Virtually Imaged Phased Array (VIPA): Operation and Applications
The Virtually Imaged Phased Array (VIPA) is an optical device invented by Dr. Masataka Shirasaki at Fujitsu Laboratories in 1996. The VIPA is produced from multiple reflections within a tilted etalon that is partially transmissive on one surface and perfectly reflective on the other (aside from an anti-reflection coated input window). The virtual images interfere with each other to produce angular dispersion. The VIPA can produce more angular dispersion with smaller polarization dependence than conventional diffraction gratings. The VIPA has been investigated for use in Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing, Chromatic Dispersion Compensation, Hyper-fine DWDM, and Polarization Sensing applications in optical communications. This talk will present the operation of the VIPA and describe some of the applications that have been investigated.
