Experimental characterisation of a novel noise-controlled semiconductor
optical amplifier (NCSOA) is presented. The design utilises grooves
etched parallel to the active waveguide, at the output sections of the
NCSOA, so as to induce lasing laterally to the propagation axis. This
clamps the carrier density in a relevant region, allowing for the engineering of a specific longitudinal carrier density profile, corresponding to an
improved noise figure performance. Results have demonstrated the effectiveness of carrier density profile engineering as a means of reducing the
noise figure in semiconductor optical amplifiers