An arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) for DWDM/CWDM application based on BCB polymer

Wavelength splitting (demultiplexing) and combining (multiplexing) are important functions in many optical applications. Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) enable optical multiplexing and demultiplexing in which the signals having different light wavelengths can be separated or combined to transmit in single fibre optic. Arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer is a key element for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems in optical telecommunication. This paper proposed a conventional AWG structure based on BenzoCyclobutene (BCB 4024-40) polymer for DWDM/CWDM applications. AWGs are designed on silica substrate with the polymer waveguide refractive index of 1.5556 and layer refractive index of 1.537. An objective of this work is to observe the performance of the chosen polymer material in optical wavelength multiplexer based on AWG technique. This work is based on beam propagation calculation on AWG structures of 4 channels. Two types of four channels AWG with crosstalk level below -31.5 dB and 30.9 dB have been successfully designed and operate well in 1550 nm communication window at their desired frequency spacing. Although numbers of AWG structure have been designed and implemented, this work is considered to be the first that based on BCB polymer.