Optical Amplifiers

PRESENTED BY
Dr. Sudhir Kumar Sharma Associate Professor

Introduction
An optical amplifier is a device which amplifies the optical signal directly without ever changing it to electricity. The light itself is amplified. One of the great ironies of the communication world is the move in optical systems from repeaters to amplifiers. In the 1970's carriers around the world adopted digital trunking systems for one overwhelming reason: In a digital system you can get rid of the amplifiers on long links and use repeaters. They wanted to use repeaters. Now in the optical communications world we are busy changing back from repeaters to amplifiers.

Why the Need for Optical Amplifiers?

Reliability of Amplifiers :When a repeater is used the optical signal must be converted to electrical form, passed through the repeater, and then converted to optical form again. The repeater is complex and subject to failure. So a device which just amplifies the signal will do just as well (or better) than a repeater. Flexibility :A repeater is specialised to a particular signal and its characteristics (speed, code etc.). An amplifier just amplifies whatever it gets so it is not code sensitive. If you want to increase the speed or transmission code format in use on an existing amplified link all you do is change the transmitter and receiver on the ends of the link. You may not (depending on the power level requirements) need to do anything to the amplifiers at all. If you were using repeaters you would have to replace them - something which is a little inconvenient in some environments (such as in undersea cables)!

 Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM): In a Wavelength Division Multiplexing system you have many different optical streams on the same fibre. To use repeaters you would have to demultiplex the optical stream and then repeat each individual signal. Amplifiers just amplify the lot regardless. Thus you don't have to demultiplex etc. Really, it is the development of the optical amplifier that has enabled practical WDM systems to be constructed for the first time. Cost :Optical amplifiers are much simpler than repeaters and should cost significantly less. There are many possible types of optical amplifiers. Amplifiers can be built in semiconductor technology (like lasers), in planar waveguide technology and in fibres.

Optical amplification Amplification gain: Up to a factor of 10,000 (+40 dB) In WDM: Several signals within the amplifiers gain (G) bandwidth are amplified, but not to the same extent It generates its own noise source known as Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) noise.

Weak signal Pin

ASE

Optical Amplifier (G)

Pump Source

Amplified signal Pout

ASE

Design of long-distance fiber links (say > 50 km), requires repeaters or

amplifiers to boost power levels. The repeater detects the digital optical
signal, determines the presence of 0s and 1s and then regenerates the optical signal. System with repeaters:

Fiber

Fiber

Fiber

Transmitter

Repeater

Repeater

Receiver

Example: TAT - 8 Transatlantic fiber cable (1988) Link length ~ 5600 km Number of repeaters ~ 130 Maximum spacing ~ 50 km

Repeater properties: Costly Require large power supply

Difficult to maintain
Digital only

Optical amplifiers solve most of these problems. How do we build an optical amplifier?
We know that all lasers contain optical amplifiers.

Therefore, the semiconductor LD is a possible optical

amplifier, as illustrated on the next slide.
7

6.7.1 Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

From our laser principles discussion, we are led to believe that optical amplifiers can be constructed by using stimulated emission in a material that has gain.

AR coating P Input fiber

AR coating

Output fiber Active layer

Essentially, this would be a laser operating without the mirrors or one with mirrors but operating just below lasing 8 threshold. This SOAs shown above in the figure.

Problems:
1. Low gain 2. High noise

3. Polarization dependent gain

4. Low coupling efficiency to the fiber The solution to the problems of the semiconductor amplifier is the erbium-doped-fiber amplifier (EDFA). It is illustrated on the next slide.

6.7.2 Erbium-Doped Fiber Optical Amplifier: EDFA is an

effective optical amplifier because of its high gain, wavelength of amplification, large bandwidth and low noise.

Fiber G Transmitter EDFA

Fiber

Receiver

Digital signals are illustrated at the top and analog signals along the bottom of the figure. The EDFA is a practical amplifier.

EDFA Components
Material : Erbium-doped fiber. Erbium: A rare earth atom. It is the active material. Silica: The host material (fiber).
10

The major points of the erbium absorption spectrum are shown on the next slide:

Erbium Absorption Spectrum

There is a strong radiative transition from the upper level to the ground level, as
indicated on the energy-level diagram on the next slide. The lifetime of this level is long (~10 ms). The radiation is around wavelength 1550 nm (and about 20 to 30 nm wide).

