Title :
Amplification of strong picosecond optical pulses in semiconductor optical amplifiers
Author :
Tang, J.M. ; Shore, K.A.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Electron. Eng. & Comput. Syst., Univ. of Wales, Bangor, UK
fDate :
8/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Numerical simulations have been undertaken to investigate the amplification of strong picosecond optical pulses in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs). Taking into account carrier heating, spectral holeburning, two-photon absorption (TPA) and ultrafast nonlinear refraction (UNR) effects. It is shown that both the TPA and UNR play important roles in determining the output pulse properties if the pulse energy is larger than -0.5 pJ, and that these effects can be significantly enhanced with increased pulse energy and decreased pulse width as well as with higher small signal gain of the SOA. Results also indicate that. For larger input pulse energy, the symmetry of the amplified optical pulse can be controlled simply by adjusting the injected current
Keywords :
absorption coefficients; laser theory; optical hole burning; semiconductor device models; semiconductor optical amplifiers; two-photon processes; 0.5 pJ; amplified optical pulse control; carrier heating; decreased pulse width; increased pulse energy; injected current; laser pulse energy; numerical simulations; output pulse properties; semiconductor optical amplifiers; small signal gain; spectral holeburning; strong picosecond optical pulse amplification; two-photon absorption; ultrafast nonlinear refraction;
Journal_Title :
Optoelectronics, IEE Proceedings -
DOI :
10.1049/ip-opt:19990458
