Characteristics of the erbium doped fiber amplifier with polarization mode dispersion compensation

We have experimentally demonstrated the characteristics of the reflective type erbium-doped fiber amplifier (R-EDFA) which is composed of a circulator and a Faraday rotator mirror. It is shown that the gain spectrum of the R-EDFA is shifted to longer wavelength when compared with that of the conventional single-pass EDFA. For the R-EDFA. the forward pumping is better than the backward pumping in gain and noise figure. Besides, the reflective structure can be used as a broad band light source because its ASE spectrum is wider and the output power is higher. We also show that, by using the reflective type configuration, the polarization dependent gain is reduced and the polarization mode dispersion of EDF can be completely compensated but the polarization mode dispersion from the circulator is still survived. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.