Tunable silicon etalon for simultaneous spectral filtering and wavelength monitoring of a DWDM transmitter

A temperature-tunable Fabry-Perot filter made of silicon has been developed and applied for simultaneous spectral filtering and wavelength monitoring of a directly modulated DFB laser. This novel device decreases the dispersion penalty of a cost-effective dense wavelength-division-multiplexing (DWDM) transmitter in a long-haul transmission link. Moreover, it allows the operating wavelength of the transmitter to be accurately monitored in real time.