Abstract

Discrete Raman amplifiers are an attractive solution for providing wide bandwidth and low noise amplification in fiber-optic telecommunication systems.¹ Wide bandwidth WDM Raman amplifiers employing multiple pump wavelengths are very complicated systems due to the number of pump-to-pump, pump-to-signal and signal-to-signal Raman interactions which take place. Any change in the input conditions to such an amplifier will modify all of these interactions and can potentially cause significant channel power transients, particularly if the amplifier is operating in a saturated regime. Previous measurements of transient effects in Raman amplifiers have been performed on amplifiers having only a single pump wavelength and single signal wavelength.²

© 2002 Optical Society of America