Simultaneous optical amplification and splitting for lower-noise and higher-gain microwave signal distribution

Semiconductor optical amplifiers are investigated for use in large optical signal distributions systems requiring high dynamic range. The impact of amplifier length on the gain and noise figure of the microwave signal is illustrated experimentally. The performance of a device which simultaneously splits and amplifies the optical signal using the principle of multimode interference will be discussed, and it will be shown that this device has potentially higher performance that the previous generation Y-branch/amplifier combination.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.