Semiconductor optical amplifiers: recent advances and applications

Aneesh Sobhanan; Aneesh Sobhanan; Aravind Anthur; Sean O’Duill; Mark Pelusi; Shu Namiki; Liam Barry; Deepa Venkitesh; Deepa Venkitesh; Govind P Agrawal; Govind P Agrawal

doi:10.1364/AOP.451872

Advances in Optics and Photonics
Vol. 14,
Issue 3,
pp. 571-651
(2022)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AOP.451872

Semiconductor optical amplifiers: recent advances and applications

Aneesh Sobhanan, Aravind Anthur, Sean O’Duill, Mark Pelusi, Shu Namiki, Liam Barry, Deepa Venkitesh, and Govind P Agrawal

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Aneesh Sobhanan, Aravind Anthur, Sean O’Duill, Mark Pelusi, Shu Namiki, Liam Barry, Deepa Venkitesh, and Govind P Agrawal, "Semiconductor optical amplifiers: recent advances and applications," Adv. Opt. Photon. 14, 571-651 (2022)

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- Fiber Optics and Optical Communications
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About this Article
History
- Original Manuscript: December 20, 2021
- Revised Manuscript: May 19, 2022
- Manuscript Accepted: May 20, 2022
- Published: September 20, 2022

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Abstract

Owing to advances in fabrication technology and device design, semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are evolving as a promising candidate for future optical coherent communication links. This review article focuses on the fundamentals and broad applications of SOAs, specifically for optical channels with advanced modulation formats, as an integrable broadband amplifier in commercial transponders and as a nonlinear medium for optical signal processing. We discuss the basic functioning of an SOA and distortions of coherent signals when SOAs are used as amplifiers. We first focus on the techniques used for low-distortion amplification of phase-modulated signals using SOAs. Then we discuss optical signal processing techniques enabled by SOAs with an emphasis on all-optical wavelength conversion, optical phase conjugation, and phase quantization of coherent optical signals.

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Symbol	Meaning	Value and/or Unit
$N$	Carrier density	m^-3
$E$	Optical field	W^-1/2
$I$	SOA drive current	350 mA
$e$	Quantum of electronic charge	$1.66 \times 10^{- 19}$ C
$A_{c}$	Cross-sectional area of SOA active region	$1.7 \times 10^{- 13}$ m²
$L$	Length of SOA	800 $μ$ m
$V$	Volume of SOA active section, $L \times A_{c}$	$1.36 \times 10^{- 16}$ m $^{3}$
$A$	Shockley–Read–Hall recombination rate	$1 \times 10^{9}$ s^-1
$B$	Bimolecular recombination coefficient	$1 \times 10^{- 16}$ s^-1m³
$C$	Auger recombination coefficient	$1 \times 10^{- 41} s^{- 1}$ m⁶
$Γ$	Confinement factor	0.2
$a$	Differential gain $(d g_{m} / d N)$	$4 \times 10^{- 20}$ m^-2
$N_{0}$	Carrier density at transparency	$1 \times 10^{24}$ m³
$v_{g}$	Group velocity $c$ /(3.45)	$0.87 \times 10^{8}$ m/s
$α_{H}$	Gain-phase coupling parameter	3
$α_{L}$	Waveguide scattering losses	5,000 m^-1
$ℏ ω_{0}$	Photon energy	$1.32 \times 10^{- 19}$ J
$λ_{0}$	Wavelength	$1.55 μ$ m
$r_{0}$	Reflectivity at input facet	0
$r_{1}$	Reflectivity at output facet	0

Scenario	SOA for FWM	SOA for Amplification
$h_{0}$	8	6
$α_{L} L$	2	3
$α_{H}$	-3	-3
$P_{s a t}$	10 mW	10 mW
$τ_{S}$	100 ps	100 ps
$ε_{S H B}$	1 W^-1	1 W^-1
$ε_{C H}$	2 W^-1	2 W^-1
$α_{C H}$	-1	-1

