Abstract
As the demand for higher capacity transmission systems continues, Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) looks more attractive. It avoids the problems of higher speed transmission by using multiple lower speed channels on the same fibre. However there are challenges involved in moving to multiple wavelength, not least in the Optical Amplifier itself. Homogeneous broadening within the amplifier is what provides gain over a continous range of wavelengths, but it fundamentally links the output powers of the channels to one another. This co-dependence is unattractive in real WDM networks which will use wavelength switching to route channels and thus need complete independence. In this paper we show a novel use of photo-refractive gratings to break this dependence.
© 1995 Optical Society of America
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