| Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology plays an important role in the telecommunication systems. A crucial component in the WDM system is the tunable filter, which acts as a demultiplexer at the receiver end. This thesis proposes an optical tunable filter design using liquid crystal materials and thin film structure for WDM applications. The proposed filter is in essence a Fabry-Perot etalon. The rigorous coupled-wave analysis algorithm is used as the simulation method. The results turned out to have a -3 dB pass band ripple transmission profile for the tuning range of S-, C-, and L-band (1440 nm to 1620 nm), and the skirt selectivity can be reached to 38%. The results also showed that the -0.5 dB pass band ripple transmission profile can be achieved for the S- and C-band. The tolerance of the coupling layers thicknesses in the design structure has a value of 10%. |
