Modulation effect induced by continuous waves in semiconductor optical amplifiers

Nonlinearities in SOAs have been deeply investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Moreover, many simulative models have been proposed, so far. The most used simulative approach is based on Rate Equations, relating the carrier density to the overall optical power traveling the amplifier. Aim of this paper is to propose an enhanced general model for nonlinearities induced in SOAs employed in WDM systems, overcoming the limitations of Rate Equations based model. Our model relates the carrier density to the optical field, and it allows to evaluate the interchannel crosstalk due to nonlinear interaction between channels, as a function of the signal waveform. Besides the theoretical approach, preliminary experimental results confirm the accuracy of this model in describing the demonstrates the crosstalk due to nonlinear interaction.