Design Optimization For Efficient Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers

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1730 JQURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 8. NO I I .

NOVEMBER 1990

Design Optimization for Efficient Erbium-Doped


Fiber Amplifiers

Abstract-The gain and pumping efficiency of aluminosilicate er- Ground (4Z15,2) and upper (4Z13/2) level
bium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA's) are analyzed as a function of
N1.2
guiding parameters and Er-doping profile for two pump wavelengths
populations.
of Lp = 980 nm and b, = 1.47 pm. Three designs of fiber-amplifier Ch Pump threshold at Ap(pF = h v p 7 r ( u i 1 ) 2 /
waveguide are considered: a) one with the same mode size as standard %(A,> 7).
1.5-pm communication fibers (Type 1); b) one with the same mode size p:t Saturation power at h,(P,*,,(A,) =
as standard 1.5-pm dispersion-shifted fibers (Type 2); and c) one with
mode size smaller than those of communication fibers (Type 3). For a hvS~(W:')*/[%(~s) + U,(As)l 7).
1.47-pm pump, fundamental LPol mode excitation is assumed, while IP Pump power normalized to pump threshold
for b, = 980-nm pump, concurrent excitation of LP,, modes is consid- PF.
ered. It is shown that excitation of higher order pump modes at 980 4 Signal power normalized to saturation
nm does not significantly affect the amplifier gain performance. Inde- power P,*,,.
pendently of the Er-doping profile dimensions, the three fiber types
have gains in excess of 30 dB with the pump power at 980 nm or 1.47
71 Fractional LP,, mode excitation ( $ =
pm in the 20-30-mW range. For Type 3 fiber, 30-dB gains are pre- [ 1 - 711 $01 + 71$ll>.
dicted with a power of 10 mW for either pump. The effect of concen-
trating the E r 3 + doping near the center of the fiber core is shown to I. INTRODUCTION
increase the amplifier gain coefficients by a factor of 1.5 to 2. The high-
est gain coefficients achievable with the three types of fiber designs are
nearly independent of pump hand and signal wavelengths and are: g
+
= 1.25 f 0.25 d B / m W (Type l ) , g = 3.5 0.5 d B / m W (Type 2), and
S
INCE the first observation of room-temperature laser
action of Er3+:glass in 1965 by Snitzer and Wood-
cock [ 11, and the early investigation of Nd3+-doped fiber
g = 8.25 f 0.5 dB/mW (Type 3).
amplifiers [2] and diode-pumped lasers [3], recent im-
provements of the modified chemical vapor deposition
(MCVD) process [4], [5] offered the possibility of incor-
NOMENCLATURE
porating a large variety of rare-earth ions in low-loss sil-
Pump and signal wavelengths. ica glass fibers [6], [7]. Interest in E?+ was stimulated
by the fact that its main laser transition near 1.5 pm falls
Pump and signal power sizes of LPo,
into the low-loss window of fiber-optic communications.
modes.
The first room-temperature CW laser action of Er3+ : glass
Transverse power envelopes of Pump and
was made possible by the low-pump power thresholds
signal modes LP,, ( Ap, ) .
( 5 10 mW) achievable in single-mode fibers [6].
Normalized frequency at Ap. S.
Traveling-wave erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (ED-
Transverse propagation constants ( V i , s =
FA'S) were soon investigated, and high gains (30-35 dB)
u;,s + Wi,,). were reported using pumps at 665 nm [7] and 5 14 nm [SI.
Core-cladding refractive index difference.
Amplification of high-bit-rate ( 2 G b / s ) optical signals in
Core radius.
single or multiple channels [9], [ 101 showed that EDFA's
Cutoff wavelength.
can be used in broad-band optical communication systems
Er-doped core radius.
and, because of slow-gain recovery dynamics, are also
Ratio of Er-doped core radius to fiber core
immune to crosstalk effects [ 101. Another advantage is the
radius.
insensitivity of the gain to signal polarization [9]. As fiber
Absorption and emission cross sections at
amplifiers can be designed to have negligible coupling loss
APJ. to standard communication fibers, high fiber-to-fiber gains
E?+ fluorescence lifetime of4zI3l2- 4 ~ , 5 / 2
( G 2 30 dB) can be achieved, which makes the EDFA
transition.
attractive for a variety of system applications, i.e., as
Er3+ concentration ( p ( r ) = po for r < aEr
preamplifiers, in-line repeaters, or power amplifiers.
and p ( r ) = 0 elsewhere).
Practical implementations of the EDFA require that
semiconductor laser diode (LD). . , sources be used for the
Manuscript received January 11, 1990; revised May 5, 1990. pump. The first LD-pumped fiber amplifier was achieved
The authors are with AT&T Bell Laboratories, Crawford Hill Labora-
tory, Holmdel, NJ 07733. with a GaAlAs laser diode at 807 nm and net gains of + 6
IEEE Log Number 9037966. dB using 15 mW were achieved [l 11. The 807-nm pump

0733-8724/90/1100-1730$01.OO 0 1990 IEEE


DESURVIRE er a / : DESIGN OPTIMIZATION FOR EFFICIENT ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS 1731

