Abstract: The effects of the pumping wavelength and their power
on the gain flattening of a fiber Raman amplifier (FRA) are
investigated. The multi-wavelength pumping scheme is utilized to
achieve gain flatness in FRA. It is proposed that gain flatness
becomes better with increase in number of pumping wavelengths
applied. We have achieved flat gain with 0.27 dB fluctuation in a
spectral range of 1475-1600 nm for a Raman fiber length of 10 km by
using six pumps with wavelengths with in the 1385-1495 nm interval.
The effect of multi-wavelength pumping scheme on gain saturation in
FRA is also studied. It is proposed that gain saturation condition gets
improved by using this scheme and this scheme is more useful for
higher spans of Raman fiber length.