Noise in wavelength conversion by cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier

A study of the noise properties of wavelength conversion using cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) has been made, emphasising the effect on system performance. Experimentally, amplified spontaneous emission noise added to the pump beam was used to simulate this signal having passed through a number of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers. Results indicate that improvements in detected Q factor can be observed if the SOA is operated under high saturation conditions, and a simple steady-state nonlinear gain model accounts for these results quite accurately.