band is unfortunately inefficient, because of the concur- to longer optimal fiber lengths. Depending on the Er3’
rent effect of pump excited-state absorption (ESA) [ 121. concentration, the degree of Er-doping confinement within
For comparison, the use of the 980-nm ESA-free pump the core, and the launched pump power, the optimal
+
band was shown to yield gains up to 15 dB for the same lengths can vary from a few meters to a kilometer. Overly
pump power [ 131. The 980-nm wavelength can be gen- long EDFA’s may not be practical for lumped amplifica-
erated with strained-layer InGaAs LD’s [ 141. The pump tion, but may be advantageous in certain applications re-
band near 1.48 pm which is also free from ESA was in- quiring distributed gain [26]. The ranges of possible E?’
vestigated by Snitzer et al. [15]. Using a 1.48-pm In- concentrations corresponding to ranges of optimal lengths
GaAsP laser diode, a gain of +12.5 dB with a 16-mW are analyzed in detail.
pump was reported [ 161, which represents the first prac- The second part considers the more complex case where
tical and efficient LD-pumped EDFA. Improvement of the 980-nm pump wavelength is distributed among LPol
fiber design led to sizable increases in pumping efficiency and L P l l modes. Fundamental LPol mode excitation can
for 980 nm I171 and 1.48 pm [18]-[22]. At the 980-nm be achieved easily with standard fiber designs at the 1.47-
pump wavelength, a gain of +24 dB with only 6-mW LD- pm pump wavelength; at A,, = 980 nm, however, these
pump power, or a gain coefficient g = 3.9 dB/mW was fibers can support the higher order L P l l mode and this
reported for a germanosilicate EDFA [ 171. With the 1.48- excitation must be taken into account as it changes the
pm pump, a gain coefficient of g = 2.6 dB/mW was mea- overall pump intensity distribution in the Er-doped core.
sured in an aluminosilicate EDFA corresponding to gains Some studies [24], [27] have addressed the issue of mul-
of +20 dB with 7.5 mW of color-center laser pump [ 181. timode pumping (LP,, modes) and show that single
Many experimental studies are now needed to determine transverse mode excitation ( LPol ) is the most efficient
the role played by the glass host composition in the pump- [24]. In some cases, however, as this study establishes,
ing efficiency. the pumping efficiency in the multimode pump regime is
As the gain coefficient reflects the EDFA pumping ef- not significantly different from the single-mode pumping
ficiency and represents a figure of merit for a given type case.
of E r : glass, it is important to determine the highest val-
ues achievable with 980-nm or 1.47-pm pump wave- 11. THEORY
lengths as well as the optimum fiber design for best-gain
performance. In this paper, the gain characteristics of In this study, the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE)
EDFA’s of the aluminosilicate type are analyzed for three noise is treated as an equivalent input signal propagating
types of fiber designs: a) one which is compatible with in the forward direction. The input noise power was set
standard 1.5-pm communication fibers (single-mode fiber to P N ( z = 0 ) = 2 pW, which corresponds to an input
or SMF), which will be referred to as Type 1; b) one photon number of nsp = 1.2 in bandwidth AAh = 25 nm
which is compatible with standard 1.5-pm dispersion- in each of four fiber transverse modes (two polarization
shifted fiber (DSF), referred to as Type 2; and c) one of modes and two propagation directions) [25]; the band-
mode dimensions smaller than the two previous ones, i.e., width AAh corresponds to the effective homogeneous width
Type 3. The study focuses on the maximization of the of aluminosilicate Er : glass [ 101. Such a simplified model
gain and gain coefficient of the EDFA when pumped at for the ASE noise was shown in previous work [25] to
980-nm and 1480-pm wavelengths. The effect of concen- provide a good description of the dependence of gain with
trating the Er-doping near the center of the fiber core, pump power in the high-gain regime (30-40 dB). The
which increases the pumping efficiency [23], [24], is in- more accurate calculation in [ 101 considers the two prop-
vestigated for the three fiber types. An investigation of agation directions of the ASE noise, the rate equations
the saturation properties of the three types of EDFA’s will being integrated several times in order to solve the two
be the object of a forthcoming study. boundary-condition problems of the input ASE noise. As
In previous work [lo], a theoretical model for the such computation is lengthy in procedure, and consider-
EDFA was developed. Considering the 4Z,5/2-4Z13/2 pump ing the amount of numerical integration necessary to solve
band around A = 1.48 pm, improvement of the model the differential equations describing the EDFA in this
was made to account for the overlapping of the signal flu- study, the simplified approach described above for mod-
orescence and the pump absorption bands [25]. In the case eling the ASE was chosen instead.
where the pump wavelength is largely detuned from the The notation used in this theoretical part is summarized
peak signal fluorescence wavelength, i.e., A,, 5 1.47 pm in the Nomenclature list (symbols not listed in the list have
[25], this overlap can be neglected and the same theory their usual meanings). The pump (Z,,) and signal (Zs)
described in [ 101 is valid for both 1.47- and 980-nm pump powers are normalized to the pump threshold P r and sat-
wavelengths. uration power P,*,,(A,), respectively (see Nomenclature
The first part of the paper studies the performance of list for definitions), while the noise power ,Z is normal-
the three types of fiber configurations, and the effect of ized to the saturation power P,*,,(A = 1.531 pm). The
confining the Er doping, assuming fundamental LPol mode basic rate equations for the powers Z,,, Zs, and IN are:
excitation at the pump wavelengths (A,, = 980 nm or 1.47 dl,,,,,(z)ldz = g ( ~ p , s , N Z ) ~ , , . s , N ( Z ) , with z being the
p m ) . The study shows that confining the Er doping leads ,
axial fiber coordinate and g ( A,,, s, , z ) being the absorp-
1732 J O U R N A L OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY. VOL. 8. NO. 1 1 . NOVEMBER 1990

tion or gain coefficients defined by [lo] sizes U:,', (i.e., the effective mode areas are ~(o,".',)') and
used to define the normalized pump, signal and noise
powers I,, I,, and Z,. In the more complex case where the
pump is distributed between LPol and LP,, modes the nor-
malizing factor ( u ; ' / u ~in) ~ ( 5 ) effects a correction in
the terms in (3) and (4) containing the relative pump in-
tensity distribution Z, ( z )$, (A,, r , 19).From ( 5 ) we obtain
for the LPol mode envelope
$OI(Ap,s, 4= $p.r(r>

for r 5 a

r dr dB (2)
where ( r , 0 ) are the transverse coordinates. The popula-
tions in (1) and ( 2 ) are given by [lo] (7)
N , ( z , r, e) where U,,,, Wp,,refer to the transverse propagation con-
stants of the LPol modes at A f . , . We assume for simplicity
-
-
+ [ z ~ ( z +) ~ , ( z > ] ~ e $ ( Ar s, ,0 )
1
1 + Z,(Z)$(~,~ r, 0 ) + [ I s ( Z ) + ~ , ( z ) ] l l . ( ~r ,, 0, ) * l I ( ~ , 3 r)

(3) for r Ia
N 2 ( z , r, 0 )
- Z,(Z)$(A,? r, e> + [ & ( z ) + Z N ( z ) ] 7 A ~ s r,
9 6)
-
1 + Z,(z)$(A,, r , e> + [L(Z) + L V ( Z ) ] $ ( h > r, 6 )
(4)
with qe = [ l + ua(As)/ue(As)]-' and vu = [ 1 +
ue(As)/uu(As)]~ ' . that the assumption a,(A,)
(Note -
0 was used in the above equations). where U,, and W, refer to the L P l l transverse propagation
In the weakly guided regime, the mode profiles ,$, are constants at A,. The effective mode sizes up"' and are
given by the LP,, power-mode envelopes [29] from (6): ojl = [ 2 J $ o l ( A p , r ) dr r ] ' / *and = 12 S
( A p , r ) rd r ] ' / * .Considering the fractional excitation 7
$ m n ( X p , s , r, 0 ) of L P l l modes, the total mode power envelope corre-
sponding to the mixture of LPol and LP,, excitation is
l a given by $(A,> = ( 1 - s)$o,(A,) + 7$l,(Ap) with
$ol, given by (7) and (8). Note that since there are two
types of L P , , modes in each polarization direction [29]
and only one for LPol, the case where all modes are
equally excited, whether one or two directions of polar-
for r > a ization are considered, corresponds to 7 = 2/3.
The parameters corresponding to the three types of fi-
where J, and K, are the Bessel and modified Bessel (or bers are shown in Table I. From Type 1 to Type 3, the
Hankel) functions, respectively, fn ( e ) = cos2 n I9 (or sin2 core radius decreases ( a = 4.5, 3, 1.5 pm ) and the index
n e ) , and U,,,, Wp,, are the transverse propagation con- difference increases ( A n = 0.0035, 0.01, 0.03), which
stants of the LP,, modes. The effective mode radii up"(:in enables mode size matching of Type 1 with SMF com-
(5) are defined by munication fiber (e.g., AT&T 5D), of Type 2 with dis-

