Asymmetric MQW semiconductor optical amplifier with low-polarization sensitivity of over 90-nm bandwidth

Abstract

An exhausted capacity of current Passive Optical Networks has been anticipated as bandwidth-hungry applications such as HDTV and 3D video become available to end-users. To enhance their performance, the next generation optical access networks have been proposed, using optical carriers allocated within the E-band (1360-1460 nm). It is partly motivated by the low-water peak fiber being manufactured by Corning. At these wavelengths, choices for low cost optical amplifiers, with compact size, low energy consumption and feasibility for integration with other optoelectronic components are limited, making the semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) a realistic solution. An experimental characterization of a broadband and low polarization sensitive asymmetric multi quantum well (MQW) SOA operating in the E-band is reported. The SOA device is composed of nine 6 nm In_1-xGa_xAsyP_1-y 0.2% tensile strained asymmetric MQW layers sandwiched between nine latticed matched 6 nm InGaAsP barrier layers. The active region is grown on an n-doped InP substrate and buried by p-doped InGaAsP layers. The SOA devices have 7-degrees tilt anti-reflected coated facets, with 2 μm ridge width, and a cavity length of 900 μm. For input powers of -10 dBm and -20 dBm, a maximum gain of 20 dB at 1360 nm with a polarization insensitivity under 3 dB for over 90 nm bandwidth is measured. Polarization sensitivity of less than 0.5 dB is observed for some wavelengths. Obtained results indicate a promising SOA with broadband amplification, polarization insensitivity and high gain. These SOAs were designed and characterized at the Photonics Technology Laboratory, University of Ottawa, Canada.