| This work provides the derivation and experimental validation of a self-consistent model for fiber Raman amplifiers. This model includes Stokes and anti-Stokes spontaneous emission, gain, and Rayleigh scattering; additionally, it allows for bi-directional propagation. The work further provides a propagation model for signals and pump in Raman amplifiers, utilizing a Stokes parameter to represent partially polarized light. The propagation model is useful in the understanding of such effects as polarization hole-burning and polarization-dependent gain in Raman amplifiers, and in justifying a technique used to measure the parallel and perpendicular Raman gain in optical fiber. Furthermore, the dynamic properties of Raman interaction are used to measure the relative group delay between probe and pump, from which the group-velocity dispersion is obtained. |
