The effects of quantum-well number on gain crosstalk in semiconductor optical amplifiers

Author

Kasunic, K.J. ; Tastavridis, K. ; Clark, C.N. ; Lestrade, M. ; Champagne, A. ; Maciejko, R.

Author_Institution

Bookham Technol. Ltd., Ottawa, Ont., Canada

Volume

39

Issue

7

fYear

2003

fDate

7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

897

Lastpage

902

Abstract

We report on crosstalk reduction in conventional semiconductor optical amplifiers, obtained by reducing the number of quantum wells in the active region. While the resulting decrease in carrier lifetime is not favorable for improving gain crosstalk (GXT), it is more than compensated for by the simultaneous reduction in gain and increase in saturation power. Experimental results show 2-channel GXT of -20 dB at a modulation frequency of 10 GHz, a fiber-coupled output power of +5 dBm (+2 dBm per channel), and a module gain of 15 dB.

Keywords

carrier density; carrier lifetime; laser theory; optical crosstalk; optical modulation; optical saturation; quantum well lasers; semiconductor optical amplifiers; 10 GHz; 15 dB; 2-channel GXT; active region; carrier lifetime; crosstalk reduction; fiber-coupled output power; gain crosstalk; modulation frequency; module gain; quantum-well number; saturation power; semiconductor optical amplifiers; Charge carrier lifetime; Chirp modulation; Crosstalk; Frequency modulation; Linearity; Optical amplifiers; Power amplifiers; Power generation; Quantum wells; Semiconductor optical amplifiers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.2003.813193

Filename

1206833