Design considerations for Rowland circle gratings used in photonic integrated devices for WDM applications

Design issues of photonic integrated devices for WDM applications based on Rowland circle gratings have been studied. Effects of grating period, diffraction order, grating aperture (size), and Rowland circle size on device performance are discussed. The point spread function of a typical Rowland circle grating is evaluated numerically which yields an optical image (spot) size of several microns in diameter. Our study shows that there is a tradeoff between channel dispersion and feedback efficiency in choosing the grating period when a Rowland circle grating is used as the wavelength-selective element for a parallel-waveguide-type wavelength division multiplexing device.<
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