Rate Equations for modeling dispersive nonlinearity in Fabry-Perot semiconductor optical amplifiers

In small-signal analysis, a MOSFET transistor amplifier acts as a linear amplifier when operating in its saturation region. The gate-to-source voltage (VGS) of the MOSFET is the sum of the DC biasing voltage and the small time-varying input signal. This combination sets up the operating point and modulates the drain current (ID) that flows from the drain to the source. When a small AC signal is superimposed on the DC bias voltage at the gate, the instantaneous drain current comprises three...

Linear systems are characterized by two main properties: superposition and homogeneity. Superposition allows the response to multiple inputs to be the sum of the responses to each individual input. Homogeneity ensures that scaling an input by a scalar results in the response being scaled by the same scalar.
In contrast, nonlinear systems do not inherently possess these properties. However, for small deviations around an operating point, a nonlinear system can often be approximated as linear.