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Wavelength
division multiplexing (WDM) and demultiplexing (WDDM) devices are
considered to be two of the key elements for enhancing the transmission
bandwidth of optical communications and sensor systems. During past
20 years, various types of WDMs and WDDMs have been proposed and
demonstrated. Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technology
allows multiple optical channels to be simultaneously transmitted
at different wavelengths through a single optical fiber, and is
a useful means of making full use of the low-loss characteristics
of optical fibers over a wide-wavelength region. Besides its capability
to efficiently exploit the huge bandwidth of single mode optical
fibers, WDM is promising for constructing different levels of transparency
to optical transmissions (i.e., independent of data bit-rate, modulation
format, or protocol), which permits excellent upgrading and backward
compatibility of the current networks. This makes WDM the key technology
for tomorrow's developments in data, voice, imaging, and video communications.
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