Additional spectral broadening of ultrashort optical pulse due to birefringence in semiconductor optical amplifiers

摘要

Birefringence in semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) has begun to receive increasing attentions in recent years, in this paper we investigate the effect of birefringence on spectral broadening of ultrashort optical pulse, based on Jones Matrix method, Fourier transform method and a multi-section model, which takes into account the polarization dependency of phase modulation. The time-dependent carrier distribution, pulse amplification process and pulse spectrum evolution along SOA is simulated. It is found that a considerable part of spectral broadening comes from birefringence, this kind of additional spectral broadening depends on bias current, optical power and pulse shape of input pulse.