Gain saturation behavior in L-band EDFAs

The gain saturation behavior of an L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier is investigated. Experimental results show that amplifiers configured to operate in the L-band exhibit decidedly different saturation behavior compared to what is observed in C-band amplifiers. It is shown that the gain can vary by as much as 2.3 dB. Results suggest that the unique saturation behavior observed in the L-band is due, in part, to backward traveling amplified spontaneous emission power.