Interleaver Using an Arrayed-Waveguide Grating-Lens-Grating Configuration for Spectrally Efficient Systems

We propose an optical interleaver using an arrayed waveguide grating-lens-grating cascade and a 3-dB coupler. It has a narrow channel spacing, high-order Gaussian passbands, and low chromatic dispersion. We demonstrate a 16.7-GHz version for spectrally efficient wavelength-division-multiplexed systems.