Rapid evaluation of gain spectra from measured ASE spectra of travelling-wave semiconductor optical amplifier

An analytical equation, which directly relates amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) with small signal gain (SSG) of travelling-wave semiconductor optical amplifier (TWA), was derived. It was shown by theoretical analysis and experimental results that calibrated ASE spectra of TWA at different injection currents could be good evaluation and extension of SSG near gain peaks when gain peaks are larger than several decibels.The rapid evaluation method of SSG spectra is very simple, effective and especially applicable to batch measurement.     

Hybrid flat gain C-band optical amplifier with Zr-based erbium-doped fiber and semiconductor optical amplifier

An efficient gain-flattened C-band optical amplifier is demonstrated using a hybrid configuration with a Zirconia-based Erbium-doped fibre (Zr-EDF) and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). The amplifier utilizes a two-stage structure with a midway isolator to improve flat gain characteristic and reduce noise figure. At input signal power of −30 dBm, a flat gain of 28 dB is obtained from wavelength region of 1530 to 1560 nm with gain variation of less than 4 dB. The noise figure is maintained below 11 dB at the flat-gain region. This amplifier has the potential to be used in the high channel count dense wavelength division multiplexing system due to its simplicity and compact design.     

A flexible and high-performance bidirectional optical amplifier with all optical gain control using ASE noise path through multi-port circulators

We report a flexible all-optical gain controlled bidirectional optical amplifier. The device achieves constant gain and low noise figure over a large input power range. Moreover, the device removes Rayleigh backscattered light and amplifier noise.     

Enhancement in the gain recovery of a semiconductor optical amplifier by device temperature control

We present a numerical investigation on the temperature dependence of gain recovery, of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). It is shown that the decrease in temperature significantly speed-up the gain recovery of the SOA. Under typical operating conditions, a 20 K reduction in temperature of the SOA results in a decrease of 150 ps in the gain recovery time. A comparative estimation of device temperature and assisted-light power requirements for enhancing the gain recovery has also been carried out. It is found that, a decrease of 8 K in the temperature of the SOA, is as effective in enhancing the gain recovery as injection of 25 dBm assisted-light power in the counter-propagating mode. Our study shows that under moderate current biasing conditions, temperature reduction is a better and convenient option to speed-up the gain recovery of an SOA, than the use of external assisted-light injection, which requires an additional laser source and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) components for coupling and de-coupling, leading to insertion losses in the communication channel.     

All optical latches using quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifier

The design and performance of two optical latches, the Set-Reset (SR) latch and D-Flip-Flop has been studied. These latches are the building blocks of large optical processors. The latches are built using two optical logic operations NAND and NOT. Both NAND and NOT operations are realized by using Mach-Zhender interferometer (MZI) utilizing semiconductor optical amplifier with quantum dot active region (QD-SOA). Nonlinear dynamics including carrier heating and spectral hole-burning in the QD-SOA are taken into account together with the rate equations in order to realize the all-optical logic operations. Results show that this scheme can realize the functions of Set-Reset latch and D-Flip-Flop at high speeds (∼250 Gb/s). The dependence of the output quality (Q factor) on QD-SOA parameters is also discussed.     

Ultra-short optical pulse shaping using semiconductor optical amplifier

Optical ultra-short pulse compression and amplification using semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is presented. Using pump-probe pulse configuration, we present an SOA model which includes the nonlinear effects such as, spectral hole burning (SHB), carrier heating (CH), two-photon absorption (TPA) and group velocity dispersion (GVD) taking into account gain spectrum effect. Then by adjusting time delay between the pump pulse and probe pulse we use the model for simultaneous compression and amplification of probe pulse. We also analyze the four wave mixing (FWM) signal during pulse compression process. It is shown that dispersive effect of GVD on output probe pulse becomes more important for larger cavity length and probe-pump pulses relative time delays.     