Model	Ranking with Respect to the Ease of Implementation		Gain Dynamics (Implements SPM and XPM)	Wavelength-Dependent Gain	Treatment of FWM	Polarization	Notes
Lumped
Agrawal and Olsson [15]	1	Fast runtime makes the lumped model highly suitable for system simulation. Can model bidirectional signals.	$✓$	$\times$	Automatically generated if working with optical field	Can be added	Recommended to be the first SOA model to conduct system simulations.
Mecozzi et al. [16,17]	2		$✓$	$\times$		$✓$	Similar to [15]; additionally includes intraband contributions to the nonlinear gain
This work, Section 2.4	3		$✓$	$\times$		$✓$	Explicitly shows how polarization is included in the system model. Longer time steps permitted because intraband contributions are calculated analytically.
FFT-based
Summerfield and Tucker [36]	4	Includes wavelength-dependent gain with full wave mixing. Moderately fast runtimes.	$✓$	$✓$	$✓$	Can be added	SOA transient is not calculated, helpful for simulating periodic signals.
Bidirectional
This work, Section 2.3.2	5	The most accurate of all the SOA models. Slowest runtimes. Spatial discretization defines the temporal sampling care needed with system simulation.	$✓$	$\times$	Automatically generated if working with optical field	Can be added	Fundamental bidirectional SOA model
Toptchiyski et al. [22]	6		$✓$	$✓$ : Only central frequency of optical field	Implements wavelength decomposition, FWM products need to be included		Includes intraband contributions to the nonlinear SOA gain.
Connelly [13]	7		$✓$	$✓$			Fundamental origin of SOA gain based on semiconductor band filling.

Process	Nonlinear Medium	Pump Power (dBm)	Reference
OPC	HNLF	25	[177]
		30	[178]
		32	[179]
		32	[180]
		30.1	[181]
	PPLN	25.9	[182]
		20.4	[183]
		> 20	[131]
		24.4	[184]
	Si waveguide	26	[46,185]
	Si nanowire	22.4	[186]
	SOA	0	[150–152]
Phase quantization	HNLF	27	[176]
		29	[172]
		$> 20$	[187]
		26	[188]
Phase regeneration	HNLF	33	[166]
		$> 30$	[189]
		29	[190].
		30	[4]
	PPLN	30	[144].
		24.7	[145]
		21	[191]
	SiGe Waveguide	$< 21$	[146]
	SOA	< 6	[192]
		< 7	[170]
		$< 10$	[169]
PSA	PPLN	33	[89]
	a-Si:H waveguide	32 (Peak power-pulsed)	[193]
	Si-Photonic crystal waveguide	31.7 (Peak power-pulsed)	[194]
	AlGaAs	19 to 27	[195]
Phase quantization	SOA	0	[174]

Symbol	Meaning	Value and/or Unit
$N$	Carrier density	m^-3
$E$	Optical field	W^-1/2
$I$	SOA drive current	350 mA
$e$	Quantum of electronic charge	$1.66 \times 10^{- 19}$ C
$A_{c}$	Cross-sectional area of SOA active region	$1.7 \times 10^{- 13}$ m²
$L$	Length of SOA	800 $μ$ m
$V$	Volume of SOA active section, $L \times A_{c}$	$1.36 \times 10^{- 16}$ m $^{3}$
$A$	Shockley–Read–Hall recombination rate	$1 \times 10^{9}$ s^-1
$B$	Bimolecular recombination coefficient	$1 \times 10^{- 16}$ s^-1m³
$C$	Auger recombination coefficient	$1 \times 10^{- 41} s^{- 1}$ m⁶
$Γ$	Confinement factor	0.2
$a$	Differential gain $(d g_{m} / d N)$	$4 \times 10^{- 20}$ m^-2
$N_{0}$	Carrier density at transparency	$1 \times 10^{24}$ m³
$v_{g}$	Group velocity $c$ /(3.45)	$0.87 \times 10^{8}$ m/s
$α_{H}$	Gain-phase coupling parameter	3
$α_{L}$	Waveguide scattering losses	5,000 m^-1
$ℏ ω_{0}$	Photon energy	$1.32 \times 10^{- 19}$ J
$λ_{0}$	Wavelength	$1.55 μ$ m
$r_{0}$	Reflectivity at input facet	0
$r_{1}$	Reflectivity at output facet	0

Abstract

Data Availability

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Figures (48)

Tables (4)

Equations (79)

Advances in Optics and Photonics