Effect of injection of C-band ASE on L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier

The effect of injecting conventional band (C-band) amplified spontaneous emission on the performance of long-wavelength band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (L-band EDFA) is demonstrated. It uses a circulator and broadband fiber Bragg grating (FBG) to route C-band ASE from a C-band EDFA. Injection of a small amount of ASE (attenuation of 20 dB or above) improves the small signal gain with a negligible noise figure penalty compared to that of an amplifier without the ASE injection. A maximum gain improvement of 3.5 dB is obtained at an attenuation of 20 dB. At very large amounts of ASE injection (attenuation of 0 dB), the gain of the amplifier is clamped at 15.2 dB from ?40 to ?10 dBm with a gain variation of less than 0.3 dB. The saturation power is also increased from ?8 dBm (for without ASE injection) to 2 dBm (VOA=0 dB) with a slight noise figure penalty. These results show that the ASE injection technique can be used either for gain improvement or for gain clamping in L-band EDFA.     

Gain-clamping techniques in two-stage double-pass L-band EDFA

Two designs of long-wavelength band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (L-band EDFA) for gain clamping in double-pass systems are demonstrated and compared. The first design is based on ring laser technique where a backward amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from the second stage is routed into the feedback loop to create an oscillating laser for gain clamping. The gain is clamped at 18.6 d B from -40 to -80 dBm with a gain variation of less than ±0.1 dB and a noise figure of less than 6 dB. Another scheme is based on partial reflection of ASE into the EDFA, which is demonstrated using a narrowband fiber Bragg grating. This scheme achieves a good gain clamping characteristic up to -12 dBm of input signal power with a gain variation of less than ±0.3 dB from a clamped gain of 22 dB. The noise figure of a 1580 nm signal is maintained below 5 dB in this amplifier since this scheme is not based on lasing mechanism. The latter scheme is also expected to be free from the relaxation oscillation problem.     

High gain L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier with two-stage double-pass configuration

An experiment on gain enhancement in the long wavelength band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (L-band EDFA) is demonstrated using dual forward pumping scheme in double-pass system. Compared to a single-stage single-pass scheme, the small signal gain for 1580 nm signal can be improved by 13.5 dB. However, a noise figure penalty of 2.9 dB was obtained due to the backward C-band ASE from second stage and the already amplified signal from the first pass that extracting energy from the forward C-band ASE. The maximum gain improvement of 13.7 dB was obtained at a signal wavelength of 1588 nm while signal and total pump powers were fixed at -30 dBm and 92 mW, respectively.     

Double-pass erbium-doped zirconia fiber amplifier for wide-band and flat-gain operations

The double-pass erbium-doped zirconia fiber amplifier (EDZFA) is proposed and demonstrated to provide a wide-band amplification as well as flat-gain operation in both the C- and L-band regions using only a single-gain medium. The proposed amplifier utilizes an erbium-doped zirconia fiber (EDZF) with erbium ion concentration of 2800 ppm as a gain medium. The medium is fabricated in a ternary glass host, zirconia-yttria-aluminum codoped silica fiber through solution doping technique along with modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD). Compared to a single-pass operation, the double-pass EDZFA shows a better gain performance. At input signal power of 0 dBm and the optimum EDZF length of 2 m, a flat gain of around 16 dB is achieved by the proposed double-pass amplifier with gain variation of approximately 2.5 dB throughout the wavelength range from 1530 to 1590 nm. However, the noise figure of the double-pass amplifier is slightly higher than that of the single-pass due to inefficient population inversion at the input part of the amplifier.     

Low noise double pass L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier

A new double pass long wavelength band erbium-doped fiber amplifier with enhanced noise figure characteristics is demonstrated. The noise figure is improved by about 2.6 dB with the incorporation of broadband conventional-band fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in between the two segments of erbium-doped fiber. By incorporating both the pre-amplifier and the FBG, the noise figure is further improved, which varies from 4.0 to 5.0 dB in the flat gain region from 1570 to 1600 nm. The gain varies from 32.0 to 33.4 dB within this region. The new amplifier with high gain and low noise figure can be useful as an inline amplifier in a wavelength division multiplexing transmission system.     

The L-band EDFA of high clamped gain and low noise figure implemented using fiber Bragg grating and double-pass method

The L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) of low noise figure and high clamped-gain using gain-clamped and double-pass configuration is presented in this paper. A total of five different configurations of EDFAs by reflection scheme with single forward pumping schemes are examined and compared here. Among these configurations, we first find the configuration of 1480-nm pumped L-band EDFA with optimum gain and noise figure value. To further minimize the gain variation, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with 1615-nm center wavelength and 1-nm bandwidth is determined and added in double-pass L-band EDFA. The gain variation and maximum noise figure of EDFA while channel dropping is investigated. As the number of channel dropping from 32 to 4, the L-band type-A EDFA keep the variation of gain within 2.9 dB and the maximum noise figure below 5 dB with each channel’s input power of −23 dBm.     

