In this paper we present a novel configuration for an all-fiber tunable infinite impulse response (IIR) optical filter using stimulated Brillouin scattering. By applying the Brillouin acoustic waves within the coupling area of an optical coupler, we can control its transmittivity and so to affect the spectral response of the IIR optical filter. In this paper we explain the principle of operation of the proposed device and experimentally demonstrate the ability to control the spectral response of an optical filter based on fiber ring resonator configuration. We presented preliminary experimental results which demonstrate the potential of the proposed method for the realization of a tunable optical filter, by achieving a change of about 0.7 dB in the depth of the spectral response of the filter. Such device could be used for realization of many allfiber optical components such as modulators and switches. In future work, an improvement of the filter may be realized, by using the short loop configuration, and a narrower laser source for the input signal.
The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of filtered incoherent light can be approximated from the product of the coherence time of the light and the equivalent (electrical) noise bandwidth of the detector. This approximation holds only for the light with very short coherence time, that is in the case where the optical bandwidth of the light is much larger than the electrical bandwidth. We present here an expression for accurate evaluation of the SNR of the filtered incoherent light, which computes SNR from arbitrary shapes of optical and electrical filter power spectral densities (PSD). The PSDs of the filters can be measured using optical and electrical spectrum analyzers. Using our expression, we show that the SNR reaches unity when the electrical filter bandwidth is becoming larger than the optical filter bandwidth. To prove the theory, we evaluate and directly measure SNR of an incoherent light source filtered with several optical filters with bandwidths larger and commensurate with the bandwidth of the detector. For later we used optical and electrical filters with 3-dB bandwidths of 15 GHz and 10 GHz, respectively. Using our expression to evaluate SNR we obtained results in a good agreement with directly measured SNR. The results also prove that the approximation for evaluating SNR does not provide accurate results. The PSD of the detector with large noise bandwidth is difficult to measure using spectrum analyzer. There- fore, we report here a method for measuring the electrical noise bandwidth of the detector using the heterodyne linewidth measurement technique with tunable laser.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.