Serial topology of wide-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier for WDMapplications

We analyze the recently proposed serial topology of a wide-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) covering both the C- and L-bands and compare it with the parallel configuration of C-band and L-band amplifiers. The analysis is based on an application of a comprehensive large-signal numerical model, which takes into consideration propagation of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) signals, bidirectional pump, and both the downstream and upstream ASE power spectral components. We have found that in the multiwavelength regime the new topology can provide output power of 3 dBm/channel for 32 C-band and 40 L-band, 0.8-nm-spaced signals with reasonable pump powers to the first and the second stage. In comparison with the usual parallel configuration of C-band and L-band EDFAs, this topology saves about 20% of overall pump power, 10% of the necessary length of erbium-doped fiber (EDF) and achieves lower noise figure for L-band signals     

Gain enhancement in L-band loop EDFA through C-band signal injection

Gain enhancement provided in L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) with loop configuration and through C-band signal injection is experimentally demonstrated and compared with conventional single-stage L-band EDFA design. Significant backward amplified spontaneous emission suppression in C-band and pump conversion efficiency increase in L-band were observed for varying C-band seed signal wavelength and power levels. Gain and noise figure (NF) performance of loop design L-EDFA is compared with the conventional bidirectionally pumped single-stage L-EDFA design. Gain and NF measurements in the loop configuration have resulted in an up to 9.5-dB increase in gain and up to 2.6-dB degradation in NF at a moderate signal wavelength of 1585 nm.     

Amplified spontaneous emission in cladding-pumped L-banderbium-doped fiber amplifiers

Propagation of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in cladding-pumped long-wavelength-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) is analyzed numerically. Forward and backward ASE power dependence on cladding area is analyzed for both pumping directions. ASE power propagating counterdirectionally to the pump is found to experience strong dependence on the cladding area. Increasing the cladding area results in more uniform pump distribution along the EDF, preventing short-wavelength gain and ASE buildup. Quantum conversion efficiency in cladding-pumped L-band EDFAs is discussed     

Comparison of the static and dynamic properties of single- and double-pass partially gain-clamped two-stage L-band EDFAs

We investigate the static and dynamic properties of partially gain-clamped two-stage L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) in single- and double-pass configurations. While both amplifiers can be designed to provide the same gain-clamped performance, the double-pass configuration requires /spl ap/40% less pump power and /spl ap/22% shorter length of EDF in the second stage, and has a corresponding improvement in power conversion efficiency of 45%, but at the expense of an increase in noise figure (/spl ap/0.5 dB) and dynamic gain variation.     

S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers with a multistage configuration /sub e/sign, characterization, and gain tilt compensation

We report an S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) with a multistage configuration in terms of its design, gain, and noise characteristics for various pump powers and input signal powers, the temperature dependence of the gain spectra, and gain tilt compensation for changes in input signal power and temperature change. We show that there is a tradeoff between low noise and efficiency in the S-band EDFA and describe the development of an S-band EDFA with a flattened gain of more than 21 dB and a noise figure of less than 6.7 dB. We also show that there is a change in the gain spectra with changes in the pump power and input signal power that is different from that observed in C- and L-band EDFAs, and that our EDFA has a temperature-insensitive wavelength. Furthermore, we develop a gain tilt compensated S-band EDFA that can cope with changes in input signal power and temperature.     

High-gain coefficient long-wavelength-band erbium-doped fiberamplifier using 1530-nm band pump

A 1530-nm band has been studied as a pump wavelength for the long-wavelength-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (L-band EDFA). The pump source is built using a tunable light source and cascaded conventional-band (C-band) EDFA. The L-band EDFA uses a forward pumping scheme. Within the 1530-nm band, the 1545-nm pump demonstrates 0.45-dB/mW gain coefficient, which is twice better than that of conventional 1480-nm pumped EDFA. The noise figure of the 1530-nm pump is at worst 6.36 dB, which is 0.75 dB higher than that of the 1480-nm pumped EDFA. Such high-gain coefficient indicates that the L-band EDFA consumes low power     

Inherent enhancement of gain flatness and achievement of broad gainbandwidth in erbium-doped silica fiber amplifiers

We report new methods to inherently increase the flatness and bandwidth of erbium-doped silica fiber amplifiers from three perspectives: fiber design, pump-signal WDM coupler optimization, and amplifier structure. First, to achieve inherent control of the gain spectrum, a new type of composite fiber structure with an Er-doped core and a Sm-doped cladding ring is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Interaction of the optical field with the Sm-doped cladding to produce evanescent wave filtering is modeled, which provides an in-line control of gain fluctuation in the erbium-doped flier amplifier (EDFA) C band, 1530-1560 nm. Second, the effect of the spectral characteristics of WDM couplers over the L band of an EDFA is explored. A fused taper fiber coupler for a 1480-nm pump is optimized for signals in the wavelength range of 1570-1610 nm by measuring the small-signal gain, gain tilt, and noise figure in an L-band EDFA. Finally, a new all-fiber structure for a wide-band EDFA, where the L and C bands were coupled serially, is demonstrated with optimized pump-signal couplers. Further optimization of the new composite fiber structure and the transient effects in the serially coupled EDFAs are also discussed     