Highly efficient short length Bismuth-based erbium-doped fiber amplifier

An efficient 21 cm Bismuth-based erbium doped fiber amplifier (Bi-EDFA) operating in both C- and L-band wavelength regions is proposed and demonstrated. The proposed Bi-EDFA uses the gain medium with an erbium ion concentration of 6300 ppm in conjunction with a double-pass configuration. Compared to conventional silica-based erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (Si-EDFAs) with the same amount of Erbium ions, the Bi-EDFA provides a higher attainable gain as well as a greater amplification bandwidth ranging from 1525 to 1620 nm. The proposed Bi-EDFA achieved a flat-gain of around 23 dB with gain variation of ±3.5 dB within the wavelength region from 1530 to 1565 nm at the maximum pump power of 150 mW. The corresponding noise figures are obtained at an average of 6 dB.     

Utilization of stimulated Raman Scattering as secondary pump on hybrid remotely-pump l-band Raman/erbium-doped fiber amplifier

An L-band remotely-pumped erbium-doped fiber amplifier incorporating a secondary pumping scheme utilizing stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) was demonstrated. 1423 nm Raman laser was employed to generate SRS which became the secondary pump source. The amplifier displayed excellent gain of up to 27.3 dB at 1570 nm for −30 dBm input. Noise figures were also kept to a minimum, with the highest figure measured at 11 dB which was influenced by imperfection of the C/L coupler utilized in this architecture. Overall transmission performance was measured as well and demonstrated an encouraging outcome with gain as high as 24 dB while the noise figure was maintained at about 11 dB. The L-band signal amplification was also contributed by the stimulated Raman scattering along the transmission fiber. The outcome of this study emphasized the feasibility of secondary pumping scheme using SRS in L-band gain enhancement.     

L-band all-optical gain-clamped EDFA by utilizing C-band backward ASE

By using an optical circulator and C/L-band wavelength division multiplexer to recycle the C-band backward ASE, an L-band gain-clamped erbium-doped fiber amplifier is presented. We have experimentally studied the static gain clamping property of this amplifier. As the ASE feedback attenuation is set to 0, the gain at 1585 nm can be clamped at 18.84 ± 0.26 dB within dynamic range of 25 dB and the critical power reaches about −15.09 dBm. The gain variation and saturated output power at 1585 nm for 0 dB attenuation are 1 dB lower and 2.17 dB higher than those for 30 dB attenuation, which indicates that the L-band EDFA gain can be effectively clamped via the ASE injection technique.     

High gain double-pass L-band EDFA with dispersion compensation as feedback loop

We demonstrate an efficient double-pass L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) incorporating chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG). The amplifier structure exploits the characteristics of CFBG to reflect the amplified signal back into the gain medium, filter out the recycled forward amplified spontaneous emission and block the residual 1480 nm pump power. The amplifier configuration has high gain and low noise figures as compared to double-pass EDFA using broadband mirror. The demonstrated amplifier has gain of more than 48 dB and low noise figure of less than 4 dB at low input signal power of −40 dBm.     

Bismuth-based erbium-doped fiber as a gain medium for L-band amplification and Brillouin fiber laser

Bismuth-based erbium-doped fiber (Bi-EDF) is demonstrated as an alternative medium for optical amplification and nonlinear applications. The bismuth glass host provides the opportunity to be doped heavily with erbium ions to allow a compact optical amplifier design. The bismuth-based erbium-doped fiber amplifier (Bi-EDFA) is demonstrated to operate at wavelength region from 1570 to 1620 nm using only a 215 cm long of gain medium. The maximum gain of 15.8 dB is obtained at signal wavelength of 1610 nm with the corresponding noise figure of about 6.3 dB. A multi-wavelength laser comb is also demonstrated using a stimulated Brillouin scattering in the 215 cm long Bi-EDF assisted by the 1480 nm pumping. The laser generates more than 40 lines of optical comb with a line spacing of approximately 0.08 at 1612.5 nm region using 152 mW of 1480 nm pump power.     

Gain-clamping in two-stage L-band EDFA using an unwanted backward ase from second stage

A gain clamping technique for the long wavelength band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (L-band EDFA) is presented. It uses two circulators and a broad band fiber Bragg grating to route wasted backward C-band ASE from the second stage and launch it back into the input end of the first stage of a two-stage amplifier. The two-stage L-band EDFA has shown a small signal gain improvement of 5.7 dB compared to a single-stage amplifier with a slight noise figure degradation. By utilizing the wasted backward ASE, a L-band gain-clamped EDFA with high gain can be realized. Compared to the unclamped case, this gain-clamping technique is effective in reducing the total gain variation as small as 0.3 dB.     

