OPTICAL AMPLIFIER

Why the need for optical amplifier?

Spectra
Noise
Types
Principle of Operation
Applications

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 1

 Signal Reshaping and Amplification
• In long distance communications, whether going
through wire, fiber or wave, the signal carrying the
information experience:
- power loss
- pulse broadening
which requires amplification and signal reshaping.
• In fiber optics communications, these can be done in
two ways:
– Opto-electronic conversion
– All optical
• Depending on its nature, a signal can also be regenerated.
~ A digital signal is made of 1's and 0's: it is possible to
reconstruct the signal and amplify it at the same time.
~ An analog signal however, cannot be reconstructed
because nobody knows what the original signal looked
like. Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 2
 Why the Need for Optical Amplification?

• Semiconductor devices can convert an optical signal into

an electrical signal, amplify it and reconvert the signal
back to an optical signal. However, this procedure has
several disadvantages:
– Costly
– Require a large number over long distances
– Noise is introduced after each conversion in analog
signals (which cannot be reconstructed)
– Restriction on bandwidth, wavelengths and type of
optical signals being used, due to the electronics
• By amplifying signal in the optical domain many of these
disadvantages would disappear!

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 3

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

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 4

Optical Amplification – Spectral
Characteristics

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 5

 Optical Amplification - Noise Figure
• Required figure of merit to compare amplifier noise
performance.
• Defined when the input signal is coherent
Noise Figure (NF) = Input-to-noise ratio (SNRi)
Output signal-to-noise ratio (SNRo)
• NF is a positive number, nearly always > 2 (I.e. 3 dB)
• Good performance: when NF ~ 3 dB
• NF is one of a number of factors that determine the
overall BER of a network.
Optical Amplifiers-Types
• There are mainly two types:
1] Semiconductor Laser (optical) Amplifier (SLA) (SOA)
2] Active-Fibre or Doped-Fibre
- Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifier (EDFA)
- Fibre Raman Amplifier (FRA)
- Thulium DopedChapterFibre
3_OpticalAmplifier
Amplification (TDFA) 6
 SLA - Principle Operation
• Remember diode lasers?
• Suppose that the diode laser has no mirrors:
- we get the diode to a population inversion condition
- we inject photons at one end of the diode
• By stimulated emission, the incident signal will be
amplified!
– By stimulated emission, one photon gives rise to
another photon: the total is two photons. Each of these
two photons can give rise to another photon: the total
is then four photons. And it goes on and on...
• Problems:
- Poor noise performance: they add a lot of noise to the
signal!
- Matching with the fibre is also a problem!
• However, they are small and cheap!
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 7
Erbium Doped
Fiber
Amplifiers
(EDFA)
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 8
• EDFA: Er-doped Optical Amplifier (Refer to previous
chapter – CHAPTER 4: LASER)
EDFA - Amplified Spontaneous Emission
Output Spectra

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 9

 Basic EDF Amplifier Design
• Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA)
most common
– Commercially available since the early 1990’s
– Works best in the range 1530 to 1565 nm
– Gain up to 30 dB
Input WDM Isolator

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]

• Noise Figure, F = SNRout / SNRin

• S-band : 1440 - 1530nm
• C-band : 1530 - 1565nm
• L-band : 1565 - 1625nm

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 11

 Optical Gain (G)
• G = S Output / S Input
S Output: output signal (without noise from
amplifier)
S Input : input signal Gain (dB)
40
P Input: -30 dBm
• Input signal dependent 30 -20 dBm
– Operating point (saturation) of
-10 dBm
EDFA strongly depends on 20 -5 dBm
power and wavelength of
incoming signal
10
1520 1540 1560 1580
Wavelength (nm)
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 12
 Noise Figure (NF)
• NF = P ASE / (h• • G • B OSA)
P ASE: Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE)
power measured by OSA
h: Plank’s constant
: Optical frequency
G: Gain of EDFA
B OSA: Optical bandwidth [Hz] of OSA Noise Figure (dB)
10

• Input signal dependent 7.5

– In a saturated EDFA, the NF
depends mostly on the 5.0
wavelength of the signal
– Physical limit: 3.0 dB 1520 1540 1560 1580
Wavelength (nm)
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 13
 EDFA Categories
• In-line amplifiers
– Installed every 30 to 70 km along a link
– Good noise figure, medium output power
• Power boosters
– Up to +17 dBm power, amplifies transmitter
output
– Also used in cable TV systems before a star
coupler
• Pre-amplifiers
– Low noise amplifier in front of receiver
• Bi-directional amplifiers
– An amplifier which work in both ways

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 14

EDFA Categories

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 15

 Typical Design

• Figure in the slide shows an EDFA with all the options

design
– Coupler #1 is for monitoring input light
– Coupler #2 is optional and is used for monitoring
backreflections. The microcontroller can be set to
disable the pump lasers in case the connector on the
output has been disconnected. This provides a measure
of safety for technicians working with EDFA’s.

