Simultaneous polarization attraction and Raman amplification of a light beam in optical fibers

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate that it is possible to combine both Raman amplification and polarization attraction of a signal wave in a single optical fiber by means of a counterpropagating scheme. Experiments were performed near 1550 nm in a continuous wave regime and by means of a 10 Gbit / s return-to-zero signal injected in a 20 kmlong low polarization mode dispersion optical fiber. Complete repolarization and 6.7 dB amplification of the signal wave was achieved by injecting a 850 mW, 1480 nm counterpropagating polarized pump wave.