Abstract

Today, standard single mode fiber, having zero group velocity dispersion at a wavelength around 1310 nm, is still being widely installed. To open up the 1300 nm window for high bitrate long distance communication, a practical, reliable, and compact optical amplifier is required. Due to its small size and integratability, a semiconductor optical amplifier is an excellent choice, especially when a polarization insensitive multiple quantum well active layer is used^1,2,3. Compared to semiconductor optical amplifiers employing a (square) bulk active layer, multiple quantum well amplifiers offer a higher saturation output power, a wider gain bandwidth, a faster gain recovery, and a better noise figure⁴.

© 1994 Optical Society of America