Eight-wavelength Er-Yb doped amplifier: Combiner/splitter planar integrated module

We report the successful operation of a pigtailed eight-wavelength planar integrated amplifying combiner. This device can be used in a splitter or in a combiner configuration. It consists in an 8×1 combiner and a 5.5-cm-long Er-Yb-doped waveguide amplifier. The module provides net gain simultaneously to the eight combined wavelengths in the 1531-1546-nm optical bandwidth. This module has been incorporated in an 8×2.5 Gb/s wavelength-division-mnltiplexed (WDM) system. The central wavelength was 1535 nm and the channel spacing was 1 nm. Negative penalty for bit-error-rate performances (BER<10^-10) has been measured for each wavelength. The results of the system performance demonstrate the potential of the ion-exchange technology in providing cost effective integrated optic solutions for WDM networks applications.