20 nm

980 Pump

1480 Pump

1550 l (nm) Amplification

Non-radiative transitions
There is strong absorption at 980 nm and 1480 nm for pumping the erbium
atoms to the higher energy level.

11

Erbium-Doped-Fiber Energy-Level Diagram: Operation

Pump photons (1.48 mm or 0.98 mm) are absorbed raising the Er atoms to the high energy level. The atoms decay, non-radiatively, to the upper laser level. That level has a long lifetime, so the atoms remain in that state until incoming photons ( in the 1.55 micro meter range)

High energy level

Fast transitions Upper laser level

Energy

1.48 mm or 0.98 mm

1.55 mm

Ground state
stimulate transitions to the ground state. The stimulated transitions produce photons with the same wavelength and phase of the stimulating photons. This is amplification.
12

Important characteristics of the EDFA:

1. The gain is at the wavelength range where fiber loss is a minimum. Low loss
fibers combined with EDFAs yield link lengths of thousands of kilometers. Example: L = 10,000 km

2. High gains are available (15 dB or more).

3. Pump band diodes are available. 4. Ease of insertion into a fiber link. That is, low coupling losses to the transmission fiber. 5. High output power (10 to 50 mW). (continued) 6. Low drive powers. Example: 400 mA, 2 volts, 0.8 watts.

7. Wide bandwidth (20 to 30 nm). 8. Amplifier works for digital and analog systems. 9. Multiple channels (WDM) can be amplified simultaneously. 10. Amplifier is insensitive to bit rate.
13

EDFA Configuration (Basic)

Erbium doped fiber loop

Input signal 1.55 mm

WM

1.55 mm 1.48 mm

1.55 mm Output signal

LD 1.48 mm Amount of fiber: 10 - 20 m

WM: Wavelength multiplexer

14

EDFA Configuration (Practical)

Input 1.55 mm
WM Isolator

Er-doped fiber 1.55 1.55 WM 1.48 1.48

Output 1.55 mm

Isolator LD 1.48 mm

LD
1.48 mm

Pumping in both directions increases the total gain.

Isolators keep the amplifier from going into oscillation.
15

Erbium-Doped Waveguide Amplifier (EDWA): This is an erbium-doped amplifier built in integrated optic form. An erbium-doped waveguide replaces the erbium-doped fiber in an EDFA as the amplifying medium.
OUTPUT SIGNAL

INPUT SIGNAL

WDM

EDW

LD

WDM: Wavelength-division Multiplexer

EDW: Erbium-doped integrated optic waveguide

LD: Laser diode pump source

The pump light can be combined with the signal beam by an external wavelength as shown above in the fig. and the combined beams can be coupled to the waveguide.
16

Alternatively, the multiplexer can be integrated onto the same substrate as the amplifier as shown in figure. Integration is simpler, more economical, reduces size, reduces insertion loss, and increases flexibility in design.
EDWA INPUT SIGNAL OUTPUT SIGNAL

WDM

EDW

LD

INTEGRATED WDM AND EDW

EDWA With Integrated Multiplexer

As an example, multiple amplifiers together with a shared pump source can be integrated onto a single chip as shown 17 on next slide.

Such a multiple amplifier arrangement is an EDWA array. Integrated amplifier arrays often include 4,8, or more amplifiers.
EDWA ARRAY INPUT SIGNAL 1 OUTPUT SIGNAL 1

WDM

EDW

PUMP

PS

INPUT SIGNAL 2

WDM

EDW

OUTPUT SIGNAL 2

EDWA Array With Integrated Multiplexer and Splitter

18

6.7.4 Raman Amplifier 1. The EDFA provides significant amplification in the C-Band (1530-1565 nm) where fiber attenuation is at a minimum. The can also designed for amplification well into the L level (1565-1625 nm). Amplifiers using stimulated Raman scattering have been developed for applications in other bands. 2. This amplifier is based on Raman Scattering. This is the scattering of a photon by an optical phonon. A phonon is a vibration of a crystal or molecule. The scattering in inelastic, the photon loses energy and emerges at a lower frequency. This downshift is called the Stokes shift. The amount of downshift in silica fibers is 13.2 THz. 3. An energy diagram describing the effect appears on the next slide. 19

