Gain flattened S+C+L-band bidirectional thulium doped fiber/multi-section fiber optical parametric hybrid amplifier

Abstract

This article demonstrates the achievement of optical amplification across the S, C, and L-bands. A hybrid amplifier is proposed that utilizes a combination of bidirectional thulium-doped fiber amplifier (TDFA) and multi-section fiber optical parametric amplifier. With careful selection of TDFA and parametric amplifier parameters, gain can be achieved over complementary bandwidth regions. Resultantly, better gain flatness is achieved over the whole effective bandwidth of 170 nm. The amplifier being proposed is evaluated for a system consisting of 18 wavelength division multiplexed channels, each with a capacity of 100 Gb/s, and a channel spacing of 10 nm. By setting the input power per channel to an optimal value of –30 dBm, the parameters are adjusted to attain a flat gain exceeding 23.52 dB, accompanied by a gain ripple of only 2.09 dB. These parameters are optimized over a wavelength range between 1460 nm and 1630 nm.