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A small signal analysis of the noise figure spectral distribution in erbium doped fiber amplifiers pumped near
980 and 1480 nm is presented. In the case where signal-spontaneous beat noise is the dominant cause of
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) degradation, it is shown that noise figures in the +0.2-dB range around the 3-dB
quantum limit are possible within a spectral band of 50 nm, with the result applying to Xp = 980-nm and Xp =
1460-nm pump wavelengths. For Xp > 1460 nm, a noise figure penalty of 0.5 to 1.2 dB above the quantum limit is found. This study thus demonstrates the possibility of quantum limited or near quantum limited noise
regime for amplification of wavelength division multiplexed signals in erbium doped fibers.
1. Introduction
using a
The author is with AT&T Bell Laboratories, Crawford Hill Laboratory, Holmdel, New Jersey 07733.
amplifiers in wideband wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) systems, it is important then to determine the spectral range where the amplifier noise figure is close to the 3-dB quantum limit, the pump power
requirement to achieve this regime, and the best performance that can be achieved with either pump wavelengths.
Here we show that, in the most general case, the
noise figure of the EDFA can actually take any value
greater than unity. The limit F 1 applies to signal
wavelengths detuned from the absorption or gain
bands, where the EDFA is totally transparent. When
no pump activates the EDFA, the fiber loss is the cause
of SNR degradation and its noise figure is the highest
at the peak wavelength of the 4I13/2 absorption band.
When the EDFA is pumped, inversion of the medium
reduces ground level absorption, thus resulting in a
lower noise figure as compared to the unpumped case.
However, the medium excitation introduces spontaneous emission noise which counters this improvement.
The SNR degradation due to amplified spontaneous
emission noise (ASE) is actually minimal in the high
gain regime corresponding to full medium inversion.
In the amplification regime where signal-spontaneous
beat noise dominates, the EDFA noise figure approaches a 3-dB limit-or so-called quantum limitfrom above or below depending on the signal wavelength, as this study shows. In previous work,8 it has
been shown that the magnitude of the ASE noise is
higher in the propagation direction opposite to the
pump. Thus, the noise figure depends on which direction the signal is launched with respect to the pump, as
treated in detail in the analysis of Refs. 7 and 9. However, when full medium inversion is achieved over the
whole amplifier length, the difference in noise figure
between the two pumping schemes vanishes, as shown
in this study.
The analysis presented here is restricted to the small
signal regime, i.e., where the amplifier gain remains
unsaturated. One most important reason for such a
restriction is that the basic analysis of amplifier noise
in the saturated gain regime is highly complex,1 5 and,
to our knowledge, no simple analytical solutions are
available for the corresponding photon statistics.
However, it is possible to make the reasonable assumption that the photon statistics solutions of the linear
amplifier analysis of Shimoda, Takahasi, and
Townes 1 6 apply at the onset of the saturation regime,
as used in Refs. 7 and 9. As saturation reduces medium inversion, this approach predicts an increase in the
amplifier noise. 9 Thus, the lowest amplifier noise figures are achieved in the small signal regime, where
maximum inversion can be achieved, and this fundamental limit for the EDFA is the main focus of our
study. In this paper, the spectral distribution of the
EDFA noise figure and its evolution under various
pumping regimes is analyzed with the example of an
alumino-silicate Er doped fiber. The pump wavelength of 980 nm is first considered, the more complex
case of the 1.46- -1.49-,gm pump being studied thereafter. It is shown that in the signal spontaneous beat
noise regime and for pump wavelengths of 980 nm and
1.46 jim, the spectral width in which the fibe amplifier
can be operated very near the 3-dB quantum limit
(+0.2 dB) can be as broad as 50 nm.
II. Theory
In this theoretical section, we establish that the wellknown canonical form of the quantum amplifier output noise variance 1 6 17 also applies to the case of fiber
amplifiers, for which the gain and loss coefficients vary
along the fiber length. (This was also shown in previous work on Raman fiber amplifiers. 1 8 ) The gain and
the amplified spontaneous emission noise spectra for
pump wavelengths near 980 nm and 1.48 gm are calculated using the same unified theoretical model based
on studies of Refs. 8 and 13. Using the spectral distributions of the gain and the ASE, with the canonical
expression of the noise variance, it is possible to compute and analyze the spectral noise figure distribution
of the EDFA in differnt pumping regimes.
Let Pn(z,v) be the probability for having n photons
at frequency v in a single longitudinal and transverse
mode at fiber coordinate z. The rate of change of
Pn(z,v) is governed by the photon statistics master
equation of the linear amplifier' 6 :
dP0 (zs )
dz
-o-Nj,
(2)
+ 1)
= oeN 2 (2l 2+ 3
2
- aG
0N1 (2n -)
(3)
(4)
with the gain G(z,v) and the ASE noise N(z,v) being
defined by:
G(z,v) = exp
[Ge(v)N 2(z')
N(z,v) = G(z,v)
-aa,)Nj(z')]dz',
Ge(V)N
2(z')
dz'.
