Rapidly tunable narrowband wavelength filter using LiNbO/sub 3/ unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers

We demonstrate a rapidly tunable narrowband wavelength filter using unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers in lithium niobate. It is designed to switch among eight channels spaced 50 GHz apart in optical frequency (approximately 0.4 nm in wavelength) in less than 50 ns. The insertion loss is 19 dB and crosstalk is less than -22 dB. The filter consists of a cascade of three electrooptically tunable unbalanced Mach-Zehnders and a feedback circuit to keep the filter centered on the desired wavelength.