Description

The Agilent 83438A provides more than +6 dBm in the 1550 nm window, allowing you to characterize advanced components such as isolators, circulators, add/dro multiplexers, gratings, or demultiplexers for dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. 
The Agilent 83438A Erbium ASE source emits amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from an Erbium doped fiber. Such light is one hundred times stronger than an EELED, and ten thousand times stronger than a white light source. This makes it an ideal source for characterizing components with high losses (such as crosstalk or isolation). A pump laser activates the fluorescence of the Erbium doped fiber. The modulation input allows on/off control or modulation up to 300 Hz for applications using lock-in techniques. An optical isolator (standard in each instrument) protects the active fiber from backreflections from the device under test, which significantly improves the stability.
The performance of most passive optical components depends on wavelength, either within several nanometers or over a few hundred nanometers. If that is a critical parameter in the application of your component, then the Agilent Technologies the Agilent 83438A is the perfect stimulus to probe the device under test and to characterize its wavelength dependence quickly with an optical spectrum analyzer.