Optical Amplification: SNR and Noise Figure

This lecture covers the impact of optical amplification on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in photonic systems. Topics include the relationship between SNR, Q factor, and bit error rate, the use of optical amplifiers to improve SNR, and the effects of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise. The instructor explains how ASE affects SNR, the limitations of optical amplification in both thermal and shot noise dominated scenarios, and the noise figure of optical amplifiers. Additionally, the lecture compares different types of optical amplifiers, such as EDFA, Raman, and SOA, discussing their characteristics, applications, and noise figures.