10-Gb/s RZ-DPSK Transmitter Using a Saturated SOA as a Power Booster and Limiting Amplifier
01 January 2004
The performance of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in the deep saturation regime is studied for single-channel return-to-zero (RZ-) and non-return-to-zero (NRZ-) differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) and on-off keying (OOK) signals at 10 Gb/s. It is found that saturated SOAs can be used as power boosters and limiting amplifiers for RZ-DPSK transmitters with almost no compromise of performance.