Optical gain and saturation characteristics of quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers

• Published in: IEEE journal of quantum electronics Vol. 39; no. 6; pp. 793 - 798
• Main Author: Qasaimeh, O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.06.2003; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Amplification; Current carriers; Equations; Exact sciences and technology; Exact solutions; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Gain; Laser modes; Laser optical systems: design and operation; Laser theory; Mathematical analysis; Optical amplifiers; Optical saturation; Optical signal processing; Optics; Physics; Quantum dots; Resonators, cavities, amplifiers, arrays, and rings; Saturation; Semiconductor lasers; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Stimulated emission; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Theoretical study; Optical saturation; Quantum dots; Analytical method; Optical gain
• ISSN: 0018-9197; 1558-1713
• DOI: 10.1109/JQE.2003.810770

Detailed theoretical analysis of the gain characteristics of quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD-SOA) is presented. An analytical expression for the optical gain is derived from the quantum dot and wetting layer rate equations. Due to the better confinement of carriers in the quantum dots, our calculation shows that large unsaturated optical gain can be obtained at low operating current. Also, we found that the output saturation intensity of QD-SOA is higher than the output saturation intensity of bulk-SOA. This fact lends itself to the design of efficient low-power SOAs.