Analytical characterization of optical power and noise figure of forward pumped Raman amplifiers.

We show that it is possible to find analytic expressions for characterizing the evolution of signal and noise photon numbers along the active fiber of a forward-pumped Raman amplifier with unequal signal and pump loss coefficients. We confirm the validity of the result by comparing the analytical solutions with numerical calculations and by analytically deriving the well-known 3 dB noise figure limit for high Raman gain. Apart from aiding the analysis and design of forward pumped Raman amplifiers, these results also enable one to find approximate analytical solutions for bidirectional Raman amplifiers and backward pumped Raman amplifiers with Rayleigh backscattering and Brillouin scattering.