High performance and highly functional semiconductor optical amplifiers based on hybrid and monolithic integration

A higher level of functionality in semiconductor optical amplifiers is demonstrated through hybrid and monolithic integration. A booster optical amplifier (BOA) is packaged with input and output power monitoring capability. A fiberto-fiber gain of 14.6 dB is achieved. Saturation power of 20 dBm is demonstrated in the package. An optical bench is used to position different optical components, including the SOA chip. lenses, optical isolators, beam splitters, monitoring input and output detectors, in a common package. The optical components are attached using laser-welding technique in a flux free process. Design of a booster optical amplifier monolithically integrated with input and output power monitoring taps is also presented.