WP,Smn = [' S T O S
2s m
O $m,(Ap,s, r, 0 ) r d r d B j
1/2 persion-shifted fiber (e.g., AT&T DSF), and a mode ra-
. ( 6 ) dius reduction to the minimal value of ool 1.38 pm,
which one can achieve with an index step of An = 0.03.
-
Note that the values for the mode radii in (6) are, in Table I also shows the loss 7sMF and vDsF when the three
the case of Bessel functions $ ,, different from the mode fiber types are butt coupled to SMF and DSF, respec-
radii at 1/ e . Such expression for op"."sstems from the def- tively, evaluated from a Gaussian-mode envelope approx-
inition of pump and signal intensities in the fiber modes imation. These coupling losses are less than 0.05 dB for
$., The pump threshold Ptp" and the saturation power matching fiber types, i.e., Type 1 with SMF and Type 2
P,*,, (see Nomenclature) are referred to LPol mode spot with DSF. The coupling losses of 5 and 1.5 dB of Type
DESURVIRE er a / : DESIGN OPTIMIZATION FOR EFFICIENT ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS 1733

TABLE I
FIBERPARAMETERS

TYPE1 TYPE2 TYPE3

' 0 2 4 6 0 2 4 6 0 2 4 6 8

RADIUS (pm)

Fig. 1 . Power-mode envelopes versus fiber radius for three types of fibers
(see Table I for specifications). Full line corresponds to LP,, modes at
A, = 1.47 pm and A: = 1.531 pm; dashed line corresponds to LP,, and
LP,, modes at A, = 980 nm.

TABLE I1
Er: GLASSLASERPARAMETERS
(ALUMINO SILICATE GLASSFIBER)

po = 1x 10'8 cm-3

i= 10ms

o,(x, = 980 = 5 8 10-2sm9


~
3 fiber with SMF and DSF can be suppressed by the use
oa(X, = 1170 n m ) = 1 GiX 10-'5m2
of fiber tapers. The same technique can be used to match
Type 2 with SMF and Type 1 with DSF. o.(x, = 1 531 p )= 5 W X 1 0 - ? ~ n l ~

The power-mode envelopes calculated from (5) for the o<(& = 1.531 p m ) = 7 04X IO-?' m2
three fiber types are plotted as functions of fiber radius in
oa(& = I 5 4 1 ,am) = B xx m?
Fig. 1, for A, = 980 nm (LP,, and L P l l modes, dashed
lines) and A, = 1.47 pm, A, = 1.531 pm (LPoI modes, oc(A3= 1 54-1 ,~m)
= ,48X IO-" m2

full lines). Note the increase in pump-power confinement


from Type 1 to Type 3 fibers. Considering the LPol
modes, the figure shows that for the three fiber types, the (1)-(4) and the cross sections listed in Table I1 by using
pump intensity decreases from its maximal value at r = the mode envelopes $m,, (A,,,, r ) in (7) and (8) for each
0 by a factor of 4 (A, = 1.47 p m ) or by a factor of 7 (A, of the three fiber types. The cross sections U,,,( A ) at A =
= 980 nm) at the core-cladding interface. Thus, the sit- 1.47, 1.531, and 1.544 pm correspond to the case of al-
uation may happen that the pump power is above thresh- umino-silicate fibers 1221, [25]. Note that the values given
old at the center of the fiber and falls below threshold at here for uo,e ( A ) were derived from a measurement of im-
some point in the evanescent tail of the LPol mode. Be- proved accuracy in comparison to our previously reported
cause of the three-level property of the E r : glass system, data [lo], 1251. The absorption cross section at A = 980
while the inner region of the core is inverted and has gain, nm was evaluated using the relation U, (980 nm) 0.435 -
the outer region that is not inverted is absorbing, resulting x uu( 1.53 p m ) reported for Si02-A1203-P205glass [30].
in an inefficient pumping. This effect can be alleviated by The effect of variations in peak values of the cross sec-
confining the Er doping near the center of the fiber core tions and their ratio u,/u, is also considered in this study.
1231, [24]. For pump powers much higher than threshold, For aluminosilicate Er: glass the fluorescence spectrum has
however, complete and uniform inversion can be achieved a peak at A: = 1.531 pm ( 7 nm wide) and a flat region
across the fiber core. In this case, reducing the Er-doping (20 nm wide) centered around A: = 1.544 pm. For this
dimension does not affect the pumping efficiency, as reason, the signal wavelengths Ay and A," are representa-
shown in this study. In the case of multimode excitation tive signal wavelengths for the two respective gain re-
at 980 nm, the null in the LPlo mode around the fiber axis gions of interest. The pump thresholds and saturation
(see Fig. 1) causes a reduction of the inversion in this powers are listed in Table 111. An Er3+ concentration of
region. When both LPol and LPIl modes are excited, this po = 1 x loi9 ions/cm3 (see Table 11) is assumed
effect is compensated by the fact that the LP,, mode has throughout this study. This choice of concentration does
the highest intensity at r = 0. Thus, depending on the not affect the generality of the results in terms of the
fractional excitation of the L P l l modes confining the Er EDFA gain performance, the concentration being only a
doping near the center may in some cases reduce the ef- scaling factor for the EDFA optimum lengths, as dis-
ficiency of the EDFA, as shown in the second part. The cussed below.
absorption and gain coefficients can be calculated from
(1)-(4) and the cross sections listed in Table I1 by using A . Pump in the Fundamental LPol Mode
fractional excitation of the L P l l modes confining the Er In this first part, we study the case of LPol mode exci-
doping near the center may in some cases reduce the ef- tation for both pump and signal considering first and gain
ficiency of the EDFA, as shown in the second part. The curves and then the resultant gain coefficients. Figs. 2, 3,
absorption and gain coefficients can be calculated from and 4 show the theoretical-gain curves as functions of
1734 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY. VOL. 8. N O I I . NOVEMBER 1990

TYPE 1
At = 1.531 pm AB, = 1.544 p m
40 I l l 1 I l l 1

40 -

30 -

20 -

10 -

I I lh I I I I
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50
LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW) LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW)

(a) (a)
TYPE 2
TYPE 1
A$= 1.531 pm AB, = 1.544 prn A t = 1 531 pm A; = 1.544 p m
40 -

