Performance of multiwavelength simultaneous monitoring circuit employing arrayed-waveguide grating

This paper proposes a novel multiwavelength simultaneous monitoring (MSM) circuit that uses the wavelength crossover properties of an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG). The MSM circuit consists of an AWG, a stabilized semiconductor laser as a reference light, and logarithmic amplifiers. The AWG chip is a simple planar-lightwave-circuit chip. It functions as multiple optical filters, and make it possible to monitor multiple wavelengths simultaneously. The MSM circuit, locked to the reference wavelength produced by a semiconductor laser stabilized to the 1547.49 mn /sup 13/C/sub 2/H/sub 2/ absorption line, achieved 10 MHz resolution and 30 MHz stability for 24 h in the stable polarization state. Measurement accuracy of better than 1.1 GHz can be realized even if the state of polarization of the input light fluctuates at random. Multiwavelength simultaneous monitoring is successfully demonstrated using tunable lasers.