Modeling of integrated erbium-doped waveguide amplifiers with overlapping factors methods

An analysis of the applicability of overlapping factors methods to the modeling of integrated erbium-doped waveguide amplifiers is presented. These methods offer as main advantage a considerable seduction in computation time without a decrease in their effective accuracy. We propose an extension of previous overlapping factors methods in order to model highly erbium-doped waveguide amplifiers. New sets of parameters related to the relevant upconversion and cross-relaxation mechanisms are introduced. Some numerical examples illustrate both working-conditions dependent and independent overlapping factors main dependences, which are fully explained. Finally, the accuracies of the results obtainable by both methods are examined and interpreted and the reduction in computation time is considered.