Transmission performance analysis of 8×10 Gb/s WDM signals using cascaded SOAs due to signal wavelength displacement

We have analyzed the transmission performance of 8×10 Gb/s wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) signals due to crosstalk in cascaded conventional semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs). Using two different methods, the crosstalk over the whole gain bandwidth in SOAs is calculated to be 2-5 dB lower for the positive detuning. Then, transmission performance of 8×10 Gb/s WDM signals up to 6×40 km span in terms of receiver sensitivity is estimated over various transmission distances using cascaded SOAs for the positive signal wavelength displacement of 30, 40, and 50 nm. Especially for 50 nm detuning, transmission performances with and without using a reservoir channel are similar to each other. Our results suggest that SOAs can be used as an optical amplifier for displacement larger than 50 nm without using the reservoir channel.