Modeling the saturation induced by broad-band pulses amplified in an erbium-doped fiber amplifier

We theoretically study the saturation of a homogeneously broadened optical amplifier with a slow response time. This model approximates well the behavior of the erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA). When a broad-band pulse propagates inside such amplifier the saturation is determined by the overlap between the amplifier gain profile and the pulse spectrum rather than by the energy of the pulse. This effect may significantly increase the output power of an EDFA that amplifies broad-band pulses.