GAIN-FLATTENING APPARATUS AND METHODS AND OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS EMPLOYING SAME

摘要

A gain-flattening filter for in-line compensation of the spectral gain profile of an optical amplifier comprises a first GFF component having a transmission curve with a spectral loss profile corresponding to the spectral gain profile of an optical amplifier, and a second GFF component having a transmission curve with a spectral loss profile corresponding to the error function of the first GFF component. A method of producing a gain-flattening filter for use with an optical amplifier comprises designing a first GFF component to have a transmission curve with a spectral loss profile corresponding to a target loss profile for the optical amplifier, manufacturing the first GFF component; determining the error function of the first GFF component, designing a second GFF component to have a transmission curve with a spectral loss profile corresponding to the error function of the first GFF component (unpackaged or as packaged with other components of the GFF apparatus and/or other components of a gain-flattened optical amplifier), manufacturing the second GFF component, and combining the first and second GFF components.