HIGH-SPEED LIQUID-CRYSTAL FIBER FABRY-PEROT TUNABLE FILTER

We report a liquid-crystal fiber Fabry-Perot tunable filter (LC-FFP-TF ) with fast tuning (< 33 mu s) over a 0.4-12 nm wavelength range cente red at 1550 nm, at a temperature of 35 degrees C, using a commercially available electroclinic LC material, BDH764E, Typically, the fall tim e of the LC-FFP-TF is over an order of magnitude shorter than the rise time. For the first time to our knowledge, switching between two disc rete wavelengths was demonstrated using an LC-FFP-TF.