Abstract
A dual-stage L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier with a flat gain bandwidth over 36 nm is demonstrated using pump distribution technique. The pump power was distributed to two stages depending on the splitting ratio and the length of erbium-doped fiber that was used for this configuration. Both parameters are the key components for achieving a substantially flat gain response throughout the L-band region ranging from 1570 nm to 1605 nm. Although the input signal power was varied from -30 dBm to 0 dBm, gain of 17 dB with slight variations of less than 1.5 dB and a noise figure of less than 6.7 dB were achieved. All the results obtained show better performances when comparison was made with the conventional single-stage L-band optical amplifier. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.