Active gain-slope compensation of EDFA using thulium-doped fiber as saturable absorber

摘要

In EDFAs used in modern high-capacity wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, the gain flatness of EDFA is very important. In the EDFAs using the passive gain equalizers, the gain flatness deteriorates due to gain-tilt when the operating condition of the EDFA changes. To solve this problem, we have developed an active gain-slope compensation technique of an EDFA using a TDF as a saturable absorber. The actively gain-slope compensated EDFA with the TDF compensator keeps the gain profile constant for the wide gain dynamic range more than 8 dB with the low noise figure less than 6 dB in the wavelength range of 1539 - 1564 nm.