Advanced topics on erbium doped fibers for high performance amplifiers

Abstract

Erbium doped fiber amplifiers have been widely deployed for signal amplification in optical transmission systems. High performance amplifiers require erbium doped fiber with high power conversion efficiency and consistent flat gain spectrum. In addition, all impairments associated with EDF must be under good control. This paper reviews the current status and recent progress on erbium doped fibers, illustrates C and L-band spectral characteristics resulting from different doping compositions, presents some approaches for efficient high power amplifiers, and discusses some EDF nonlinear effects with examples.

EDFA transient suppression in optical burst switching systems

“…This result is obtained using a commercially available EDFA providing 18 dB gain and operated at the output power of 21 dBm (when 40 channels are present). This is a significant achievement, as for amplifiers working at such high output power, the excited-state absorption (ESA) reduces the pump efficiency [8] and introduces a gain tilt. This in turn, has a detrimental effect on the magnitude of transients.…”

Phase-Separated Alumina–Silica Glass-Based Erbium-Doped Fibers for Optical Amplifier: Material and Optical Characterization along with Amplification Properties

“…IsoGain TM EDF has been introduced to obtain flat gain for use in a high-channel-count DWDM system [5]. In order to achieve uniform signal gain, one common approach is Al 3+ codoped with Er 3+ in EDFs [6][7][8][9][10][11]. In order to tune the spectral characteristics as well as the performance of EDFs, selection of proper glass compositions plays a critical role.…”

“…Telluride glasses, though stable, have a high index of refraction and high thermal expansion, both of which complicate splicing into an all-optical system. The normal alumina-silica glass-based EDF with high Al codoping shows better flatness compared to other silica EDFs, such as those based on germanium-silica and phosphosilicate glasses [6]. Accordingly, fabrication of high Al-doped silica-based optical fiber has gained significant attention in recent years, and various techniques such as modified chemical vapor deposition coupled with solution doping (MCVD-SD), direct nanoparticle deposition (DND), sol-gel methods etc.…”

Gain, Noise Figure and Efficiency Characteristics of an L-Band Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier

“…Silica-based erbium-doped optical fibers are typically doped with germanium, aluminum and sometimes with lanthanum and phosphorus. Higher aluminum concentration results in a flatten gain shape in the L-band and reduces erbium pairing effects (Wangand & Andrejco, 2005).…”