Thin Film Filters for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing

                  The DWDM Assistant takes the pain and tedium out of the process for the design of multiple-cavity filters,

                  particularly those intended for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing.

                  The DWDM Assistant takes a desired specification and produces a set of candidate designs using  the method of symmetrical periods.

                  The properties of the candidate designs are displayed and sorted in a number of user-specified ways,

                  such as total layer thickness, deposition time, and ripple performance.

            The symmetrical period technique used by the DWDM Assistant is enhanced by a ripple optimization algorithm that

            adds structures composed only of quarterwave layers to reduce the ripple in the passband. In general,

            a number of designs will satisfy the given requirements for a filter, but the DWDM Assistant makes it possible to examine

             thoroughly and rank candidate designs according to critical criteria.