Abstract

The combination of WDM technology [1] and optical amplification [2] may allow the delivery of a vast array of video signals to a large number of end users. WDM channels provide increased capacity and transparency to signal format, and optical amplifiers may boost system power budget considerably, affording large increases in the splitting ratios achievable in distribution architectures. In these applications, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers may hold a number of potential advantages compared to semiconductor laser amplifiers, such as polarization independence, ease of coupling and freedom from interchannel WDM crosstalk [3]. Previously, simultaneous amplification of sixteen optical channels has been reported, but the optical channels covered only a narrow spectral range of less than 2 nm [4,5].

© 1990 Optical Society of America