Multichannel amplification in strongly pumped EDFAs

Multichannel erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are analyzed based on a rate-equation model. Forward pumping is considered and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) as well as scattering loss are taken into account. An analytical approximation to calculate the amplification in high-power multichannel EDFAs is also introduced in this paper. Results for both the numerical and approximate analytical models are derived and discussed. It is shown that under the considered conditions, the analytical solutions provide a good approximation to the exact numerical solution and thus may be used for the design of such amplifiers.