Experimental demonstration of noise figure reduction caused by nonlinear photon statistics of saturated EDFA's

For the first time, experimental evidence is presented for the prediction that the noise figure for an EDFA in the nonlinear or saturated regime, calculated by measuring the ASE power, can lead to an overestimation when compared to a direct measurement of the noise variance with an electrical spectrum analyzer. These results are in line with theories based on the quantum mechanical photon master equation describing an optical amplifier with saturated upper and lower ion inversion levels.<
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