(5)
(6)
,)=
flPZ
N(zv)- 1
G(z,v)
G(z,v)- 1 z e((
') dz'0 GWAv
G(z,v)
(7)
3119
_SNR
SNROUt
2N(L,v) + 1 - 2nsP(Lv)[G(Lv)- 1] + 1
G(L,v)
G(Lv)
(8)
2N(v8 ) + [Xc7D7F(Vs)
G(v)
c'
0
z
2 0.5
1-0
L)
C)
0
0
1. 47
1.49
1.51
1.53
1.55
1.57
1.59
WAVELENGTH (m)
Fig. 1. Typical absorption and fluorescence cross-section spectra
around
= 1.53 Am corresponding to alumina silicate Er-doped
glass fibers (after Ref. 13).
//
c:
0
X-
10-
0O
10-L
0o
2
3
FIBER LENGTH (m)
zED
1.49
1.51
1.53
1.55
1.57
1.59
WAVELENGTH (m)
Fig. 3. Gain spectra with X, = 980 nm corresponding to different
input pump power conditions.
3121
20
103
E
_50
2(a)
10
-Ut-VVlAU
55
2.5
10 11
0.5
02
D
Z
10-2
I
0
50
20
DML4\vvjlnLJ
10
(b)
15
2.5
cc:
0.5
10
0.2
IL
At
U)
W10
5
3-
C')
1.49
1.59
1.49
1.54
1.59 1.49
1.54
1.59
WAVELENGTH (m)
Fig. 4. Spectral ASE photon number spectral density corresponding to the forward (a) and backward (b) pumping schemes, for values
of normalized input pump power y = 0.2-50, with X, = 980 nmn.
2.0
0~
lLc)
M5
I-
:L
CD
Z
0I 0j)
CO)
w
1.49
1.51
1.53
1.55
1.57
WAVELENGTH (m)
1.59
1.49
1.51
1.53
1.55
1.57
WAVELENGTH (m)
1.59
Fig. 7. Noise figure spectra shown for the higher pump regimes of
Fig. 6 i.e., y = 2.5-50 with Xp = 980 nm. For the two last cases (-y >
20), the noise figure is within 0.2 dB of the 2 dB signal spontaneous
beat noise quantum limit over a spectral range of -50 nm.
m
Z 10
5
0
-5
1.49
m
A50B
B149
0 1.48D
D 1.47
E 1.46
1.54
III
1.591.49
1.54
1.59
WAVELENGTH (m)
Fig. 8. Gain spectra for pump wavelengths Xp = 1.46 Am - 1.50 Am
with normalized input pump power -y = 10 (a) and y = 50 (b).
3123
5
m 4
Appendix A
In this Appendix, we demonstrate that Eqs. (4)-(6)
are derived from exact solutions of rate Eqs. (2) and
(3), regardless of the pump distribution form, and
hence the inversion, takes along the fiber. Using definitions [Eqs. (5) and (6)] these solutions are:
CC3
D
U2
C,)
Z1
(Al)
0(z) = Gn(o) + N,
2
2 2
n (z) = G n (o)
OLL
1.49
1.54
1.591.49
1.54
+ aeN2 (z')
+ G2 Z [3aeN2(z) + - 2 N(z')]f&(z')
dz'.
G2 (Z')
+0 .
1.59
WAVELENGTH (m)
Fig. 9. Noise figure spectra for pump wavelengths Xp = 1.46jum 1.50jum with normalized input pump powery = 10 (a) and-y = 50 (b).
(A2)
(A3)
Identification of Eqs. (A3) with (A2), with the substitution of Eq. (Al) leads to:
+1) JG 3N2 + aN dz',
d
G
G
(4N -
N(2N + 1) =Z
J2
02
(A4)
(A)
G + 1) + N(N + 1),
(A6)
F(z) = SNR 0
-
SNRout
2
(z)
n(o)2 Z
Z2(o) G2n(o) 2
(A7)
(A8)
for large input signals n(o) verifying n(o) >> N(N + 1)/
G2 the noise figure is well approximated by F (2N +
1)IG.
Appendix B
(1-
t
1C
D yffiF(V)[G(v)no() + N(v)] = AD(signal) + FlD(noise),
(Bi)
aD= C71D
where
vP,i.e., iiO(v)
V,VS
--
(,,,
Kronecker sym-
2N(P,) + [CnDF(vP)J
SNROut
F(v)N( )[C-Xn-
+ nF(p)f(P)]
+ t[2h[17c7Dn7F(V.)G(v)%oI . (B3)
FD
r-:!.
flF(v)N(v)IfCflD
+ F(v)N(v)] + _
+~ ~ 4(vS)G~)fl()
v
7F(,^s)G(,,,)n.
2
t
-.
nC7D77F(sno
(B4)
_
G2n
3125