Highly saturated EDFA for gain clamping operation

• Main Authors: Muhd-Yassin, Shahrin Zen, Harun, Sulaiman Wadi, Ahmad, Harith, Abd-Rahman, Mohd Kamil
• Format: Article
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2007
• Subjects: Q Science (General); QC Physics; TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/19682/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mop.22635

A highly saturated erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) that can be used for gain-clamping is demonstrated. This amplifier utilizes a short length of active fiber to provide a small but maximum gain and a high pump power to enhance the gain dynamic range. The gain for two simultaneous equal strength input signal channels is clamped at 19.3 dB from -34 dBm to -14 dBm with gain variation of less than 1 dB. The corresponding noise figure is obtained at 3.4 dB, which is slightly lower compared with the normal EDFA. This amplifier is expected to have a low transient power excursion since no compensating light is used inside the system.