A novel all-fiber optical interleaver with flat-top passband

An all-fiber optical interleaver with almost rectangular wavelength response is developed by using a new configuration. The device consists of a 2times2 and a 3times3 directional fiber coupler. Based on the digital approximation method of Fourier series, the relationships among the splitting ratios of the couplers, the length difference of interference arms, and the intensity transmission spectrum are analyzed. The results indicate that a uniform flattop spectral response can be obtained by the configuration when the length difference of interference arms and the coupling coefficient of the couplers, with some certain values, are given. The passband and stopband of optical interleaver are improved remarkably. The coupling ratio of couplers and the proportion of the length differences can be controlled accurately in the course of fabricating the interleaver. A novel structure of an interleaver is fabricated by using the fused biconical taper technics in experiment. The experimental results are in good agreement with the analytical ones