Abstract
Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs), key devices for future all-optical communication systems, are inherently polarisation-dependent, which is a major drawback for most networks applications. In spite of numerous studies carried out in order to design polarisation-insensitive structures, no complete spectro-polarimetric characterization of a SOA has been published so far. In particular, the spectral and polarimetric behaviour of the Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE), acting as a partly polarized broadband source, is of interest, since ASE draws from the same carrier reservoir as the amplified signal. In this paper, we present a full spectro-polarimetric characterization of ASE emitted from a commercial, strained-bulk SOA within the frame of the Stokes formalism. This formalism not only allows a determination of the degree of polarisation (DOP) of ASE directly from its Stokes vector, but also gives access to a full, spectrally resolved characterization of its polarized fraction with respect to the bias current applied to the SOA. The way the state of polarisation of that fraction is governed by the dependence of the material gain upon polarisation is spectrally resolved, quantified, and discussed. The same study is performed when a polarized signal is injected into the SOA.
Highlights
Due to their multifunctional qualities [1, 2], Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs) remain key devices for future all-optical communication systems, especially when optical signal processing is involved [3]
We present a full spectro-polarimetric characterization of the Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) emitted from a commercial, strained-bulk Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)
A partly polarised, broadband noise source that draws from the same carrier reservoir as the amplified signal, ASE affects the state of polarisation of the overall outgoing signal of a SOA and its polarimetric behaviour is of interest
Summary
Due to their multifunctional qualities [1, 2], Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs) remain key devices for future all-optical communication systems, especially when optical signal processing is involved [3]. We previously reported on a full polarimetric study of a SOA within the frame of the Mueller-Jones formalism [11], which is a systematic polarimetric analysis much more suitable, in our view, than the Jones formalism previously reported [12], in presence of a partly polarised broadband source such as the Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) Even within this frame, our previous work showed that ASE remains an issue [11], i.e., is a source of ill-defined polarisation noise, unless it is filtered out — as it draws from the same carrier reservoir as the amplified signal itself. We present a spectro-polarimetric investigation of ASE emitted from a single-mode, tensile-strained SOA This device was designed in order to achieve a low polarisation dependency of its amplification factor.
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