Analysis of a multiple-pump Raman amplifier

Raman amplification is investigated both experimentally and numerically. It is demonstrated that, depending on the different pump wavelength combinati ons, the shape as well as the amount of the fiber gain can be altered accor dingly. A numerical model is presented that includes the relevant physical effects to describe properly the different pump and signal interactions. Re sults of several pump combinations are compared to experimental data and us ed to derive numerical values for the local fiber gain. (C) 2001 American I nstitute of Physics.