Abstract
The expressions for the small signal noise properties of the electrode current of a traveling-wave semiconductor optical amplifier when used as detector were derived. The analysis takes into account spatial variations in the amplifier carrier density and fields. Numerical simulations show that the dominant mechanisms giving rise to the detected current noise are spontaneous-spontaneous and signal-spontaneous beat noise occurring within the amplifier gain medium, and the thermal noise of the load resistor and postamplifier. As the spontaneous emission and amplified signal are generated by the same shared gain medium, beat noises will contain not only beating within the longitudinal modes but also beating between distinct modes. The bit error rate show good agreement with experimental results.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 23-28 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | IEE Proceedings: Optoelectronics |
| Volume | 142 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 1995 |
| Externally published | Yes |