Passive and adaptive optical equalizer for reconfigurable multiwavelength networks

We describe the concept for a passive device that equalizes the power of a multiwavelength optical signal without spectrally dispersing the signal. Th e proposed device consists of a Fabry-Perot cavity with a photorefractive m edium. It is scalable in the number of wavelengths, adapts to time variatio ns in the optical power, and does not require an external power reference, so it is well suited for equalizing the output of erbium-doped fiber amplif iers in reconfigurable, multiwavelength, optical networks. We give an analy sis of the device's operation and of network behavior. (C) 2001 Optical Soc iety of America.