Tapered Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot filters

A simple tapered interferometric filter and spatially varying method for wavelength decoding are described. Two all-dielectric multilayer mirrors on opposing sides of a wedged spacer layer form a tapered Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot (TFP) filter. The TFP filter shows a spatially varying transmittance which enables high-resolution low-loss wavelength decoding of a broad-band input signal. Theory and design of the filter are followed by experimental results and future applications.