Gain flattened C-band hybrid optical amplifier achieving high and flat gain over 32-nm bandwidth for dense wavelength division multiplexed system

Abstract

Increase in data rate demand requires continuous improvement in existing optical amplification schemes. This work demonstrates optical amplification, simulating a hybrid combination of Er-Yb codoped fiber amplifier (EYDFA) and dual pump fiber optical parametric amplifier (FOPA). The proposed EYDFA–FOPA hybrid amplifier is investigated over a wavelength range of 1533–1565 nm for 160 × 10 Gbs − 1 dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) system at 0.2-nm channel spacing. The parameters are optimized to achieve a flat gain of >28.4 dB, with a gain ripple of 2.09 dB at −20 dBm optimum input power per channel. Also, analysis at different input power shows that for higher input powers up to −5 dBm, an increase in gain ripple up to 5.07 dB is observed. Further, a comparison with EYDFA–single pump FOPA configuration shows that much better gain flatness is obtained for the proposed hybrid amplifier. The obtained high and flat gain, along with the low noise figure, justifies the feasibility of the proposed amplifier for applications in broadband long-haul DWDM systems.