1.58-μm band gain-flattened erbium-doped fiber amplifiers for WDM transmission systems

Author

Ono, Hirotaka ; Yamada, Makoto ; Kanamori, Terutoshi ; Sudo, Shoichi ; Ohishi, Yasutake

Author_Institution

NTT Opto-Electron. Labs., Ibaraki, Japan

Volume

17

Issue

3

fYear

1999

fDate

3/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

490

Lastpage

496

Abstract

This paper describes the amplification characteristics of gain-flattened Er³⁺-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) by using 0.98-μm and 1.48-μm band pumping for a 1.58-μm band WDM signal. Silica-based Er³⁺-doped fiber (S-EDF) and fluoride-based Er ³⁺-doped fiber (F-EDF) have gain-flattened wavelength ranges from 1570 to 1600 nm and from 1565 to 1600 nm, respectively, and exhibit uniform gain characteristics with gain excursions of 0.7 and 1.0 dB, and the figure of merit of the gain flatness (gain excursion/average signal gain) of 3 and 4.3%, respectively, for an eight-channel signal in the 1.58-μm band. We show that 1.48-μm band pumping has a better quantum conversion efficiency and gain coefficient, and that 0.98-μm band pumping is effective for improving the noise characteristics. We also show that the EDFAs consisting of two cascaded amplification units pumped in the 0.98-μm and 1.48-μm bands are effective in constructing low-noise and high-gain 1.58-μm band amplifiers

Keywords

erbium; infrared sources; laser noise; laser transitions; optical communication equipment; optical fibre amplifiers; optical fibre communication; optical pumping; wavelength division multiplexing; 0.98 mum; 1.48 mum; 1.58 mum; 1.58-μm band gain-flattened erbium-doped fiber amplifiers; 1565 to 1600 nm; 1570 to 1600 nm; Er³⁺-doped fiber amplifiers; WDM transmission systems; amplification characteristics; average signal gain; cascaded amplification units; eight-channel signal; figure of merit; fluoride-based Er³⁺-doped fiber; gain coefficient; gain excursion; gain excursions; gain flatness; gain-flattened wavelength ranges; noise characteristics; quantum conversion efficiency; silica-based Er³⁺-doped fiber; uniform gain characteristics; Broadband amplifiers; Erbium-doped fiber amplifier; Glass; Optical amplifiers; Optical fiber amplifiers; Optical fiber devices; Optical fibers; Optical materials; Optical noise; Wavelength division multiplexing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.749390

Filename

749390