Optical bidirectional add-drop amplifier module with asymmetric fold-back optical paths

Abstract

A novel optical bidirectional add-drop amplifier (BADA) module, composed of an arrayed waveguide grating with asymmetric fold-back optical paths, is proposed. In the proposed asymmetric structure, the relative intensity noise is effectively suppressed without using additional components (such as optical bandpass filters) by structurally eliminating multiple reflection paths. This feature also eliminates lasing paths even when multiple BADA modules are used in concatenation.