Optical Amplifier: Why The Need For Optical Amplifier? Spectra Noise Types Principle of Operation Applications
Optical Amplifier: Why The Need For Optical Amplifier? Spectra Noise Types Principle of Operation Applications
1480 or 980
nm Pump Output
Laser
Erbium Doped Fiber
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 10
Erbium-doped Fibre Amplifier
• Gain, G (dB)
• 10log[(PSignal_Out - Pase) / PSignal_In]
16
Typical Design
17
Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers
18
Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers
19
Typical Packaged EDFA
20
EDFAs In DWDM Systems
• Gain competition
• Compensation techniques
– Signal pre-emphasis
– Gain flattening filters
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 22
– Additional doping of amplifier with Fluorides
Gain Competition
• Total output power of a standard EDFA
remains almost constant even if input power
fluctuates significantly
• If one channel fails (or is added) then the
remaining ones increase (or decrease) their
Output power after
output power channel one failed
Gain efficiency
- Measures the gain as a function of input power in dB/mW.
Gain saturation
- Is the value of output power at which the output power no
longer increases with an increase in the input power.
- The saturation power is typically defined as the output power
at which there is a 3-dB reduction in the ratio of output power
to input power (the small-signal gain).
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 25
Erbium Doped Waveguide Amplifier
(EDWA)
• An erbium-doped waveguide amplifier (EDWA) consists of
waveguides embedded in an amorphous erbium-doped glass
substrate.
• The erbium atoms provide the glass with gain in the 1,550-nm
fibre-optic window.
• The waveguide itself is a localised increase in the glass
refractive index.
• Today's manufacturers have several methods available to
produce erbium-doped glass waveguides: PECVD and flame
hydrolysis deposition, sputtering, ion-exchange, or ion
implantation.
• For the manufacture of waveguide amplifiers, the two most
advanced methods are ion-exchange and sputtering.
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 26
Erbium Doped Waveguide Amplifier
(EDWA)
EDWA advantages
• Amplifier Gain
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 29
Raman Amplifier
• Multistage Amplifier
• Counter propagating pump
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 31
EDFA+Raman
• There are two aspects of their properties which has prevented their
widescale deployment. The SOA is fundamentally nonlinear as the
device refractive index and the device gain depend on the amount of
population inversion. Since this inversion changes as the signal is
amplified this leads to amplitude and phase changes being applied to
the signal. The short lifetimes of the device (100ps-1ns) also make
these effects apparent at the single pulse level and as a pattern
dependent effect.
• The second problem is that the noise performance of these devices is
inferior to the Erbium fibre amplifier.
• One final drawback is that the usual geometry of the semiconductor
waveguide is rectangular and the silica waveguide is circular. This
leads to a mismatch of the fundamental mode patterns and the typical
loss in going from one to the other is 3dB. Even so fibre to fibre gains of
over 20dB can be achieved.
Conduction band
Optical transition
Valence band