Linear semiconductor optical amplifiers for amplification of advanced modulation formats

R Bonk; G Huber; T Vallaitis; S Koenig; R Schmogrow; D Hillerkuss; R Brenot; F Lelarge; G-H Duan; S Sygletos; C Koos; W Freude; J Leuthold

doi:10.1364/OE.20.009657

Linear semiconductor optical amplifiers for amplification of advanced modulation formats

Opt Express. 2012 Apr 23;20(9):9657-72. doi: 10.1364/OE.20.009657.

Authors

R Bonk¹, G Huber, T Vallaitis, S Koenig, R Schmogrow, D Hillerkuss, R Brenot, F Lelarge, G-H Duan, S Sygletos, C Koos, W Freude, J Leuthold

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engesserstr. 5, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. rene.bonk@kit.edu

PMID: 22535057
DOI: 10.1364/OE.20.009657

Abstract

The capability of semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) to amplify advanced optical modulation format signals is investigated. The input power dynamic range is studied and especially the impact of the SOA alpha factor is addressed. Our results show that the advantage of a lower alpha-factor SOA decreases for higher-order modulation formats. Experiments at 20 GBd BPSK, QPSK and 16QAM with two SOAs with different alpha factors are performed. Simulations for various modulation formats support the experimental findings.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amplifiers, Electronic*
Equipment Design
Equipment Failure Analysis
Lasers, Semiconductor*
Telecommunications / instrumentation*