Noise figure dependence of Pr~(3+)-doped fiber amplifiers on input signal power

摘要

The noise figure dependence of praseodymium-doped fiber amplifiers on input signal power has been analyzed with a large signal numerical model. Three different pump configurations have been investigated: codirectional and bidirectional pumping as well as a configuration with a reflector at one fiber end facet. The numerical results show that all three configurations require a narrow optical bandpass filter in order to achieve reasonable noise figures for small input signal power levels. In case of high input signal power, such a filter is not necessary. The lowest noise figure in this mode of operation is achieved by the codirectional pump scheme, which is least sensitive to saturation.