Investigation of Hybrid Optical Amplifiers for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed System with Reduced Spacings at Higher Bit Rates

Abstract

This article proposes various combinations of optical amplifiers for a dense wavelength division multiplexed system and investigates the impact of reduced channel spacing at high bit rates in terms of quality factor, bit error rate, eye closure, and output power. It is reported that the hybrid optical amplifier (Raman–erbium-doped fiber amplifier [EDFA]) provides better results with a maximum covered single span distance (220 km) at channel spacing of 6.25 GHz. The maximum acceptable bit rate for the 12.5-GHz channel spacing dense wavelength division multiplexed system is also investigated, and the recommendation is provided that for the Raman–EDFA, Raman–EDFA–Raman, EDFA–Raman–EDFA, and EDFA–semiconductor optical amplifier–EDFA, the operating bit rate should not be greater than 20, 16, 19, and 20 Gbps, respectively.