Crosstalk pattern penalty reduction at 2.5 Gb/s in an SOA employing an assist light around gain transparency wavelength

We evaluate the inter-channel crosstalk in a semiconductor optical amplifier when injecting a high optical power continuous wave, as assist light, inside its active region around the gain transparency wavelength. In this work, the crosstalk of signal₁ (1535 nm) modulated at 2.5 Gb/s, has been induced by signal₂ (1560 nm) modulated at 2.5 Gb/s as well and having an optical input power of −7.5 dBm to simulate a multi-channel transmission. By measuring the bit error rate of signal₁, we show that the pattern penalty induced by the cross-gain modulation can be significantly reduced or even in certain conditions suppressed by the assist light.