We have reviewed recent progress on arrayed waveguide gratings for DWDM applications. AWGs can be used to realize not only mux/demux filters with various channel spacings, but also highly integrated optical components.

A strictly nonblocking 88 matrix switch was designed and fabricated using silica-based planar lightwave circuits (PLC) on a silicon substrate. The average insertion loss was 11 dB in the TE mode and 11.3 dB in the TM mode. The average switch element extinction ratio was 16.7 dB in the TE mode and 17.7 dB in the TM mode. The accumulated crosstalk was estimated to be 7.4 dB in the TE mode and 7.6 dB in the TM mode. The driving power of the phase shifter required for switching was about 0.5 W and the polarization dependence of the switching power was 4%. The switching response time was 1.3 msec. The wavelength range with a switch extinction ratio of over 15 dB was 1.31 µm30 nm.