Connelly, MJ,Panajotov, K,Sciamanna, M,Valle, A,Michalzik, R

SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND LASER DYNAMICS VI

Wideband model of a reflective tensile-strained bulk semiconductor optical amplifier

2014

January

Published

1

()

Reflective semiconductor optical amplifier modeling tensile-strain amplified spontaneous emission STATE NUMERICAL-MODEL

Reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs) have shown promise for applications in WDM optical networks and in fiber ring mode-locked lasers. Polarization insensitive SOAs can be fabricated using tensile-strained bulk material and a rectangular cross section waveguide. The introduction of tensile strain can be used to compensate for the different confinement factors experienced by the waveguide TE and TM modes. There is a need for models that can be used to predict RSOA static characteristics such as the dependency of the signal gain on bias current and input optical power, the amplified spontaneous emission spectrum and noise figure. In this paper we extend our prior work on non-reflective SOAs to develop a static model that includes facet reflections. The model uses a detailed band structure description, which is used to determine the wavelength and carrier density dependency of the material gain and additive spontaneous emission. The model and includes a full geometrical description of the amplifier waveguide, including the input taper and the position dependency of the TE/TM confinement factors. The amplified signal and spontaneous emission are described by detailed travelling-wave equations and numerically solved in conjunction with a carrier density rate equation. The model uses material and geometric parameters for a commercially available RSOA. The versatility of the model is shown by several simulations that are used to predict the SOA operational characteristics as well as internal variables such as the amplified spontaneous emission and signal and the carrier density.

10.1117/12.2051657