Theory and measurement techniques for the noise figure of optical amplifiers

The theoretical basis for the noise figure of optical amplifiers is reviewed, and a consistent approach to determining the noise figure of cascaded components is developed, It is shown that when the noise figure is defined in terms of the input and output signal-re-noise ratios, the formulation provides a consistent theoretical formulation for measurement techniques using optical and optoelectronic measurement methods. The paper concludes with a review of measurement techniques for characterization of the noise figure. (C) 2000 Academic Press.