Calculation of the noise figure of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers using small signal attenuations and saturation powers

A theory allowing the noise figure of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier to be computed with a reduced set of fiber parameters is evaluated. The approach is accurate when the amplified spontaneous emission has no significant influence on the gain. Then four parameters, saturation power and absorption coefficient for pump and signal wavelength, are sufficient for 980-nm pumped fiber amplifier. This theory is used to investigate the noise characteristics of a 980-nm pumped booster amplifier within the whole gain spectrum.<
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