Gain control in L-band EDFAs by monitoring backward travelingC-band ASE

A novel and simple technique for gain flatness control is reported for gain shifted, long wavelength band (L-band) erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). Utilization of the backward traveling amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in the C-band is analyzed with respect to controlling the gain tilt observed in the L-band when the total input power of the EDFA is changed. It is shown that a gain flatness of 0.6 dB/30 nm can be achieved over a dynamic range greater than 10 dB by using the backward traveling ASE power in the C-band as a monitor to adjust the copropagating pump power of the EDFA. The proposed technique eliminates the need to extract the output signals from the monitored ASE signal, demonstrating the suitability and simplicity of the proposed technique for wavelength division multiplexed applications     

Gain enhancement in L-band EDFA through a double-pass technique

An improvement of gain in the long-wavelength band (L-band) is observed by double passing the forward amplified spontaneous emission and signal in the erbium-doped fiber (EDF) using a circulator, unlike conventional single pass amplification. A gain enhancement as high as 11 dB is obtained for a 1570-nm signal with an input power of -20 dBm at 98 mW of pump power. However, a noise figure penalty of about 2 dB is observed     

Effective suppression of signal-wavelength dependent transients in a pump-controlled L-band EDFA

Typical pump-controlled L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) in a feed-forward scheme give significant transients due to gain difference on wavelength of input signal when only a few channels are left. The fiber Bragg grating added pump-controlled L-band EDFA eliminates the wavelength dependent gain difference and transients.     

C+L波段宽带增益平坦铋基掺铒光纤放大器的设计

基于光纤放大器增益谱的宽带平坦化发展需要,设计了一个两段铋基掺铒光纤(Bi-EDF)级联并携带一个C波段(1 530~1 565 nm)宽带光纤布拉格光栅(FBG)的双通结构型铋基掺铒光纤放大器(Bi-EDFA),从理论上研究了其对输入信号的放大特性。研究表明:FBG的引入可以使C和L波段(1 570~1 620 nm)信号分别经历不同长度Bi-EDF的双向传输,各自获得高增益放大,实现增益谱的宽带平坦化。在200 mW的1 480 nm双向对称泵浦下,第一级和第二级Bi-EDF长度分别为50 cm和170 cm时,对于波长间隔为2 nm、每路功率为-30 dBm的56路C+L波段信号的输入,Bi-EDFA高于30 dB的增益带宽达到了90 nm(1 530~1 620 nm),平均增益为35.7 dB,增益起伏仅为2.3 dB。同时,噪声系数得到明显改善。研究结果对于研制具有宽带、增益平坦的C+L波段Bi-EDFA具有实际指导意义。     

New pump wavelength of 1540-nm band for long-wavelength-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (L-band EDFA)

A long-wavelength-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (L-band EDFA) using a pump wavelength source of 1540-nm band has been extensively investigated from a small single channel input signal to high-power wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) signals. The small-signal gain coefficient of 1545-nm pumping among the 1540-nm band is 2.25 times higher compared to the conventional 1480-nm pumping. This improvement in gain coefficient is not limited by the pumping direction. The cause for this high coefficient is explained by analyzing forward- and backward-amplified spontaneous emission spectra. The gain spectra as a function of a pump wavelength suggest that a broadband pump source as well as a single wavelength pump can be used as a 1540-nm-band pump. In the experiment for high-power WDM signals, the power conversion efficiency for 256 WDM channel input is 48.5% with 1545-nm pumping. This result shows more than 20% improvement compared with the previous highest value for the L-band EDFA. Finally, the 1545-nm bidirectionally pumped EDFA is applied as a second stage amplifier in an in-line amplifier of an optical communication link with a 1480-nm pumped first stage EDFA, in which the input power of the second-stage EDFA is +2.2 dBm. The power conversion efficiency yields a 38% improvement without noise figure degradation compared with the case of 1480-nm pumping.     

