16-band integrated dynamic gain equalization filter with less than 2.8-dB insertion loss

We demonstrate a low-loss 16-band dynamic gain equalization filter consisting of two perfectly sampled waveguide grating routers (WGRs) and an array of thermooptic attenuators. This integrated silica waveguide filter has <2.8-dB fiber-to-fiber insertion loss, <0.2-dB polarization-dependent loss at minimum attenuation and <0.7-dB at 10-dB extra attenuation, and <5.0-W electrical power consumption over the C-band. We also demonstrate a new technique for reducing the loss of WGRs.