Spectral broadening of stochastic light intensity-smoothed by a saturated semiconductor optical amplifier

We present calculations of the intensity smoothing of stochastic light by a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). We predict spectral changes of the light that are due to amplitude-to-phase coupling in the gain medium. The intensity smoothing of noisy optical signals with an SOA carries a penalty of spectral broadening (increased phase noise) that increases with increasing alpha parameter (linewidth enhancement factor). The spectral broadening also increases with increasing strength of the intensity fluctuations being smoothed.