40

30 -
30
-m -
m
E E
g 20- z
4:
a 20
U
U

10 - 10

0- 0
10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50
LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW) LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW)

(b) (b)
Fig. 2. Gain at At = 1.531 pm and A! = 1.544 pm versus launched pump Fig. 3 . Same as Fig. 2 for Type 2 fiber.
power for (a) E = 1 and (b) t = 0.25, for Type 1 fiber; solid line: A, =
1.47 p n , dashed line A, = 980 nm. The optimal lengths Lo,, correspond
to maximum gains for Pr = IO, 20, and 30 mW are shown for A, =
1.47 pn and are in parenthesis for A, = 980 nm.
ing to the three lengths Loptfor which the gain is maxi-
mum when the input pump power is PF = 10, 20, or 30
mW.
TABLE 111 1) Type 1 Waveguide: Fig. 2(a) shows that in the case
PUMPTHRESHOLDS
A N D SATURATION
POWERS
E = 1 and in the low-pump-power regime ( P j : 5-20 -
TYPE I TYPE 2 Tl-l'E 3 mW), the gains at A:, A I with 980-nm pump are higher
than with 1.47-pm pump, while in the high-pump regime
( P r 2 25 mW) the reverse occurs. The figure also shows
that in that regime the gains of A: are higher by 3-5 dB
than the gains at A.: At the highest pump powers (P: >
40 mW), the gains with 980-nm pump are about 3 dB
lower than those obtained with 1.47-pm pump. As the
absorption cross section at 980 nm is greater than at 1.47
pm (see Table II), and the 980-nm LPo, mode size is
launched pump power for the three fiber types for the two smaller than that of 1.47-pm pump, one finds P t = 2.64
signal wavelengths A: and A,: and for the two pump mW for 980-nm pump and P r = 4.10 mW for 1.47-pm
wavelengths of A, = 1.47 pm (full lines) and A, = 980 pump (see Table 111). Thus, the difference in gains, in
nm (dashed lines). These curves were calculated for two favor of 1.47-pm pump, is contrary to expectation. In fact,
values of the Er-doping confinement parameter E (ratio of the lower pump threshold at 980 nm causes the slope of
Er-doping core radius to index-core radius), i.e., E = 1 the gain curve to be steeper and the gains to be higher (cf.
and E = 0.25. Each figure contains two sets of curves (one Fig. 2(a)) in the low pump regime ( P T < 20 mW). At
set for each pump wavelength) calculated for different op- powers high above threshold, however, the medium is
timal lengths Lopt.Each set has three curves correspond- fully inverted and the maximum gains are determined by
DESURVIRE ef u l : DESIGN OPTIMIZATION FOR EFFICIENT ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS 1735

TYPE 3 more efficient than Type 1. This is expected as the two


pump thresholds are lower for Type 2 fiber (see Table
111). Actually, the highest gain regime of Type 2 with no
Er confinement ( E = 1 ) is similar to that of Type 1 fiber
with Er confinement ( E = 0.25); the maximum achiev-
-
able gain for Type 2 waveguide ( G 42 dB) is slightly
higher. As for the Type 1 waveguide, reducing the Er-
doping dimension of Type 2 waveguide to E = 0.25 re-
sults also in an increase in slope efficiency and gains, al-
though the relative change is not as important. This is
because the very low-pump thresholds ( 1.O- 1.6 mW)
make it possible to achieve near-uniform inversion from
the inner region of the core to the outer region near the
“0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50 cladding even at powers as low as 10 mW.
LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW)
3) Type 3 Waveguide: The case of Type 3 fiber with E
(a) = 1 (see Fig. 4(a)) is very similar to that of Type 2 fiber
TYPE 3 with E = 0.25. The improvement introduced by reducing
A,”= 1.531 pm A!= I 544 pm the Er-core dimensions to E = 0.25 (see Fig. 4(b)) is not
I I I I significant, as in the case of Type 2 fiber, because of the
40 very low values of the pump thresholds (i.e., P t = 300
and 470 pW, respectively, see Table 111). For Type 3 fi-
30 ber, a launched pump power of 5 mW corresponds to 10
5- to 15 times these pump thresholds, and at this high pump-
9 ing rate the medium inversion is not affected by the trans-
z
a 20 verse variation of pump intensity across the core. It is
c7
clear then, that the effect of confinement of the Er doping
10 for the pump-power range considered ( P $ = 0-50 mW ),
is the strongest for Type 1 fiber which has the highest
pump thresholds.
0
10 20 30 40 10 20 30 40 50 The maximum ratio of gain to launched pump power,
LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW) or gain coefficient, represents a figure of merit for the
(b) EDFA, as mentioned previously. As seen from Figs. 2,
Fig. 4. Same as Fig. 2 for Type 3 fiber. 3 , and 4, a high gain coefficient corresponds to the case
where the EDFA gain rapidly increases at low pump pow-
the optimal lengths. Because of the difference in pump ers and tends then to be nearly constant. For a Type 1
absorption coefficients (980 nm being more strongly ab- waveguide, this last regime is reached when PF - 50
sorbed than 1.47 pm), the optimal lengths are longer for mW (Fig. 2) and for Type 3 when P r - 25 mW (Fig.
1.47-pm pump wavelength, which results in higher gains. 4). The EDFA should be operated in this regime, rather
Comparisons of Fig. 2(a) and (b) shows the effect of than at low pump power, in order to minimize the gain
confining the Er-doping near the fiber-core axis. In Fig. dependence with pump-power fluctuations. A high-gain
2(b), the confinement factor is set to a value of E = 0.25. coefficient indicates that this regime can be reached at
At low pump powers this reduction of E results in a two- moderately low (i.e., 25 mW) pump powers. Fig. 5
fold increase in the slopes of the gain curves and, over shows the gain coefficients plotted as a function of E for
the whole pumping range, in an increase of the gains by the three fiber waveguides and for the two pump wave-
3 to 20 dB. The smallest ( 3 dB) increase is at high pump lengths A., For each value of the parameters E and A, an
(50 mW) and with the longest fiber lengths. When E = optimal length Lop!was found while assuming a launched
1, a pump of 30 mW is required at both pump wave- pump power of P r = 10 mW. Using the length Lopt, a
lengths for gains near 30 dB, which is achieved only with gain curve G = f(Pf),was then calculated with pump
the longest lengths (Fig. 2(a)). When E is reduced to 0.25, varied from PT = 0 to 50 mW, yielding a value of the
only 20 mW are required to achieve the same gains (Fig. gain coefficient representing the maximum value of the
2(b)). Thus, for both pump wavelengths and both signal ratio g = G / P r . The figure shows that reducing the Er-
wavelengths considered, confinement of the Er-doping re- doping dimension results in a gain coefficient increase, as
sults in a sizable improvement in gains and pumping ef- also shown in Figs. 2-4. The increase is most significant
ficiencies. when the confinement parameter is reduced from E = 1 to
2) Type 2 Waveguide: Fig. 3(a) and (b) shows the gain E = 0.25. Considering first the case E = 1, the lowest
curves obtained for Type 2 waveguide, in the two cases gain coefficients are for the Type 1 waveguide, i.e.,
of E = 1 and 0.25, respectively. The curves of Fig. 3 g ( A $ B , A), = 0.4-0.5 dB/mW. The coefficients in-
compared to those of Fig. 2 shown that Type 2 fiber is crease with Type 2 fiber ( g = 1.7-2.3 dB/mW) and
I736 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL 8. NO I I . NOVEMBER 1490

