Field-trial evaluation of a one-pump fibre-optics parametric amplifier with an independent polarization gain applied to a WDM System

A field-trial evaluation of a one-pump fibre optic parametric amplifier with an independent polarization gain is experimentally demonstrated. This independent polarization gain was obtained by using the polarization diversity technique. The device was configured as an in-line amplifier for a wavelength division multiplexed system with 5 signals modulated at 10 Gb/s. The signals were propagated through a 33 km optical network. The optical spectra show the effectiveness of the polarization diversity technique in reducing the polarization induced gain fluctuations. Bit error rate characterizations and eye diagram measurements were performed on the signals. Power penalties of 1.1, 0.75 and 3.5 dB were observed for the selected signals for a bit error rate of 1E^-9. Our results show the feasibility of this technique applied to parametric amplifiers for all optical network applications.