Abstract

Optical amplifiers promise the replacement of single channel systems with regenerators spaced by a few tens of kilometers, by wavelength multiplexed systems of several channels extending over thousands of kilometers without electronic regeneration. Recently, experiments¹ have begun to affirm the promise of this technology. While these amplifiers have removed fiber loss as the dominant concern in lightwave system design, they have raised the subject of optical nonlinearities to new importance. By maintaining mW optical power levels in multiple channels over long distances, optical amplifiers have made effects, which previously were laboratory curiosities, critical factors in system design.²

© 1992 Optical Society of America