Integrated optical wavelength demultiplexer

Claim 1

An integrated optical-wavelength demultiplexer comprising: an incoming channel-shaped waveguide for guiding incoming optical signals including signal components of different wavelengths, which propagate in first guided modes having mutually differing orthogonal polarisations (TE and TM) and having a mutually identical order, a divergence area into which the incoming optical signals enter and are transformed into diverging signal beams. a phased array of curved optical channel-shaped waveguides provided with an entrance plane and an exit plane, for receiving and further guiding optical signals from the diverging signal beams in the direction of the exit plane, a convergence area in which optical signals exiting from the exit plane are transformed into signal beams converging towards a number of wavelength-dependent focuses, a number of exiting, optically disconnected, channel-shaped waveguides for further guiding optical signals received in said focuses from the converging signal beams, and conversion means for converting the first guided modes from one of the orthogonal polarisations (TE or TM) into guided modes of the other of the orthogonal polarisations (TM or TE) of an order differing from the first guided modes, wherein said conversion means is included between the incoming waveguide and the divergence area, and wherein said exiting channel-shaped waveguides are arranged for guiding the first and second guided modes of different orders.