i t =1 531 prn A! = 1 544 Frn in the case of Fig. 5, i.e., PF = 20-30 mW, the depen-
dence of the gain coefficient on pump wavelength be-
comes much weaker, as shown by the slopes of the gain
curves in Figs. 2, 3 , and 4.
When the Er doping is confined in the center of the fi-
ber, i.e., E 5 0.25, the best-gain coefficients that can be
achieved are, from Fig. 5: g = 1.25 l- 0.25 dB/mW
+
(Type l ) , g = 3.5 0.5 dB/mW (Type 2), and g = 8.25
0.5 dB/mW (Type 3 ) . The range given for all these
values accounts for the change in gain coefficients with
pump and signal wavelengths. Note that the case E + 0
is a mathematical limit and has no physical meaning, as
the optimal lengths are infinite in this case. As shown in
the figure, the increase of gain coefficients due to the Er-
doping confinement to E 5 0.25 corresponds to improve-
ments of about a factor of 2 for Types 1 and 2 fibers. The
improvement is less ( - 1.5 times) for Type 3 fiber which
has very low pump thresholds (see Table 111) and for
t t
which inversion across the core is not dependent in the
Fig. 5 . Calculated gain coefficient as a function of parameter E for three transverse pump intensity profile.
types of fiber, for the two signal wavelengths. A,: Xf, for the two pump The dependence of the gain coefficient on the peak val-
wavelengths X, = 1.47 W r n (full line) and A,, = 980 (dashed line). For
each set of parameters, the fiber length is optimized to the value L,,,, ues of the cross sections A , ) was investigated. The
corresponding to PT = IO-mW input pump power. gain coefficients for the three types of fibers were com-
puted at A t = 1.531 pm using a,( 1.47 pm) = 1.31 x
Type 3 fiber (g = 5.6-6.2 dB/mW) following the de- 20-25m2, a,(h:) = 4.75 x 10-25m2, and a,(X~) = 5 . 6
crease in pump thresholds. The range of values for Type X 10p25m2.These values are 20% lower than those used
2 is in good agreement with previously reported experi- in the previous calculations, and nearly match those re-
mental results of g = 2-2.6 dB/mW ( A , = 1.47-pm ported in [22] for A1203-P205-Si02 fibers. (Note that the
aluminosilicate host) [18], [21] and g = 2.2 dB/mW ( A,, ratio U,( X:’)/or(X:’) = 0.84 is the same for [22] and this
= 980-nm germanosilicate host) [13] for fibers with sim- study. ) The gain coefficients found with the cross sections
ilar characteristics to that of Type 2: E = 1, U:’ ( A t ) = 3 reduced by 20% were, for the 1.470-pm pump and con-
pm in the first case [18]-[21], and w,”’(Xf) = 2.75 pm finement parameter E = 1 - 0.25: g = 0.25 - 0.88
[13] in the second case. A gain coefficient of g = 2.25 dB/mW (Type I), g = 1.90-3.1 dB/mW (Type 2), and
dB /mW obtained with 980-nm pump was also reported g = 5.3-7.5 dB/mW (Type 3). For the 980-nm pump
[3 11 in an aluminosilicate fiber of waveguide character- case (using the value for a, (980-nm) shown in Table II),
istics similar to that of [2 11. Thus, this theoretical study the coefficients were: g = 0.4-1.0 dB/mW (Type l ) , g
confirms the experimental observation that the gain coef- = 1.7-2.0 dB/mW (Type 2), and g = 5.0-7.5 dB/mW
ficients with 980- and 1470-nm pumps are nearly identical (Type 3). As these results show, a decrease of 20% of the
for aluminosilicate fibers. With a fiber of waveguide char- 1.53-pm cross sections results in 10 and 20% decreases
acteristics similar to Type 2 fiber, but with reduced Er- in gain coefficients for Types 2 and 3 fibers with the 980-
doping dimension ( E << 1, U:’ = 2.58 p m ) a gain coef- nm and 1.470-pm pumps, respectively, the decrease being
ficient of g = 3.9 dB/mW with X = 980-nm pump and more important for Type 1 fiber. Thus, for the high NA
germanosilicate host was reported [ 171, which is close to fibers (Types 2 and 3) a small change in peak cross section
the value of g = 3.5 dB/mW shown in Fig. 5. Further values, due to variations in glass composition or errors in
experimental data are now needed to study the role played the evaluation of the cross sections, also result in a small
by the type of glass host in the pumping efficiency and to change in the gain coefficients.
check the theoretical predictions of this study over a wide When the Er doping is concentrated near the center of
range of fiber designs. For useful comparisons of the the core, the overlap between the pump and signal modes
pumping efficiencies of 980 and 1480 nm, it is important with the corresponding active region is reduced, and con-
that the same type of glass host and fiber waveguide be sequently the pump absorption rate and the signal gain
investigated at each pump wavelength. coefficient are also reduced. Thus, when the Er is con-
The difference in gain coefficients at the two pump fined to the center of the core, longer fiber lengths are
wavelengths of 980 nm and 1.47 pm shown in Fig. 5 is required. The length that maximizes the gain for a given
relatively small for all three types of fibers. The discrep- launched pump power is referred to as the optimal length
ancy in gain coefficient between the two pump wave- Lopt.Fig. 6 shows Loptas a function of the Er-confinement
lengths is the most important for Type 3 fiber at signal parameter E , for Type 1 fiber, the two pump wavelengths,
wavelength A,” and is at maximum about 10%. When the the two signal wavelengths A:, and for two values of
fiber lengths are optimized for pump powers higher than the pump power, i.e., PF = 10 to 50 mW. For E = 1, the
DESURVIRE et u l : DESIGN OPTIMIZATION FOR EFFICIENT ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS 1737

1017 1018 1079 1020 1021


E+; CONCENTRATION (ions/crn3)

