Arrayed Waveguide Gratings in Integrated Photonics
Summary
Arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) are planar optical devices that disperse and multiplex multiple wavelengths of light by exploiting phased-array interference. In integrated photonics, AWGs serve as key components in wavelength-division multiplexing systems, optical routing, sensing and on-chip spectrometry. They comprise input and output free-propagation regions connected by an array of waveguides with incrementally varied path lengths. Light entering the input region diffracts into each waveguide, accumulates wavelength-dependent phase shifts along the differing trajectories and then re-interferes in the output region to separate distinct channels. Advances in silicon, silicon nitride, lithium niobate and hybrid platforms have produced AWGs with high channel counts, narrow channel spacing, low insertion loss and suppressed crosstalk, all within footprints of a few square millimetres. Recent work has addressed challenges of material anisotropy, mode-mismatch, thermal stability and ultrabroad-band operation, extending AWG applications from high-capacity optical communications and microwave photonics to biomedical sensing and astronomy. Integration with active modulators, photodetectors and on-chip amplification has further enhanced the performance and utility of AWG-based photonic integrated circuits.
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Arrayed Waveguide Gratings in Integrated Photonics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in arrayed waveguide gratings in integrated photonics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Arrayed waveguide grating (AWG): A photonic device that disperses or multiplexes optical wavelengths by exploiting phased-array interference in an array of waveguides.
Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM): A technique that transmits multiple optical carrier signals on different wavelengths over a single waveguide.
Free spectral range (FSR): The wavelength interval between successive diffraction orders in an AWG.
Insertion loss: The optical power loss introduced by a device when a signal passes through it.
Crosstalk: Unwanted power coupling from adjacent channels in a multiplexing device, typically expressed in decibels.
References
- Anisotropy-free arrayed waveguide gratings on X-cut thin film lithium niobate platform of in-plane anisotropy. Light: Science & Applications (2024).
- High-performance silicon arrayed-waveguide grating (de)multiplexer with 0.4-nm channel spacing. Advanced Photonics Nexus (2024).
- Ultra-Wideband RF-Photonics Technology for Microwave Spectrometry. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (2024).
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