We propose an efficient scheme of optical pumping and a compact design of an optically-pumped semiconductor optical amplifier (OP-SOA), with gain characteristics which are qualitatively similar to that of conventional (electrically-pumped) SOA. The optical pump is coupled into the ‘active waveguide’ from an adjacent channel waveguide, called ‘pump waveguide’; by suitably tailoring the coupling between the two waveguides, selective transfer of pump power all along the active waveguide can be achieved. We show that optical pumping through the coupled-waveguide configuration is efficient over the existing schemes of optical pumping in semiconductors. The optical pump can be coupled into the pump waveguide through a separate fiber-pigtail, just as the signal is coupled to the active waveguide in commercially available SOA. Thus, the OP-SOA would be a stand-alone 3-port integrated optical device, without any electrical connections. The proposed scheme enables optical-to-optical gain control, in place of the current-controlled gain in conventional SOA. Performance characteristics of the OP-SOA are simulated for an InGaAsP/InP heterostructure device using a well-established model. It is found that for an input optical pump power of 25 dBm at the wavelength of 1310 nm, a small signal gain >30 dB is achieved at the wavelength of 1550 nm.

中文翻译：

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耦合波导配置中的高效光泵浦半导体光放大器：一项新颖的提议


我们提出了一种高效的光泵浦方案和光泵浦半导体光放大器（OP-SOA）的紧凑设计，其增益特性在质量上与传统（电泵浦）SOA 相似。光泵从相邻通道波导（称为“泵波导”）耦合到“有源波导”；通过适当调整两个波导之间的耦合，可以实现泵浦功率沿着有源波导的选择性传输。我们证明，通过耦合波导配置进行光泵浦比半导体中现有的光泵浦方案更有效。光泵可以通过单独的尾纤耦合到泵波导中，就像信号耦合到商用 SOA 中的有源波导一样。因此，OP-SOA 将是一个独立的 3 端口集成光学设备，没有任何电气连接。所提出的方案可实现光到光增益控制，代替传统 SOA 中的电流控制增益。使用完善的模型针对 InGaAsP/InP 异质结构器件模拟 OP-SOA 的性能特征。发现对于1310 nm波长处的输入光泵浦功率为25 dBm，在1550 nm波长处实现了>30 dB的小信号增益。