Suppressed turn-on laser regenerative optoelectronic amplifier

Measurements of the optical repeater design discussed by Ruegg (1968) and Copeland et al. (1980) are presented. A modified cavity GaAs laser similar to the dual laser of Lasher (1964) is used. Optical power gain as a function of temperature is presented, together with a discussion of pulse reshaping effects; these include both lengthening and shortening. A regenerative optoelectronic fiber-optic repeater is realized which uses the current from a pin photodetector to pump a suppressed turn-on laser. An overall gain from input to output fibers of 4.6 times is achieved. The temperature variation of the gain is given up to a temperature of 35 C, where the gain vanishes. Depending on the input pulse width, the output pulse may be increased or decreased in width; this effect is seen to differ from the pulse sharpening reported by Copeland et al. The fiber-coupled gain is shown to be increased through the use of regenerative feedback from output to input with no detrimental effect on the pulse shape.