OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS

Crosstalk in SLA
Crosstalk is any distortion of a channel caused by the presence of another channel.
There are two types of crosstalk in SLA:
Interchannel crosstalk - when two wavelengths (channels) enter an SLA, their nonlinear
interference produces new signals at the beat (combination of
sums and differences) frequencies.

1
2

SLA

21-2
1
2

Input 1
Gain
Input 2

22-1
Output 2
Gain reduction due
to cross saturation
Cross saturation - For a SLA works in the saturated mode (I > IS), the gain undergoes an
opposite change when one channel changes from ON to OFF. This gain change results in
variations in the amplification of another signal because all signals share the same gain
produced by one active medium.

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Polarization-dependent Gain in SLAs
The gain of SLAs depends on the state of polarization of the input signal - the amplification
of transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) modes is different (5 to 7dB).
For nonpolarization-preserving fiber, the state
of polarization of an optical transmission
signal changes with propagation along the
fiber and causes variation in signal gain.
Three configurations used to reduce the polarization sensitivity of SLAs:
a)Twin amplifiers in series
b) Twin amplifiers in parallel

c) double pass through a SLA

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Noise in SLAs
SLA magnifies the signal noise along with the signal itself
A SLA generates its own noise primarily caused by Amplified Spontaneous Emission
- the spontaneously emitted photons in optical amplifier are in the same frequency range
as the information signal and those photons follow in the direction of the information
signal are amplified by the active medium.
The spontaneously emitted photons are random in phase and they do not contribute to
the information signal but generate noise within the signals bandwidth
The spontaneous-emission factor nsp N 2 N 2 N1 N and N are populations
2
1
of excited and lower levels
For ideal amplifier N 2 N1 where N 2 N 2 N1 1
The actual value of nsp ~ 1.4 to 4.
The average total power of amplified spontaneous emission,
G = amplifier gain
PASE 2nsp hfGB
B = optical bandwidth of the amplifier
The noise performance of an optical amplifier is quantified by the noise figure,
Fn SNR in SNR out
Typical noise figures for commercially available optical amplifiers range from 6 to 9
dB for an SLA.

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Merits of TWAs
TWAs have been used more widely than FPAs (particularly for linear application)
because they have - a large optical bandwidth,
- high saturation power, and
- low polarization sensitivity.
In particular, TWAs are used as amplifiers in the 1300nm window and as wavelength
converters in the 1550nm region.
Advantages of SLAs
able to operate at the 1300nm and 1550nm wavelengths (simultaneously)
wide bandwidth, up to 100nm
can be readily integrated along with other semiconductors and photonic devices into
one monolithic chip called an opto-electronic integrated circuit (OEIC)
Drawbacks of SLAs
a relatively high crosstalk level
polarization sensitivity
large coupling loss
difficult to produce an active medium with reflectances as low as 10-4 (TWA)
optical noise

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Generation Applications of Optical Amplifier
1. In-line Amplifier
- use to compensate for
transmission loss and
increase the distance
between regenerative repeaters.
2. Preamplifier
- used as a front-end preamplifier
for an optical receiver.
3. Power Amplifier
- to boost transmitted power and
increase the transmission
distance
- as booster of signal level in the
local area network

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Doped-fiber Amplifiers
Single mode fiber doped with rare earth materials such as erbium, holmium, neodymium,
samarium, thulium, and ytterbium can be used as an optical amplifier with large spectral
bandwidth and sufficient gain.
The major type of fiber amplifier use in WDM fiber-optic communication system is
Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) which provide gain near 1.55m wavelength.
In EDFA, an information
signal is transmitted in the
vicinity of 1550nm but the
pump lasers radiate either
copropagate pump
at 980 or 1480nm, or both.
The two beams propagate
together along the doped
section of fiber, where
information signal is
counterpropagate pump
amplified while pumping
signal loses its power.
A pumping signal can
copropagate with an
bidirectional
information signal or it
pump
can counterpropagate.

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Amplification in Erbium-doped Fiber Amplifiers
Amplification in an EDFA occurs through the mechanism of stimulated emission.
Two ways to attain population inversion in EDF:
Indirect pumping at 980nm wavelength - Er ions are excited to upper level (3) and
they nonradiatively fast decay to the intermediate energy (metastable) level (2).
Direct pumping at 1480nm wavelength -Er ions are excited directly to the level (2)
The information signal
stimulates transition of the
excited Er ions from level
2 to level 1 and results in
radiation of photons with
same wavelength,
direction, and phase.
The energy bands of Er
ions in silica fiber gives
the EDFA the ability to
amplify the range of
wavelengths from 1500
to 1600nm and eliminates
the need of fine-tune a
pumping wavelength.

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Gain in an EDFA

P PASE
GaindB 10 log10 out

Pin

~ 20 to 40dB

the gain of an EDFA is restricted by the width of the radiating energy bands
gain saturation - gain is proportional to the population inversion, a high input power
will stimulate a vast number of transitions per unit time from level 2 to 1 and results in
depleting level 2 means
decreasing gain.
optimal length (20 to 50m) the power of pumping signal
damps along an active fiber,
thus an information signal
experience less and less gain
and eventually begin to
undergo loss.

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Noise in EDFA
The dominant noise generated in an EDFA is amplified spontaneous emission (ASE)
Signal degradation comes from beating signals generated at noise-noise and noisesignal interference.
Each slice of noise can
interfere with another slice
to generate a beating signal
at frequencies that are
combinations of the sum
and difference of the input
frequencies.
Noise-noise beating can be
easily removed by a
narrowband filter.
Noise-signal beatings cannot
be filtered because it is within
a signals bandwidth.
The noise figure based on signal-noise beating is Fn PASE S hfGBS
Fn varies from 3.5 to 9 dB for EDFAs.

2nsp

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Gain and noise as a function of the length of an active EDFA fiber

Both gain and noise are higher for a counterpropagating pump and almost
constant for a copropagating pump.

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Gain and noise as a function of
input power
With an increase in input power,
gain decreases because of gain
saturation, while noise rises.
There is a specific input power
where noise is minimal

Gain and noise as a function of

signal wavelength
Gain and noise is almost
wavelength independent within the
spectrum of an EDFAs stimulated
emission

OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS
Advantages of EDFA over SLA
The doped-fiber amplifiers have some advantages over semiconductor laser amplifiers :
wider spectral bandwidth which allows more number of signal channels to be amplified
simultaneously
flat gain characteristic over the practical range of wavelengths appropriate for optical
fiber links
compatibility for in-line interconnection within optical fiber links
suitable for use in dense wavelength division multiplexed transmission