An optical filter of adjustable finesse using an amplified fiber ring resonator

We consider an optical filter constructed from a simple ring resonator with two electro-optical directional couplers and a fiber amplifier in the ring. By adjusting the coupling coefficient of the electro-optical directional couplers, the finesse of this optical filter can be controlled over a specified range. The variation in the insertion loss of the optical filter can be overcome by adjusting the gain of the fiber amplifier simultaneously. This paper analyzes theoretically the performance of the optical filter, as a function of the coupling coefficient of the electro-optical directional coupler and the gain of the fiber amplifier. We also show that it is possible to design an optical filter of wide adjustable finesse by changing only the coupling coefficient of the electro-optical directional couplers, leaving the gain of the fiber amplifier unchanged. This simpler method results only in a slight change in the insertion loss if an appropriate condition is chosen. The filter will be useful in coherent optical systems, where the bandwidth of the optical filter needs to be appropriately adjusted under varying biasing and signaling conditions, or as an optical discriminator with an adjustable Q-factor.