Abstract

Relative intensity noise (RIN) is one of the most significant artifacts that ultimately limits the use of broadband Raman amplifier applications in optical communications systems. Recently, as a way to alleviate some of the detrimental features of continuously pumped Raman amplifiers, pulsed pumping was introduced. In this paper, we study the RIN transfer in pulse-pumped fiber Raman amplifiers. An analytical expression describing RIN transfer from a pump with an arbitrary pulse shape has been derived for co- and counter-pumping configurations. The dependence of RIN transfer on pump modulation frequency, depth of modulation, and duty cycle in a typical 80-km fiber span has been analyzed for pumps with sinusoidal and rectangular profiles. We show that in the case of rectangular pulsing of pump, RIN transfer in counter-pumping regime is substantially enhanced compared with that of continuous wave (CW) pumping due to the presence of resonant peaks at the pump intensity harmonics. In the co-propagation regime, RIN transfer for pulsed pumping does not exhibit resonant peaks and is generally lower than that for CW pumping. These features are reflected on the Q-penalty and may have detrimental effects on the system performance.

© 2009 IEEE

» View Full Text: Acrobat PDF (561 KB)

References

Please [login to View References]

Cited By

OSA is able to provide readers links to articles that cite this paper by participating in CrossRef's Cited-By Linking service. In addition to listing OSA journal articles that cite this paper, citing articles from other participating publishers will also be listed.

Advanced Search

Recent ToC Categories (Beta)

• Oct 08 2009 : See the latest ISP articles in the Applied Optics feature on Digital Holography in 3-D Imaging.
• Sep 25 2009 : Energy Express: Optics Express announces a special bi-monthly supplement dedicated to rapid developments in optics for sustainable energy.
• Sep 21 2009 : The 2009 Education and Training in Optics and Photonics papers are now available.

More News

• Invisibility Visualized
  Nov 12, 2009 - Scientists and curiosity seekers who want to know what a partially or... more
• Diamonds are a Laser's Best Friend
  Sep 18, 2009 - Tomorrow’s lasers may come with a bit of bling, thanks to a new... more
• Open Wide and Say ‘Zap’
  Aug 19, 2009 - A group of researchers in Australia and Taiwan has developed a new... more