Design of Gain-clamped doped-fiber amplifiers for optimal dynamic performance

This paper provides design guidelines for gain-clamped doped-fiber amplifiers in a wavelength division multiplexed networking environment. A simple dynamic model of the doped fiber amplifier allows us to derive explicit expressions for the small-signal response, which help identify and optimize the most critical parameters, pump power and laser wavelength, for best dynamic performance. The pump power should be chosen 1-2 dBs above its required open-loop value, with all channels present, for the required signal gain. The laser wavelength should be placed either close to the unity-gain region of the clamped gain profile, or at its peak.