Multifunctional SOAs in optical communication systems

The semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) is very attractive device for optical communication systems for their capability to be multifunctional devices. SOAs have demonstrated their multifunctional facility by combining optical amplification with modulation, gating, photodetection, dispersion compensation, linearization, etc. The paper describes the applications of SOA-modulator and/or SOA-detector in optical communication systems (radio over fibre and passive optical network). Concept with multifunctional SOAs, modulation and detection responses are examined. The SOA gives favourable properties as a multifunctional device, it offers a low-cost, compact solution for several problems.