Optical Amplifiers: Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

There has been rapid growth in the deployment and capacity of optical fiber communication networks over the past 25 years. This growth has been made possible by the development of new optoelectronic technologies that can be utilized to exploit the enormous bandwidth of optical fiber. Today, systems are operational which operate at bit rates in excess of 100<ce:hsp sp="0.25"/>Gb/s. Optical technology is the dominant carrier of global information. It is also central to the realization of future networks that will have the capabilities demanded by society. These capabilities include virtually unlimited bandwidth to carry communication services of almost any kind, and full transparency that allows terminal upgrades in capacity and flexible routing of channels. Many of the advances in optical networks have been made possible by the optical amplifier.