On the amplified spontaneous emission noise modeling of semiconductor optical amplifiers

We perform a theoretical investigation of two modeling approaches for the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), namely a stochastic time-domain and a deterministic frequency-domain approach. The theoretical results are compared to one another having as reference experimental measurements obtained from a commercial device. Special emphasis is placed on the modeling of the material gain as it is a key parameter in determining the ASE spectral characteristics. A comprehensive set of equations for both modeling approaches is developed and their numerical solution is analyzed in detail.