Optical delay lines based on optical filters

Optical delay lines have some important applications, notably in optical communication systems and in phased arrays. These devices are based on the concept of optical group delay, which, in turn, can be understood as the property of an optical filter. Optical filters are well-understood devices and, in particular, their dispersive properties determine the group delay response. We review these dispersive properties and point out some of the inherent tradeoffs involved in generating large group delay. Fiber Bragg gratings and recent results on optical all-pass filters are used as examples.