Design of 256-channel 25-GHz AWG for ultra-dense wavelength division multiplexing

We present 256-channel, 25-GHz AWG designed for ultra-dense wavelength division multiplexing. For the design two in-house developed tools were used: AWG-Parameters tool for the calculation of input design parameters and AWGAnalyser tool, used to evaluate the simulated transmission characteristics. The AWG structure was designed for AWG central wavelength of 1550 nm and simulated with PHASAR tool from Optiwave. To keep the size of AWG structure as small as possible the number of waveguides in the phased array was tested. The simulations show that there is a certain minimum number of phased array waveguides necessary to reach sufficient AWG performance. After optimization, the AWG structure reached 10 cm x 11 cm in size and satisfying optical properties.