Accumulation of gain tilt in WDM amplified systems due to Raman crosstalk

This letter verifies experimentally that gain tilt in amplified systems due to Raman crosstalk, when separated from gainshaping effects of the erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDEA), accumulates as the sum of individual span contributions. This letter also demonstrates that a property of the EDFA, believed to be spectral hole burning, acts to level the gain tilt induced by Raman crosstalk.