Abstract

Although the majority of recent interest in the erbium optical amplifier has focused on the optical amplifier as a relatively low power, high-gain, in-line repeater, there is increasing interest in very high-power (>+20 dBm) optical amplifiers in a portion of the optical network to provide alternative systems architectures. Uses for high-power optical amplifiers include postamplifiers for long-haul repeaterless links¹ head-end amplifiers for specific CATV distribution architectures², and power amplifiers for lxN lossless splitters.

© 1993 Optical Society of America