Gain-flattened erbium-doped fiber amplifier with a wide dynamic range in the 1542/spl sim/1560-nm band

Summary form only given. We have demonstrated a hybrid Er-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) with a flat gain over a dynamic gain range of 9 dB, with a minimum of optical components and without any electronic gain control. The wide dynamic range is a result of an increase of the gain level in the phosphosilicate EDF following a decrease in the backward-propagating ASE when the input signal power increase, even though the overall EDFA gain decreases.