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.