Modeling, measurement, and a simple analytic approximation for the return loss of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

When fiber-optic systems contain erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA), reflections are enhanced by the gain of the amplifiers and can degrade system performance. We present a simple approximate analytic expression for the return loss of pumped EDFAs, with and without discrete reflections that applies at both the signal and pump wavelengths. A novel return loss measurement test set is used to verify the validity of this expression for a particular EDFA design. Using a computer simulation, the return loss is computed as a function of EDFA design to assess the range of validity of the approximate expression. The expression serves as an easy way to chain amplifiers and accurately predict the effects of reflections in long systems.