- SOA is a Laser diode without end mirrors and with antireflection coating coupled to both fiber ends. Light coming in either fiber is amplified by a single pass through the laser SOA is an alternative to EDFA.
- Active medium consists of alloy semiconductor (P, Ga, In, As).
- SOA works in both low atte4nuation windows i.e. 1300nm and
- The 3dB bandwidth is about 70nm because of very broad gain
- SOA consumes less power and has fewer
- Two major types of SOA are –
- Fabry - perot amplifier (FPA)
- Travelling wave amplifier (TWA)
SOA has rapid gain response 1 ps to 0.1 ns