Gain-enhanced optical coherence in a high optical gain semiconductor

The propagation of ultrashort pulses in a traveling wave semiconductor amplifier is considered. It is demonstrated that the effective polarization relaxation time, which determines the coherence of the interaction of pulses within the medium, strongly depends on its optical gain. As a result, it is shown that at large optical gains the coherence time can exceed the transverse relaxation time _T2$T_2$ by an order of magnitude, this accounting for the strong femtosecond superradiant pulse generation commonly observed in semiconductor laser structures.     

A model for noise processes in semiconductor laser amplifiers, part 1: the travelling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier

A new model for the noise processes in a travelling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier is presented. This model is based on applying perturbation techniques to the basic travelling-wave rate equations to deduce the noise rate equations. These equations are then used to calculate the power spectral densities of the intensity, electron density and phase noises introduced into a single signal mode propagating through the amplifier. The model can be applied to any gain profile within the amplifier, ranging from unsaturated to completely saturated. Furthermore, in contrast to most other semiconductor laser amplifier models, this model does not require the homogenization of the photon field over the length of the device.     

All-optical ultrawideband monocycle generation utilizing gain saturation of a dark return-to-zero signal in a semiconductor optical amplifier

We demonstrate a simple and compact scheme to generate ultrawideband (UWB) monocycle pulses utilizing gain saturation of a dark return-to-zero (RZ) signal in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). When optical pulses with a dark RZ format propagate through the SOA, the output power at the rising edge will be overamplified compared with that at other durations due to the gain unsaturation. As a result, the output pulses are monocyclelike. The UWB frequency spectra at different injected currents, different input pulse widths, and different input wavelengths are analyzed. Our experiments show that the monocycle generation has good tolerance to the SOA bias current and the input signal wavelength.     

Placement of optimized semiconductor optical amplifier in fiber optical communication systems

This paper deals with the placement of semiconductor optical amplifier for 10 Gb/s non-return to zero format in single mode and dispersion-compensated fiber link. We investigated post-, pre- and symmetrical power compensation methods for different positions of the SOA in fiber link. The effect of increase in signal input power for the three power compensation methods is compared in terms of eye diagram, bit error rate, eye closure penalty and output received power. It is found that the post-power compensation method is superior to pre- and symmetrical power compensation methods. Further, the effect of variation in length of the standard single mode fiber and dispersion-compensated fiber for three power compensation configurations has also been observed. The impact of eye closure penalty is observed for large transmission distances for different signal input powers.     

Optical power equalization using Fabry-Perot semiconductor optical amplifier

A novel scheme of optical power equalization based on Fabry-Perot semiconductor optical amplifier (FPSOA) is proposed. Because of the gain characteristic of FP-SOA, real-time controlling mechanism according to input optical power is aborted in the scheme. The simulations show that 10-dB pulse peak power variation can be clamped in less than i dB. The influences of injecting current, pulse periods, and pulse width are discussed.     

Multiwavelength fiber laser using S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier and semiconductor optical amplifier

A multiwavelength fiber ring laser that is based on an S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is developed. An optical switch is used to switch the multiwavelength fiber laser between S-band and L-band. This fiber laser can stably lase seven wavelengths in the S-band or 28 wavelengths in the L-band. Additionally, the lasing wavelengths with a signal-to-noise ratio of over 33 dB and a wavelength spacing of 100 GHz are demonstrated experimentally. The average powers of the lasing wavelength in the S-band and the L-band are −7.53 and −12.15 dBm, respectively.     

Wavelength-tunable optical pulse generation from a fiber ring laser with a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier

This work describes, for the first time, wavelength-tunable optical pulse generation from a fiber ring laser with a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier. The optical signal to noise ratio of this fiber laser is higher than 49 dB over the wavelength-tunable range of 16 nm. Performance of this fiber ring laser operated at different wavelengths is also discussed.     