Raman Scattering
VIRTUAL STATE W3
hf32

hf13

W2 OPTICAL PHONON W1 GROUND STATE

hf13 is the input photon energy hf32 is the output photon energy

(W2 W1) is the phonon energy

The phonon frequency is: (W2 W1)/h = 13.2 THz
20

Raman Scattering
Example: The input wavelength (lin) is 1450 nm. What is

the wavelength of the Raman scattered photon? What is

the wavelength shift? Solution: From the energy level diagram we conclude that

hf13-hf32 = hfphonon
hfin-hfout = hfphonon fout = fin - fphonon

21

Raman Scattering

lout

lin

13.2 10

12

Setting lin to 1450 nm results in an output wavelength of lout = 1549 nm The wavelength shift is 99 nm. The shift is not only 13.2 THz, but occupies a range of about

6 THz around that value. To account for this we can draw

level W2 as a band as on the next slide.
22

Raman Scattering
VIRTUAL STATE

W3
hf13 hf32

W2 OPTICAL PHONON W1 GROUND STATE

Raman scattering can be stimulated when there are two optical beams present. One beam is the pump and the other is the signal. As in our previous discussions of optical amplifiers, the pump provides the power for amplification of the signal. This is shown schematically on the energy level diagram on the next slide.
23

Stimulated Raman Scattering

VIRTUAL STATE

W3 PUMP hf13 hf32 SIGNAL hf32

W2
OPTICAL PHONON

W1
GROUND STATE

The pump photons raise the molecules to the upper virtual state W3. The signal photon stimulates the molecule to drop to level W2, emitting a photon of the same frequency and phase as itself. Thus, we have amplification as we have seen before. There are two major differences, however.
24

Raman Amplifier
1. In this amplifier, population inversion is not required. 2. The wavelength of amplification is determined by the

pump wavelength together with the vibrational

frequency of the glass molecules, not by the materials allowed energy levels. We conclude that we can amplify at any desired wavelength as long as a pump source of the

appropriate wavelength is available.

25

Raman Amplifier
Raman amplifiers are available in the S-, C-, and L- bands.

Recall:
Band S Wavelength 1460-1530 nm

C L

1530-1565 nm 1565-1625 nm

26

Stimulated Raman Amplifier

A Raman amplifier is sketched below:
OPTICAL FIBER ISOLATOR INPUT SIGNAL WDM ISOLATOR OUTPUT SIGNAL

PUMP LASER

The Raman scattering, and thus the amplifier, has a bandwidth of 6 THz.

27

Stimulated Raman Amplifier

Example: We found that for a pump wavelength of 1450 nm, the amplification would be at a center

wavelength of 1549 nm. Compute the amplification

bandwidth in nm in this case. Solution: We have proven previously that

f l f

Then, we get
28

Stimulated Raman Amplifier

f f l l l f c/l

l l f / c
2
Using 6 THz for f and 1549 nm for l yields a bandwidth of 48 nm. The gain extends over a range from 1525 to 1573 nm. Note that this covers the entire C band.

29

6.7.5 Noise Figure Any amplifier not only increases the signal, it also increases the noise. In an ideal amplifier, both are increased by the same factor. In this case, the signal-tonoise ratio at the amplifier output is the same as at its

input.
Real amplifiers add noise, so that the SNR is less at the output than at the input. The signal is degraded by the amplifier. The noise figure F is a measure of this degradation.
30

Noise Figure The noise figure is given by:

S / N in F S / N out
Thus

(6-12)

The noise figure is usually given in decibels.

FdB 10log10 F
31

Noise Figure We will develop the relationship between the SNRs at input and output and the noise figure all expressed in decibels. From (6.12), we can form

S / N in log F log log S / N in log S / N out S / N out

(S / N )out ,dB (S / N )in,dB FdB
We conclude that the output SNR is the input SNR minus the noise figure, when all are expressed in decibels.
32

6.7.6 Optical Amplifier Applications Amplifier placement in a fiber link. Launch Amplifier

Inline Amplifier
Preamplifier
FIBER FIBER TxT A LAUNCH POWER LEVEL A INLINE A PREAMP Rx

33