(a)
5000
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0
€ t
-1000 -
Fig. 6 . Optimal lengths for Type 1 fiber as a function of parameter E , at
the tow signal wavelengths A:, A,: for input pump power Py = 10 and 500
10
-i
W
50 mW, and for A,, = 1.47 pm (full line) and A, = 980 nm (dashed I
k
U
8 r+
W
line). 5 100
6 LL
J
50 W
a 0
optimum lengths are longer at A: than at A,: which is ex- z+ 4 2
W
a 10 0
0
W
pected as the fluorescence cross sections satisfy U, ( A:) O 5 2 IT
< U , ( A:). As E tends to small values, the optimum length 0
2U
Lopt increases: the rate of increase approximates an in- 1 0
verse quadratic law in E , i.e., L o p t ( ~ 2 ) / L o p t ( ~ l ) - 1017
E+
:
1018 1019 1020
CONCENTRATION (ions/crn3)
1O2l

( E ~ / E ~ which
) ~ , is consistent with the decrease of the core
(b)
mode interaction area. The ranges of optimum lengths for Fig. 7. Optimal length L,,,, as a function of Er" concentration for (a) Type
Type 1 fiber at PF = 10-50 mW, also shown in Fig. 2(a) 1 and (b) Type 3 fibers, and tow values of parameter E = 1 and 0.25.
and (b), are: Lopt(e = 1 ) = 2-12 m and Lopt(c = 0.25) Solid lines determine the range of Lo,, at A,, = 1.47 pm, when pump
power vanes from P$' = 0 to 50 mW, and dashed lines for the A,, =
2: 25-110 m. Thus, for Type 1 waveguide, the improve-
980-nm case. The fluorescence lifetime 7 versus Er concentration is also
ment in gain coefficient due to the confining of Er doping plotted in the figure.
up to E = 0.25, which was discussed above, necessitates
an increase in fiber lengths of about one order of magni-
tude. Further confinement ( E = 0.1 ) brings the optimal be due to cooperative up-conversion, which is detrimental
lengths in the 100-m range, as shown in Fig. 6. This con- to signal amplification [33]. It was also shown that co-
dition may not be practical for applications of EDFA's as operative up-conversion results in a decrease of the gain
lumped amplifier devices. For applications requiring dis- coefficient due to a reduced pumping efficiency [34]. As-
tributed gains, however, for which Lopt -
10-100 km suming the curve shown in Fig. 7 to be typical of all types
[26], the figure shows that more Er-doping confinement of silica glasses, the value of po = 1 x 1019 cm-3 can be
is actually necessary ( E << 0.1 ). The high slope of the considered in practical applications as an upper limit for
Loptversus E curves near the original imposes tight con- the Er concentration in EDFA's. For smaller concentra-
straints on the precision of the confinement parameter e tions p ; , the optimal length Lopt(pA)is given by
and the concentration p , if the optimal length Loptmust be
accurately defined.
It is important to evaluate at this point the range of op-
timal lengths Loptcorresponding to the values of the con- because the EDFA gain (in decibels) is proportional to the
finement parameter E , to the range of launched pump Er3+ concentration (see (2)). The straight lines describing
power PT and to the range of Er3+ concentration po. Fig. Lopt( p ) in Fig. 7 are determined by the points correspond-
7(a) and (b) shows plots of optimal lengths versus E S f ing to the optimal lengths Lopt(po)calculated with po =
concentration po for E = 1 or 0.25, PF = 10 to 50 mW, 1 x loi9 cm3 and the linear law in (9). It is clear from
A, = 980 nm (dashed lines) or 1.47 pm (full lines) and Fig. 7(a) and (b) that the simultaneous conditions po 5 1
Types 1 and 3 fibers. Also plotted in the figure is the Er3+ X 1019 cmP3 and E = 0.25 set a lower bound L$" for the
fluorescence lifetime 7 as a function of Er3+ concentra- optimal lengths. For Type 1, the minimum lengths is
tion, corresponding to a silicate glass [32]. This last curve L$ = 25-100 m, and for Type 3 L$: = 70-170 m. These
shows a fluorescence quenching effect or decrease of the two ranges of L$" cover the pumping powers of 10 to 50
fluorescence lifetime when the concentration is increased mW and the two pump wavelength cases. When E = 0.25,
beyond po = 1 X 1019 ions/cm3. This effect is known to the optimized lengths are about ten times longer than in
1738 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY. VOL. 8, NO. I I , NOVEMBER 1990

1
the E = 1 case. For applications using the A, = 980-nm z
pump, excessively long fiber lengths (Lopt2 100 m ) are Q
3
not desirable, as the Rayleigh scattering at this wave- m
length causes additional absorption (a few decibels per +
z
kilometers). In the A,, = 1.470-pm case, however, this U
[r

type of loss can be as low as 0.2 dB/km, which allows 3


longer optimal lengths ( L - 1-10 km). Thus, for this 2
reason or for design considerations, the maximum length 06 4 - 2 0 2 4 6
RADIUS (pn)
may be limited, for instance, to Lop, ILrF = 100 m. In Fig. 8. Relative distribution versus radius of the total pump-power exci-
this case, the possible concentrations po from curves in tation at A, = 980 nm in case of LPol + LP,, mode mixtures in Type 2
Fig. 7 must satisfy the condition 2.10’’ 5 po 5 1.10l8 fiber. The cases q = 0 and q = 1 correspond to pure LP,, and L P , ,
cmP3 ( E = 1 ) or 2.1018 5 p, 5 1.10’’ cm-3 ( E = 0.25) excitations, respectively; 9 = 2 / 3 -
0.6 corresponds to the most mul-
timoded regime where all LP,, and LP,, modes are equally excited.
for Type 1 fibers, and 9.1017 5 p, 5 2.1018 cmP3 ( E =
1 ) or 5.1018 5 p, 5 1.10’’ cmP3 ( E = 0.25) for Type 3
fibers, the range of values accounting for the differences TYPE 2 Xp=980 nm, X2=1.531 prn PplP’i =
in pump powers ( 10-50 mW) and pump wavelengths (980 1
nm or 1.47 p m ) and for the po - 1 x 10” cm-3 limit.
50
20
10
These margins correspond to about f 3 0 to f 4 0 % vari-
ation of the concentration values. It is clear that if the 5
z
operating pump power and pump wavelengths are fixed a 0 25
cn
priori, the Er3+ concentration ( p , ) and relative Er-doping K
W
O

confinement parameter ( E ) must be even more accurately >


z 1
controlled during the fiber fabrication. Note that the op-
timal length changes from Type 1 to Type 3 fibers are not
significant, as seen by comparing Fig. 7(a) with Fig. 7(b).
Thus, Fig. 7 can be regarded as representing the values 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 2 3
of Loptfor any design of Er-doped fiber amplifiers. Note RADIUS (prn)
that in the gain saturation regime, the optimal lengths that Fig. 9. Inversion factor N2 - ( u , / u , ) N , at A: = 1.531 pm versus fiber
maximize the gains differ somewhat from those of unsat- radius for Type 2 fiber pumped at A, = 980 nm and relative input pump
power PF/P$ = 1 to 50, for three cases: pure LPo, excitation ( q = 0 ) .
urated conditions, which will be addresses in a future highly multimode ( 7 = 2 / 3 ) and pure LP,, excitation ( q = 1 ) . Note
study. the negative inversion or absorption dip in the center in the last case.

