Chapter 7 - Fiber Optic Parametric Amplifiers for Lightwave Systems

Abstract

This chapter discusses Fiber optic parametric amplifiers (FOPA) and focuses on some of the recent advances that have considerably improved the state-of-the-art for parametric amplifiers. The well-known simple theory behind the nonlinear phenomenon of Four-Wave Mixing (FWM) is discussed to provide the background material. The performance of single-pump FOPAs and the important role played by the nonlinear contribution to the phase-matching condition is also described. The same scalar theory was used to discuss the more general case of dual-pump FOPAs and show that the gain spectrum in such amplifiers results from several degenerate and nondegenerate FWM processes. However, it turns out that only a single nondegenerate process dominates in the case of FOPAs pumped at two wavelengths relatively far apart from each other and located on opposite sides of the zero dispersion wavelength (ZDWL). The chapter also discusses the design of such FOPAs and shows how they can be designed to provide a gain spectrum that is relatively uniform over a bandwidth larger than 100 nm.