Pump wavelength-dependent spectral-hole burning in EDFAs

Gain-difference spectra are used to show that 980-nm band pump wavelength changes can significantly effect spectral-hole burning (SHB) in erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). Gain measurements made using a number of different signal and pump wavelengths help to characterize the underlying inhomogeneous spectral properties of EDFAs and a framework for modeling these effects is presented. Despite the difficulty of obtaining the needed subpopulation specific cross section spectra, this model can be used to explain seemingly anomalous changes in the gain spectra of EDFA as a result of changes in signal or pump wavelength     

单级结构C+L波段掺铒光纤宽带光源

报道了利用双向抽运单级掺铒光纤结构研制的高效率C L波段放大自发辐射(ASE)宽带光源。实验表明,该结构在一定的掺铒光纤长度范围内,均可通过调节前后向抽运功率来获得带宽达80 nm(1525~1605 nm)光谱平坦的C L波段宽带光源。光源的抽运转换效率与掺铒光纤长度、前后向抽运功率分配有关。选择所需的最短掺铒光纤长度制作光源,既可以节省光纤,降低成本,还可以提高抽运转换效率。利用该光源结构获得了输出功率为13.5 dBm,抽运转换效率达23.2%的高效率C L波段放大自发辐射宽带光源。     

Low-noise intelligent cladding-pumped L-band EDFA

We present results on a low-cost cladding-pumped L-band amplifier based on side pumping (GTWave) fiber technology and pumped by a single 980-nm multimode diode. We show that simultaneous noise reduction and transient suppression can be achieved by using gain clamping by a seed signal (/spl lambda/=1564 nm). In the gain-clamping regime, the amplifier exhibits 30-dB gain over 1570-1605-nm spectral band with noise figure below 7 dB. The noise figure can be further reduced to below 5 dB by utilizing a low power single-mode pump at 980 nm. The erbium-doped fiber amplifier is relatively insensitive to input signal variations with power excursions below 0.15 dB for a 10-dB channel add-drop.     

Modeling of gain in erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

An analytic method is described for fully characterizing the gain of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) that is based on easily measured monochromatic absorption data. The analytic expressions presented, which involve the solution of one transcendental equation, can predict signal gains and pump absorptions in an amplifier containing an arbitrary number of pumps and signals from arbitrary directions. The gain of an amplifier was measured over a range of more than 20 dB in both pump and signal powers. The measured theoretical results agreed to within 0.5 dB. Although the results described apply explicitly to EDFAs pumped in the 1480-nm region, they are also applicable to EDFAs pumped in the 980-nm region. The method is valid whenever the gain saturation by amplified spontaneous-emission noise can be neglected, which is typically the case for amplifiers with less than about 20 dB of gain     

Enhancement of power conversion efficiency for an L-band EDFA witha secondary pumping effect in the unpumped EDF section

A novel structure, which utilizes detrimental backward amplified spontaneous emission as a secondary pump source is suggested for a silica-based fiber amplifier, operating at a wavelength range from 1570 to 1610 nm. By using the secondary pumping effect from the strong, wasted 1550-nm band amplified spontaneous emission power in the unpumped section of the erbium-doped fiber, it was possible to achieve a considerable improvement in power conversion efficiency, increasing small-signal gain by more than 4 dB. The suggested pump structure was also shown to be useful in overall conversion efficiency improvement for L-band EDFA's, regardless of pump wavelength choice     

980-nm pump-band wavelengths for long-wavelength-band erbium-dopedfiber amplifiers

The impact of pump wavelength and input signal power on the output signal and backward spontaneous emission noise power of L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers is examined. It is shown experimentally that tuning the pump wavelength ±30-nm away from the 980-nm absorption peak provides 3-5-dB improvement in pump-to-signal conversion     

Gain clamping in L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier using a fiberBragg grating

A gain-clamping technique for the long wavelength band (L-band) erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is presented. It uses a single fiber Bragg grating (FBG) on the input side of erbium-doped fiber (EDF) to inject a portion of backward conventional band (C-band) amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) back into the system. The use of a narrow-band (NB) FBG has shown a better performance in clamped-gain level and noise figure compared to a broad-band FBG. The amplifier gain for the NB FBG set up is clamped at 15.4 dB with a variation of less than 0.3 dB for an input power as high as 0 dBm     

光纤长度优化的高功率铒镱共掺光纤放大器

为了研究不同增益光纤长度下1555nm高功率光纤放大器的输出功率,采用两级混合结构的方法,用掺铒光纤放大器和双包层铒镱共掺光纤放大器分别作为1级预放大器和2级主放大器。掺铒光纤放大器对信号光进行预放大,并提高放大器的信噪比;双包层铒镱共掺光纤放大器为主放大器,其双包层结构可以把更多的多模抽运光耦合进系统。对铒镱共掺光纤的最佳长度做了理论分析和实验验证,在信号光功率为10mW、掺铒光纤放大器的抽运功率为318.58mW、双包层铒镱共掺光纤放大器的抽运功率为11.71W、增益光纤长度为14m时,输出功率取得了2.11W的实验数据。在分析输出信号光谱时发现,L波段附近有放大自发辐射谱出现,这是选择的增益光纤过长导致的。结果表明,在光功率和信号光功率一定时,光纤放大器有一个最佳的光纤长度。这一结果对研究光纤放大器的高功率输出是有帮助的。