Phase-matched four-wave mixing between pumps and signals in a copumped Raman amplifier

We observe four-wave mixing (FWM) between copropagating pumps and signals in a Raman amplifier when the zero-dispersion wavelength of the transmission fiber lies symmetrically between the pump and the signal wavelengths. The resultant FWM products, which grow as they experience Raman gain along the fiber, can degrade the signal's optical signal-to-noise ratio by as much as 10 dB for a Raman ON-OFF gain of 15 dB.