Abstract

The acousto-optic filter (AOF)¹ has gained significant attention as the wavelength-selective element of choice in modern dense WDM systems because (1) the AOF provides numerous independently tunable optical pass bands (no other optical filter does this) and (2) the AOF can be configured so as to spatially separate wavelength channels into filtered and unfiltered channels. Combining the above features, one obtains a wavelength-selective switch or wavelength router that permits wavelength to act as an independent degree of freedom for the purposes of interconnection among points in the network.

© 1993 Optical Society of America