Monolithically integrated optical channel monitor for DWDM transmission systems

The design, fabrication, and performance of an InP-based monolithically integrated optical power monitor are presented. It contains 44 wavelength channels separated by 100 GHz and demonstrates record small footprint size. The device's major components, which include the echelle diffractive grating demultiplexer, passive waveguide circuitry and single-mode vertically integrated waveguide PIN photodetectors, are characterized and discussed as generic building blocks of InP-based planar lightwave technology for DWDM.