Abstract

To exploit the advantages of Er doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) in multichannel direct detection applications, a wide band-width,¹ high gain saturation level,² and low crosstalk are desirable. We report here the simultaneous amplification of four optical channels in a 30-nm range with >23-dB gain in an EDFA pumped in the 980-nm band. New results on the spectral dependence of the gain cross-saturation of one channel by its neighbor indicate that a low cw crosstalk penalty (< −15 dB) can be achieved in the broadband (1.54-1.56-μm) transition region. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental simultaneous multiwavelength amplification covering the broad gain spectra of Ge-P-Al doped silica core EDFA.

© 1990 Optical Society of America