A 1310-nm reflective semiconductor optical amplifier with a gain uncer
tainty of only 0.8 dB at an average gain level of over 30 dB has been
demonstrated using a microoptic polarization reversing retroreflector.
For this amplifier 3-dB saturation output powers of up to 10 dBm and
a noise figure of 7.5 dB have been obtained, A low gain uncertainty fo
r undefined input signal polarization states and input signal waveleng
ths (which may vary over several nanometers) is of primary importance
in switching applications.