Abstract

Distributed Raman amplification is complementary to discrete rare-earth amplifiers as it improves the amplification bandwidth and the noise performance. Large amplification bandwidth can be achieved provided the Raman amplifier is pumped with several wavelengths. The multiplexing of several semiconductor diodes has been used so far¹ but requires complex arrangements for the coupling of the diode light into the output fiber. The induced loss impacts on the cost and on the optical to electrical consumption. Raman lasers based on germano-silicate fibers and emitting at several output wavelengths^2–4 have shown their ability to provide a promising alternative. The use of phospho-silicate fibers has been proposed in the case of single-wavelength Raman lasers^5,6 in order to decrease the required count in gratings and leads to high power performance.

© 2002 Optical Society of America