High-gain and low-noise-figure erbium-doped fiber amplifier employing dual stage quadruple pass technique

A high-gain and low-noise-figure (NF) erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) was demonstrated utilizing a new technique called the dual-stage quadruple pass (DSQP) with filters. An efficient amplification occurs at the signal wavelength of 1550 nm when it travels along the DSQP amplifier. The highest gain of 62.56 dB with a low noise figure of 3.98 dB was achieved for an input signal power of −50 dBm and pump powers of 10 and 165mW in the second and first stage amplifiers respectively.     

Gain-clamped dual-stage L-band EDFA by using backward C-band ASE

A dual-stage L-band gain-clamped erbium-doped fiber amplifier (GC-EDFA) by using backward C-band amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) is proposed. Compared with other similar GC-EDFAs, the proposed structure has higher and flatter clamped gain in L-band because of its optimal pump power and EDF length. The flatness from 1570 nm to 1600 nm arrives 0.77 dB, the bandwidth of 3 dB is more than 35 nm and the maximal input signal power arrives −15 dBm.     

Gain Efficient L-band EDFA With Dynamic Gain Equalization

A gain efficient L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier with dynamic gain equalization is presented. Using a single fiber Bragg grating and a static equalizer, the gain is clamped at 27dB with less than 0.5dB variations over 35nm.     

Dual-stage L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier with distributed pumping from single pump laser

A dual-stage L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier with a flat gain bandwidth over 36 nm is demonstrated using pump distribution technique. The pump power was distributed to two stages depending on the splitting ratio and the length of erbium-doped fiber that was used for this configuration. Both parameters are the key components for achieving a substantially flat gain response throughout the L-band region ranging from 1570 nm to 1605 nm. Although the input signal power was varied from ? 30 dBm to 0 dBm, gain of 17 dB with slight variations of less than 1.5 dB and a noise figure of less than 6.7 dB were achieved. All the results obtained show better performances when comparison was made with the conventional single-stage L-band optical amplifier.     

Enhancement of Gain in L-Band Bismuth-Based Erbium-Doped Fibre Amplifier Using an Un-pumped EDF and Midway Isolator

A hybrid L-band erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) with enhanced gain characteristic is demonstrated without a significant noise figure penalty. It uses a backward C-band amplified stimulated emission from both the ends of a bismuth-based EDFA system to pump an unpumped erbium-doped fibre (EDF) for gain enhancing. The maximum gain enhancement of 4.0dB is obtained at wavelength 1604nm with EDF length of 20m. The gain spectrum is reasonably fiat in this amplifier compared with the amplifier without an EDF. The gain varies from 27.4 dB to 30.2 dB at wavelength region 1564-1608 nm with incorporation of 20 m EDF. Noise figure also varies from 6.0 to 7.TdB at this wavelength region.     

Gain-clamped two-stage L-band EDFA with a FBG laser in second stage

A gain-clamped two-stage L-band EDFA is demonstrated by simply incorporating two different FBGs on both side of EDF in the second stage. It forms a FBG laser at 1560 nm to clamp the gain in the system. The gain is clamped at about 16.5 dB with gain variation of less than 1.0 dB at dynamic range up to −10 dBm. A flat gain is obtained over 30 nm of wavelength range from 1568 to 1598 nm with a gain variation of less than 1.1 dB. At the flat region, the noise figure varies from 5.0 to 5.8 dB, which is slightly higher compared to those of unclamped amplifier. The advantage of this technique is that the FBG laser does not disturb the WDM signals in the flat gain region.     

Amplification enhancement of L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers by reflection scheme

A reflection L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), which can effectively suppress and completely exploit the backward C-band amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) with a feedback reflection loop, is presented in this paper. The mechanism of the backward ASE secondary pumping effect is experimentally investigated in detail. Our experimental results have shown that, for a given input pump power, compared to the end-pumped EDFA, the gain and output power of the reflection EDFA can be improved considerably without paying much noise penalty. When the EDFA operates with flattened gain spectra, the gain is improved by about 7 dB with an extra noise penalty of about 1.2 dB, where the saturation output power is increased by 2.5–3.2 dB and which may also be made independent of the input signal power.     

Gain clamped L-band EDFA with forward–backward pumping scheme using fiber Bragg grating

The paper proposes a novel two stage L-band erbium doped fiber amplifier with forward–backward pumping scheme for transmission of 32 wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) channels. It is gain clamped with an in-line fiber Bragg grating (FBG) to provide flat gain over 45 nm by restricting and reutilizing amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). We demonstrate that it provides an efficient small signal gain with minimum noise figure of over 20 dB and 5.5 dB, respectively, in the L-band region (1565–1610 nm) by comparing with its forward and backward pumped counterparts with fixed Er³⁺ fiber length of 20 m for −30 dBm/channel input power. We also obtain the gain and noise figure dependence as a function of each of the Er³⁺ fiber lengths, pump power (both 1480 and 980 nm), and temperature. Hence a 10 nm region (1580–1590 nm) has been acknowledged where temperature variations become constricted for 30 °C variations (15–45 °C).