Calculation of transient gain enhancement by suppressing intra-cavity ASE in a large-aperture KrF laser amplifier

In a large-aperture amplifier, steady-state gain is heavily reduced by the intra-cavity amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). However, the reduced gain could be transiently enhanced by temporally suppressing the ASE with an intense depleting short pulse. Previously, we reported the experimental observation of this transient gain enhancement in a KrF laser amplifier with a 29-cm-diameter aperture. In this paper, this transient gain enhancement is examined theoretically by using a time-dependent ASE code. From a comparison of the code calculations with the experimental results, the observed quick gain recovery and also the possibility of a transient gain higher than the steady-state value are discussed. Received: 18 February 1999 / Revised version: 5 March 1999 / Published online: 28 April 1999     

Compact high gain double-pass optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier

A novel double-pass noncollinear optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier based on an Yb³⁺-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser has been demonstrated in this paper. The signal was double-pass amplified in a single nonlinear crystal by a long pump pulse, and the signal and pump pulses of each pass were completely phase matched in the plane of the maximum effective nonlinearity. Net saturated gain of 2×10⁶ was achieved and the superfluorescence was suppressed by increasing the overlap time between the signal and pump pulses.     

High gain S-band semiconductors optical amplifier with double-pass configuration

In this paper we propose and demonstrate a double-pass configuration of a compact high gain short wavelength (S-) band amplifier based on a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) operating from 1480 to 1520 nm. The proposed system provides gain value of 31.07 dB at a signal power level of −40 dBm taken at 1500 nm. The measure gain profile of the double-pass configuration over different power levels and at different signal wavelengths outperforms that of the single-pass configuration. The noise figure of both configurations averages out to 10 dB. This system provides a good alternative as a high-gain and compact amplifier in the S-band region.     

半导体光放大器中光波传输特性研究

根据半导体光放大器(SOA)载流子速率方程和光波在SOA内的传输方程,采用分段的方法计算出光波功率和相位与载流子浓度的关系公式。在泵浦光输入功率分别为5mW和15mW情况下通过仿真得到泵浦光输出波形和归一化转换光波形,其中归一化转换光的波形变化可间接体现不同泵浦光输入功率对SOA内载流子浓度的影响。分析了泵浦光波长和SOA注入电流对探测光的归一化输出、相位和频率啁啾产生的影响。结果表明,随着泵浦光波长的增加,探测光的三种光波特性曲线逐渐趋于平缓。注入电流将会直接影响到SOA的载流子浓度,以此对探测光的输出产生影响,注入电流越大,探测光的频率漂移越远。     

Polarization-independent wavelength conversion using a single semiconductor optical amplifier

Polarization-independent wavelength conversion is demonstrated by using four-wave mixing (FWM) in a single semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). In this scheme, all the incident fields are split into two orthogonal-polarized parts by polarizing beam splitters (PBS). Each of the two parts is then transmitted into one facet of the SOA and they are counter-propagating through the same amplifier. Wavelength conversion with the polarization sensitivity less than 1.3 dB is obtained over a range from 1510 to 1620 nm.     

Filter-free ultrawideband generation based on semiconductor optical amplifier nonlinearities

A filter-free scheme for ultrawideband (UWB) generation with single semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is proposed and demonstrated. A pair of polarity-reversed optical pulses is generated due to cross gain modulation (XGM) in the pump-probe scheme, whereas the amplified pump pulse becomes sharp at its leading edge such that the power peak is shifted forward. Hence, the combination of the pump and probe signals at the SOA output is quasi-monocycle shape. Our scheme is an improved scheme to avoid exploiting optical filters and time-delay devices. The generated UWB radio frequency spectrum shows good stability when the input probe power varies from −10 dBm to 6 dBm, the probe wavelength varies in the whole C-band, and the bias current varies from 100 mA to 240 mA. Although the generated quasi-monocycle deviates from a standard Gauss monocycle to some extent, the frequency spectrum conforms to the UWB regulation. Two SOAs with different XGM dynamics are compared in generating UWB signals.     

Nonlinear distortion generated by semiconductor optical amplifier boosters in analog optical systems

Closed-form theoretical expressions for the second- and third-order harmonic distortions generated by a semi-conductor optical amplifier (SOA) operating under slight saturation conditions are derived for what is believed to be the first time. The distortion results provided by these expressions agree very well with those obtained by means of simulation and experiments, showing that one should carefully adjust the optical power launched into the SOA to obtain both the good linearity and high dynamic range required by analog optical systems.