A semiconductor optical amplifier with high saturation power, low noise figure and low polarization dependent gain over the C-band

A semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is demonstrated with greater than 14.6-dBm saturation power, less than 5.6-dB noise figure and less than 0.8-dB polarization dependent gain over the C-band (1530-1565 nm). The SOA consists of a tensile strained bulk active region and a multi-section contact layer.