Monolithic integration of a silica-based 16-channel VMUX/VDMUX on quartz substrate

A monolithic integrated variable attenuator multiplexer/demultiplexer is demonstrated. It is composed of a 16-channel 200 GHz silica-based arrayed waveguide grating and an array of Mach—Zehnder interferometer thermo-optic variable optical attenuators. The integrated device is fabricated on a quartz substrate, which eliminates the process of depositing the undercladding layer and reduces the power consumption compared with a device fabricated on a silicon substrate. The insertion loss and crosstalk of the integrated device are −5 dB and less than −22 dB, respectively. The power consumption is only 110 mW at the attenuation of 20 dB per channel.