Abstract

Semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) attracts much interest because of its wide application for in-line amplification. Its attractive features including broad gain bandwidth, compactness, and potentially low cost, make it a promising device for future lightwave networks. However, the fast gain dynamics of the SOA causes waveform distortion and hence limits its practical implementation. Different schemes have been proposed to suppress the waveform distortion, including light injection, ¹ shifting the output wavelength, ² etc. Here we present a novel scheme to alleviate the waveform distortion in gain-saturated SOAs. Gain variation due to fast gain dynamic of SOA is compensated by an interferometer formed by a simple fiber loop mirror. Over 5-dB enhancement in input power dynamic range is obtained.

© 2002 Optical Society of America