In erbium doped optical fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) used in modern high-capacity wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, the gain flatness of EDFA is very important in wide-band long-haul systems. In the EDFAs using the passive gain equalizers, the gain flatness deteriorates due to gain-tilt when the operating condition of the EDFA changes, while the EDFAs should maintain the gain flatness even if the operating condition has changed. To solve this problem, we have developed an active gain-slope compensation technique of an EDFA using a thulium-doped optical fiber (TDF) as a saturable absorber. The actively gain-slope compensated EDFA with the TDF compensator keeps the gain profile constant for the wide gain dynamic range more than 8 dB with the low noise figure less than 6 dB in the wavelength range of 1539-1564 nm.

In erbium doped optical fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) used in modern high-capacity wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, the gain flatness of EDFA is very important in wide-band long-haul systems. In the EDFAs using the passive gain equalizers, the gain flatness deteriorates due to gain-tilt when the operating condition of the EDFA changes, while the EDFAs should maintain the gain flatness even if the operating condition has changed. To solve this problem, we have developed an active gain-slope compensation technique of an EDFA using a thulium-doped optical fiber (TDF) as a saturable absorber. The actively gain-slope compensated EDFA with the TDF compensator keeps the gain profile constant for the wide gain dynamic range more than 8 dB with the low noise figure less than 6 dB in the wavelength range of 1539-1564 nm.

Optical waveguides are one of the key devices for photonic integrated circuits considered to be one of the candidates for optical interconnects. In particular lossless bend type waveguides are necessary to integrate different optical devices monolithically. In this paper, we report on the bending loss characteristics of the multi-quantum well bend waveguide with respect to the bend radius and lateral optical mode confinement. We show that to decrease the bending loss to less than 0.5 dB, it is necessary to increase either the confinement or the bend radius. For an example, when the confinement is around 85%, the bend radius should be more than 2 mm. We also show the application of the S-bend waveguides to directional coupler type optical switch.