A wavelength-tunable semiconductor amplifier/filter for add/drop multiplexing in WDM networks

Reconfigurable channel drop in a wavelength-division multiplexed system is demonstrated using a packaged semiconductor amplifier/filter. The filter is electrically tunable over 9.0 nm with a 0.9-nm width and is used with an optical circulator to demultiplex three 5.0-Gb/s WDM channels spaced by 2.25 nm. A receiver sensitivity improvement and low optical crosstalk is observed over a dynamic range of nearly 10 dB.