B. Pump at X = 980 nm with Excitation of Higher


Order LPI Modes the pump intensity vanishes in the center of the fiber core,
In this second section, we consider the case of signal is expected to affect the gain performance. This can be
propagation in the fundamental LPol mode, and of 980- shown qualitatively by considering transverse variation of
nm pump excitation in both the LPol and LPI I modes. The the population inversion A N ( r ) = N 2 ( r ) -
pump-power distribution in the transverse direction of the [a,(X,)/a,(X,)] X N l ( r ) ,as determined by (3) and (4),
fiber is shown in Fig. 8 for the example of Type 2 fiber, with Z, = 1, = 0. Fig. 9 shows plots of A N ( r ) at for At
for different values of the parameter 7, which is equal to Type 2 fiber in three pumping regimes: 7 = 0 (pure LPol
the fractional LPll mode excitation. The case 7 = 0 cor- excitation), 7 = 2 / 3 (highly multimode excitation), and
responds to fundamental LPol mode excitation and 7 = 1 7 = 1 (pure LP1I excitation). The different curves corre-
to pure higher order L P l l mode excitation. The case 7 = spond to relative pump powers of P:/Pih = 1 to 50. Con-
2 / 3 - 0.66 corresponds to the most multimoded regime, sidering the cases when 0 I7 I2 / 3 , the figure shows
where all possible LPol and LPll modes are equally ex- clearly that uniform pumping of the core is achieved when
cited, as mentioned in the theoretical section. It can be P f / P : 2 20, and that the magnitude of inversion for a
seen from Fig. 8 that in this case (0.6 < 7 < 0 . 7 ) the given pump power is not very dependent on 7.When 7 =
pump intensity distribution is fairly uniform near the cen- 1, however, the power dip of the LP, I mode gives rise to
ter of the fiber core and that its evanescent tail decreases a region of negative inversion (or absorption) near the
less rapidly than in the pure LPol mode case (7 = 0). The center of the fiber core, the size of which decreases as the
penalty introduced by the excitation of LPI modes is that pump is increased. This effect is expected to degrade the
the peak pump intensity in the center is about 3 / 4 of that EDFA gain performance, in particular when Er doping is
of the pure LPol mode excitation. It is expected then, that confined near the center of the core. The families of curves
at sufficiently high pump powers the multimode pump re- in Fig. 10 correspond to signal gain at A: as a function of
gimes, corresponding to 7 2 0.6, do not lead to signifi- input pump power for the three types of waveguides, for
cant differences in performance as compared to the case E = 1 or E = 0.25, and 7 = 0 to 1. As seen from a com-
of pure LPol excitation studied in the first part. On the parison of Fig. 10(a), (b), and (c), the excitation of L P l l
other hand, the case of pure LPI excitation (7 = 1 ) where pump modes has little effect on the gain when the Er-
DESURVIRE et a / : DESIGN OPTIMIZATION FOR EFFICIENT ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS 1739

TYPE 1 hp=980 nm @=1.531 pm LPol case ( q = 0 ) is actually very small. Since this highly
multimoded regime is most likely to occur in experimen-
q=o.o
tal conditions, at least when the optimal-fiber lengths are
long ( L z 10 m), the results found in the first part for A,
= 980 nm and LPol mode excitation are also valid in the
multimode regime if the condition 0 5 7 I0.6 is satis-
fied. When short fiber lengths are used ( L 5 10 m ) , ex-
citation of only one or a few LPll modes and no LPol
modes can occur, which is expected to cause a degrada-
tion of gain performance more important than in the case
q = 1 where all LPll modes are equally excited. Thus,
for short fiber lengths and the 980-nm wavelength pump
"0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50 an accurate control of the LPol mode excitation is re-
LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW) quired, and is difficult to achieve in practice, while it is
(a)
unnecessary in the 1.47-pm pump case.
TYPE 2 Xp = 980 nm =A! 1 531 Irm
111. SUMMARY
The gain and pumping efficiency of aluminosilicate
EDFA's was analyzed as a function of the fiber wave-
guide parameters and of the relative dimensions of the Er-
doping profile, for two pump wavelengths X, = 980 nm
0.6 and X, = 1.47 pm. The study focused on three types of
08
1 .o
waveguide designs, the first two being compatible with
standard SMF and DSF communication fibers and the
€=I third one being of smaller mode dimensions. It was found
(L = 7.3117) that for the three fiber types, concentrating the Er doping
I l l
near the fiber-axis results, at low pump powers (P; I25
0
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50 mW), in improvements in maximum gains (up to 20 dB)
LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW) while the improvement is not significant at high pump
(b) powers. For the three types of waveguides and two pump
TYPE 3 x , , = ~ E o nm @=I 531 pm
wavelengths, gains near 30 dB are achieved with P: =
30-mW launched pump power, independent of the Er-
doping confinement. When the Er doping is confined ( E
= 0.25), gains in excess of 30 dB are achieved with only
20-mW pump power. m e Er-doping confinement is also
effective in improving the gain coefficients, which are
raised at best by a factor of 1.5 to 2, the largest change
being for Type 1 fiber. The study showed that these gain
coefficients are nearly the same for the 980-nm and 1.47-
pm pump wavelengths, the relative difference being at
most about 10% in the case of Type 3 waveguide. The
best gain coefficients corresponding to an Er-doping con-
finement factor of E = 0.25 were found to be g = 1.25
-0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50
LAUNCHED PUMP POWER (mW)
k 0.25 dB/mW for Type 1 fiber, g = 3.5 k 0.5 dB/mW
(C)
for Type 2 fiber, and g = 8.25 f 0.5 dB/mW for Type
Fig. 10. Gain at X: = 1.531 p n for X, = 980-nm pump wavelength as a 3 fiber. The given ranges account for variations due to
function of launched pump power for different values of fractional ex- changes in pump and signal wavelengths. These calcu-
citation 9 of higher order LP,, mode, and for (a) Type I , (b) Type 2,
and (c) Type 3 fibers.
lated gain coefficients were found to be in good agreement
with previously reported experimental data on alumino-
silicate fibers with no Er3+ confinement (i.e., g = 2-2.6
doped core dimension is large ( E = 1 ) while, as expected, dB/mW at A, = 1.49 pm [21], g = 2.25 dB/mW at A,
it is important when this dimension is reduced ( E = 0.25). = 980 nm [31] for Type 2 fiber). They are also in good
The case of pure LP,, mode pumping ( q = 1 ) with E = agreement with experimental data on germanosilicate fi-
0.25 corresponds to the worst degradation of pumping ef- ber with Er3' confinement (i.e., g = 3.9 dB/mW at A,
ficiency and affects the three waveguide types, the impor- = 980 nm [17], Type 2 fiber). It was shown for the high
tance of the effect decreasing from Type 1 to Type 3 fi- NA fibers (Types 2 and 3) that small changes (20%) of
bers. In the highly multimode case ( q 0.6), however, - the peak cross-section values at 1.53 pm due to variation
Fig. 10 shows that the gain degradation from the pure in glass composition, or errors in the evaluation of the
1740 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 8. NO. I I . NOVEMBER 1990

