Photonic Integrated Circuits

Optical communication networks have grown at aphenomenal rate since the introduction of commercialoptical systems in 1980s with capacity nearlydoubling every year. One of the main driving factorshas been the advancement in multichannel wavelengthdivision multiplexed (WDM) optical systems which havesignificantly extended the accessible bandwidth ofthe optical fiber. This book written in the form ofa thesis demonstrates the keyrole played by photonic integrated circuits (PICs) inWDM systems by making them simpler smaller cheaperand more versatile. It takes the reader throughdifferent stages of creation of a PIC:conceptualization design epitaxial growthfabrication and testing. Using such PICs a coherentoptical RF link is built which clearly shows theadvantage of photonic integration over discreteelement systems. Ultimately usingthe principles of photonic integration amonolithically integrated reconfigurable opticaladd-drop multiplexer (MI-ROADM) is demonstrated whichhas the potential to further revolutionize WDM systems.