Gain tilt of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers due to signal-induced inversion locking

A theoretical analysis describing an interpretation of the fundamental processes, responsible for the second-order distortion of AM signals in erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) is presented. It is shown that the locked-inversion gain tilt rather than the widely used continuous wave gain tilt is responsible for the distortion. The theoretical analysis is confirmed by experiments showing that the two types of gain tilt may differ by factors of up to 60. In particular, it is demonstrated that the locked-inversion gain-tilt may be significant even at the CW gain peak. Experimental results indicate that the relevant gain tilt can be reduced to acceptable levels by proper design of the EDFA.<>