cross sections, also result in small changes ( 10-20% ) of REFERENCES


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scattering sets a limit to the possible EDFA lengths which Lm,” IEEE-Photon. Tbchnol. Lett., Gal. i , no. 9 , p. 267, 1989.
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characteristics,” in Proc. ISth European Con& Opt. Comrnun. (Goth-
where this source of loss can be as low as 0.2 dB/km, enburg, Sweden), paper TuA5-2.
the lengths can be as long as 10 km. In both cases, how- [21] J . L. Zyskind, C . R. Giles, E. Desurvire, and J . R. Simpson, “Op-
ever, the three types of Er-fiber designs make it possible timal pump wavelength in the 41,5,2-41,3,2 absorption band for effi-
to achieve highly efficient laser-diode pumped fiber am- cient Er‘+-doped fiber amplifiers,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., vol.
I , no. 12, p. 428, 1989.
plifiers which are adapted to a wide range of system ap- 1221 C . G. Atkins et a l . , “High-gain, broad spectral bandwidth erbium-
plications. doped fibre amplifier pumped near 1.5 pm,” Electron. Lett., vol. 25,
no. 14, p. 910, 1989.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 1231 B. J . Ainslie, J . R . Armitage, S . P. Craig, and B. Wakefield, “Fab-
rication and optimization of the erbium distribution in silica based
The authors are grateful to J . R. Simpson, K. L. fibres,” in Proc. 14th Europeun Con& Opt. Commun. (Brighton, En-
gland), IEE Conf. Publ. 292. pt. 1, p. 62.
Walker, and L. G. Cohen for stimulating discussions, and [24] J . R . Armitage, “Three-level fiber laser amplifier: A theoretical
to 1. P. Kaminow for reviewing the manuscript. model,” Appl. Opt., vol. 27, no. 23, p. 4831, 1988.
UESURVIRE er a / : DESIGN OPTIMIZATION FOR EFFICIENT ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS 1741

1251 E. Desurvire, “Analysis of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers pumped in From 1984 to 1986 he was a Postdoctoral Research Affiliate at the
the 41,s,2-41,3,2 band,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., vol. I , no. IO, Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University, working on Raman
p. 293. 1989. active fiber delay lines and rotation sensors. He is now with AT&T Bell
. [26] C . R. .,Giles and E. Desurvire, “Propagation of signal and noise in Laboratories in the Photonic Networks and Components Research Depart-
concatenated optical amplifiers,” to be published in J . Lightwave ment at Crawford Hill, Holmdel, NJ. His research interests include optical
Technol. fiber amplifiers, high-speed signal processing, and local area networks.
1271 A. Bjarklev, S . L. Hansen, and J . H. Povlsen, “Large signal mod-
eling of an erbium-doped fibre amplifier,” in Proc. SPIE Con$ Fiber
Laser Sources and Amplijers (Boston, MA) 1989, paper 1171-1 1.
1281 E. Desurvire and J . R. Simpson, “Amplification of spontaneous
*
emission in erbium-doped single-mode fibers,” J . Lightwave Tech-
nol., vol. 7. no. 5 . D. 8835, 1989.
D. Gloge. “Weakly guiding fibers,” Appl. Opt., vol. 10. no. IO, p. John L. Zyskind was born in Chicago, IL in
2252, 1971. 1951. He received the A.B. Degree in physics
J . R. Armitage, “Spectral dependence of the small-signal gain around from the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL in
1.5 pm in erbium-doped silica fiber amplifiers,” IEEE J . Quantum 1973 and the M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees also in
Electron., vol. 26, no. 3, p. 423, 1989. physics from the California Institute of Technol-
P. C. Becker, A. Lidgard, J . R. Simpson, and N . A. Olsson, “Er- ogy, Pasadena, CA in 1976 and 1979, respec-
bium-doped fiber amplifiers pumped in the 950-1000-nm region,” tively.
IEEEPhoron. Technol. Lett., vol. 2, no. I , p. 35, 1989. In 1982, after post-doctoral work at Caltech,
I321 J . G . Edwards and J . N. Sandoe, “A theoretical study of the he joined the technical staff of AT&T Bell Labo-
N d : Y d : Er glass laser,” J . Phys. D. Appl. Phys., vol. 7 , p. 1078, ratories at the Crawford Hill Laboratory in Holm-
1974. del, NJ. His work there has focused on semicon-
B. J . Ainslie et a l . , “Optical analysis of erbium-doped fibres for ef- ductor diode lasers and detectors operating in the 2- to 4 - p n wavelength
ficient lasers and amplifiers.” in Proc. IOOC’89, paper 20A3-2. range and related materi als issues and more recently, on erbium-doped fiber
M . Shimizu, M. Yamada, M. Horiguchi, and E. Sugita, “Concen- amplifiers.
tration effect on optical amplification characteristics of Er-doped sil-
ica single-mode fibers.” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett.. vol. 2, no. l ,
p. 43, 1990.
*
*
Emmanuel Desurvire (M’89) was born in Bou-
logne, France, on June 7 , 1955. He received the
M.S. degree in physics in 1980 and the Diplome C. Randy Giles (M’88) was born in Vancouver, Canada, on May 8, 1955.
d’Etudes Approfondies in theoretical physics in He received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in physics from the University
1981, from the University of Paris VI, France. In of Victoria in 1976 and 1978, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in elec-
1983 he received the Doctorat de Troisieme cycle trical engineering from the University of Alberta in 1983.
in physics, from the University of Nice, France. From 1983 to 1986 he worked at Bell Northern Research, Canada, on
His doctoral work, done at the Thomson-CSF high-speed lightwave systems and the modulation properties of semicon-
Laboratoire Central de Recherches in Corbeville, ductor lasers. In 1986 he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories and has engaged
France, involved Raman amplification in single- in research on integrated-optic devices and fiber optical-amplifiers.
mode optical fibers. Dr. Giles is a member of the Optical Society of America.

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