Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Chip (1060-1550 nm) | SIMTRUM Photonics Store

  1.Fiber Optic Sensing: Modulator/Chopper; MOPA Light Source

Distributed fiber optic sensing has the advantages of all-weather, long-distance, passive sensing, and integrated sensing, which is widely used in IoT and new infrastructure.

SOA can be used as a modulator/chopper to replace the acousto-optic modulator (AOM) for high extinction ratio. In addition, SOA can also enhance the optical power, thus eliminating the need for the back-end EDFA optical amplification module and further reducing the cost.

Narrow Linewidth Laser (NLL) and SOA can be further integrated into MOPA light source, which is beneficial to reduce the size.

2.LiDAR

SOA has been widely used in LiDAR, with the advantages of easy chip integration, high extinction ratio and high power.

2.1 FMCW LiDAR

The basic principle of FMCW LiDAR is shown in the figure above. A gain chip can be integrated in a silicon-based external-cavity narrow linewidth laser to generate a narrow linewidth tunable light source. In addition, a high power SOA array can be integrated in the LOSA to increase the emitted optical power and generate pulses.

2.2 Wind LiDAR

The basic principle of wind LiDAR is shown in the figure above. In wind LiDAR, NLL and SOA are usually used as optical path integration components for replacing AOM and improving integration.

3.OCT Imaging

OCT medical imaging is a new non-contact, non-invasive optical imaging diagnostic technology that displays tissue structures and the distances between them by using different tissues to reflect incident light differently, which is then processed by a computer to form pseudo-colors or grayscales to display the cross-sectional structure of the tissues.

SOA can be integrated into the light source of OCT imaging devices to increase the output power of the light source and thus improve the detection sensitivity. The main applications are ophthalmic OCT and cardiac OCT imaging. Among them, ophthalmic imaging is dominated by 1060 nm wavelength and cardiac OCT is dominated by 1310 nm wavelength.

4.Noise Suppression

Single-frequency lasers in optical sensing systems are often desired to improve sensing performance with lower RINs. For example, low-frequency noise can be suppressed by SOA saturation in single-frequency fiber lasers (SFFLs). And in interferometric fiber optic gyroscopes (IFOGs), which use an incoherent broadband light source (EDFA or ASE light source) that is subject to excess noise or RIN, SOA can be used to suppress low-frequency noise.

5.Channel Filling

C+L systems occupy a spectral bandwidth of up to 12 THz, and the strong SRS effect in the fiber causes a shift of power from short wavelengths to long wavelengths, which in turn affects OSNR.

SOA is used in combination with wavelength selective switches (WSS) for channel shaping and channel wavelength selection. SOA provides optical gain, while WSS can independently select and assign each wavelength by assigning the selected wavelengths to different paths. This combination improves the flexibility and reconfigurability of the network to meet the different network requirements.