16
Typical Design

17
 Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers

• Figure in the next slide shows two single-stage

EDFA’s packaged together
• Mid stage access is important for high performance
fiber optic systems requiring a section of
dispersion-compensating fiber (DCF)
• The high loss of DCF (10dB+) is compensated by
the EDFA\
• The main advantage of SOA’s and EDFA’s is that
amplification is done with photons, as opposed to
electronic amplification (requires O/E and E/O
conversion)

18
Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers

19
Typical Packaged EDFA

20
 EDFAs In DWDM Systems

Optical amplifiers in DWDM systems require special

considerations because of:

• Gain flatness requirements

• Gain competition

• Nonlinear effects in fibers

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 21
 Gain Flatness

• Gain versus wavelength

– The gain of optical amplifiers depends on
wavelength
– Signal-to-noise ratios can degrade below
acceptable levels (long links with cascaded
G
amplifiers)

• 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

Equal power of all

four channels

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 23

 Output Power Limitations
• High power densities in SM fiber can
cause
– Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS)
– Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS)
– Four wave mixing (FWM)
– Self-phase and cross-phase modulation (SPM,
CPM)

• Most designs limit total output power

to +17 dBm
– Available channel power: 50/N mW
(N = number Chapter
of channels)
3_Optical Amplification 24
 Optical Amplifier - Optical Gain (G)
Gain bandwidth
- Refers to the range of frequencies or wavelengths over which
the amplifier is effective.
- In a network, the gain bandwidth limits the number of
wavelengths available for a given channel spacing.

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

• EDWAs are inherently compact.

• One of the smallest gain block amplifiers to
date, featuring 15-dB gain at 1,535 nm, fits in
a 130x11x6-mm package.
• EDWAs also offer a better price/performance
ratio than comparable EDFAs for access and
metro network applications.
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 27
 Raman Amplifier

• Raman Amplifier was demonstrated in the

1980s
• Unavailability of high-power diode laser pump
source
• Why do you need it :
amplify signals from 1270 to 1670 nm
any optical fiber can serve as the amplifying
medium
• Raman process itself provides high-power
laser
• Disadvantage: Chapter
Cross-talk
3_Optical Amplification 28
 Raman Amplifier

• Amplifier Gain
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 29
 Raman Amplifier

• Wide bandwidth Raman amplifier can be

realized using multiple pumps
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 30
 Raman Amplifier

• Multistage Amplifier
• Counter propagating pump
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 31
 EDFA+Raman

• Combined Raman and EDFA transmission

Experiment: DWDM (Lucent)
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 32
 Raman Amplifier
• High-power laser sources are available by
Raman process itself.
• 200 to 400 nm Bandwidth Amplifiers are
possible
Raman, EDFA combination
Flat gain for WDM
New fiber lasers and gratings make it practical
• System with Terabits of capacity are possible

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 33

Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)

– Basically a laser chip without any mirrors

– Metastable state has nanoseconds lifetime
(-> nonlinearity and crosstalk problems)
– Potential for switches and wavelength
converters

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 34

Semiconductor optical amplifiers, like their
semiconductor-laser, consist of gain and passive
regions. Layers of antireflective coatings prevent
light from reflecting back into the circuit while the
incoming signal stimulates electrons in the gain
region
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 35
Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)
• Semiconductor optical amplifiers are similar in construction to
semiconductor lasers. They consist of a gain (active) section and a
passive section constructed of a semiconductor material such as
indium phosphide. The main difference is that SOAs are made with
layers of antireflection coatings to prevent light from reflecting back
into the circuit. Optical gain occurs as excited electrons in the
semiconductor material are stimulated by incoming light signals;
when current is applied across the p-n junction the process causes
the photons to replicate, producing signal gain. The gain medium
can be either a bulk or a multiple-quantum-well active layer.

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 36

 Semiconductor Optical
Amplifiers
• Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOA’s)
– Laser diodes without end mirrors
– Fiber attached to both ends
– Amplified version of the optical signal is produced
– Advantage: bidirectional
– Drawbacks
• High-coupling losses
• High noise figure

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 37

 Semiconductor
• By adjusting the chemical composition of III-V
semiconductors (typically GaInAsP) the band gap
can be adjusted to give optical gain in the
telecommunications windows of interest. The devices
are typically 250mm long although devices of up to
1mm have been made. In general the longer devices
can achieve higher gain and wider bandwidths.
• The optical bandwidth of a semiconductor optical
amplifier (SOA) can be as large as 100 nm and the
fact that the energy source is a DC electrical current
makes these devices look promising as optical
amplifiers.

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 38

 Semiconductor

• 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.

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 39

 SOA operation
E

Conduction band

Optical transition

Valence band

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 40

 SOA operation
• The DC current applied to the device results in
electrons being pumped into the (normally empty)
conduction band and removed from the (normally full)
valence band. This creates the population inversion
which is a pre-cursor to optical gain. When signal
photons travel through the device they cause
stimulated emission to occur when an electron and
hole recombine.
• The phase effects in these devices can be quite
strong with a gain change of 3dB corresponding to
roughly a phase change of p.

Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 41

 Optical Amplifiers - Applications
• In line amplifier
- 30-70 km
-To increase transmission
link
• Pre-amplifier
- Low noise
- To improve receiver
sensitivity
• Booster amplifier
- 17 dBm
- TV
• LAN booster amplifier
Chapter 3_Optical Amplification 42