PDL-Compensated Mechanically Induced Long-Period Grating for EDFA Gain Flattening

Abstract

Abstract We present and demonstrate a polarization-insensitive mechanically induced long-period fiber grating (MLPG) for EDFA gain flattening. By forming a 90° fiber rotator in the middle of the MLPG the PDL of the MLPG was substantially reduced. The PDL-compensated MLPG was able to flatten the ASE spectrum of an EDFA successfully without deterioration of the polarization characteristics. Keywords: long-period gratings polarization-dependent loss (PDL) erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) gain flattening PDL compensation