Influence of Noise on the Signal Quality of Quantum-Dot Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

Author

Wilkinson, S. ; Lingnau, B. ; Korn, Julian ; Scholl, Eckehard ; Ludge, K.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Phys. & Astron., Univ. of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Volume

19

Issue

4

fYear

2013

fDate

July-Aug. 2013

Firstpage

1900106

Lastpage

1900106

Abstract

We use a semiconductor optical Bloch equation approach combined with a traveling wave equation for the electric field to explore the effect of noise on the signal quality of a quantum-dot(QD) semiconductor optical amplifier. Using a stochastic white noise source for the spontaneous emission inside the QDs, we can show that there is a tradeoff between amplification performance and signal quality. Nevertheless, optimized operation conditions exist and are discussed for various input signals.

Keywords

laser noise; quantum dot lasers; semiconductor optical amplifiers; spontaneous emission; stochastic processes; white noise; amplification performance; electric field; input signal; noise effect; optimized operation condition; quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers; semiconductor optical Bloch equation approach; signal quality; spontaneous emission; stochastic white noise source; traveling wave equation; Mathematical model; Noise; Optical noise; Optical pulses; Optical pumping; Quantum dots; Stimulated emission; Noise; quantum dots (QDs); semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSTQE.2012.2233464

Filename

6378390