Recent advances in semiconductor optical amplifiers

The recent developments of SOAs are: reduction of polarisation independence which requires the introduction of a tensile strain in the bulk active region. The modal profile at the facet of the device determined the coupling to optical fibre and also the effective facet reflectivity when angled facets are used. The output power available from SOAs is a key parameter. SOAs have the potential to offer low cost, small form factor optical amplification. SOAs has improved substantially and this, allied to the requirement for low cost amplification over the 1.3-1.6μm wavelength window due to the increasing interest in CWDM.