
each other.
• The input light beam to the filter enters the first
mirror at right angles to its surface.
• The output of the filter is the light beam leaving
the second mirror.
 Principle
of
Operation
• The input signal is incident on the left surface of the cavity.
After one pass through the cavity, as shown, a part of the
light leaves the cavity through the right facet and a part is
reflected.
• A part of the reflected wave is again reflected by the left
facet to the right facet.
• Those wavelengths for which the cavity length is an integer
multiple of half the wavelength in the cavity, all the light
waves transmitted through the right facet add in phase.
• Such wavelengths are called the resonant wavelengths of
the cavity.
 Optical Amplification
• Why optical amplification is necessary
– To boost optical signals without converting them
to electrical signals, addressing signal attenuation
over long distances.
• Types of amplifiers:
– EDFA (Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier)
– Raman Amplifier
Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)

• It consists of a length of silica fiber whose core is doped

with ions of element erbium, 𝐸𝑟 +3 .
• This fiber is pumped using a pump signal from a laser,
typically at a wavelength of 980 nm or 1480 nm.
• In order to combine the output of the pump laser with
the input signal, the doped fiber is preceded by a
wavelength-selective coupler.
• An isolator is used at the input and/or output of any
amplifier to prevent reflections into the amplifier.
 Principle of Operation of EDFA
• Stark splitting denotes the phenomenon by which the
energy levels of free erbium ions are split into a
number of levels, when the ion is introduced into silica
glass.
• Thermalization refers to the process by which the
erbium ions are distributed within the various (split)
levels constituting an energy band.
• The set of frequencies that can be amplified by
stimulated emission from the E2 band to the E1 band
corresponds to the wavelength range 1525–1570 nm, a
bandwidth of 50 nm, with a peak around 1532 nm.
 Principle of Operation of EDFA
• Three energy levels E1, E2, E3 of
Er3+ ions in silica glass. The fourth
energy level, E4, is present in
fluoride glass but not in silica glass.
• The upward arrows indicate
wavelengths at which the amplifier
can be pumped to excite the ions
into the higher energy level.
• The 980 nm, respectively 1480 nm,
transition corresponds to the band
gap between the E1 and E3,
respectively E1 and E2, levels.
• The downward transition
represents the wavelength of
photons emitted due to
spontaneous and stimulated
emission.
 Multistage Design of EDFA

• In the above Two-stage design:

– The first stage is designed to provide high gain and low noise
– The second stage is designed to produce high output power
• Two-stage design is used to provide redundancy in the
event of the failure of a pump, results in a small impact on
the system performance
• Also, a loss element can be placed between the two stages
with negligible impact on the performance. It can be filter,
a simple optical add/drop multiplexer, or a dispersion
compensation module, etc.
 Conclusion
• This Lecture:
– Optical Amplifiers
– Optical Filters

• Next Lecture:
– Remaining topics of First unit
Thank you