Numerical and theoretical study of the crosstalk in gain clamped semiconductor optical amplifiers

A rate equation model of a gain clamped semiconductor optical amplifier (GCSOA) is presented. Both a time-domain and a small-signal analysis of those rate equations are used to investigate the crosstalk between different signal channels. It is shown that the crosstalk of GCSOA's strongly depends on the bit rate of the amplified signals and is lower at both very high bit rates and low bit rates. This crosstalk is proportional with the input power and, approximately, with the amplification.