[...]... the Er3+ ion, with its pro- 1.2 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS 7 Figure 1.5: Experimental setup for MCVD fabrication of low-loss rare earth-doped single-mode fibers From reference [16] Figure 1.6: Early demonstration of gain at 1.53 /zm in a single-mode erbium-doped fiber amplifier pumped by a 514 nm argon ion laser, in fibers of length 1 m, 5 rn, and 13 m From reference [21]... such as fiber- grating devices or signal-processing fiber devices, the 1.3 FROM GLASS TO SYSTEMS - OUTLINE 9 optical amplifier offers a solution to the high-capacity needs of today's voice and data transmission applications 1.3 FROM GLASS TO SYSTEMS - OUTLINE This book is organized so as to provide a basis for understanding the underlying materials and physics fundamentals of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, ... Commercialization of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers has required greater attention to reproducibility of core and fiber geometry, as well as dopant control to assure uniformity of doping along the longitudinal and transverse fiber axes There is a strong incentive to maintain compatibility between standard low-attenuation silica-based fiber and rare earth doped fiber Connectivity of rare earth fiber components... contrast between it and erbium-doped fiber amplifiers illustrates how much of a gift Nature has made to us with erbium! The continuing research on erbium-doped fiber amplifiers and their applications justifies the need for a book such as the present one An intuitive and understandable monograph, it guides the reader through many aspects of the fiber amplifier field It is an authoritative and comprehensive... terrestrial fiber- optic links and networks The first undersea test of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers in a fiberoptic transmission cable occurred in 1989.[25] A few years later, commercial amplifiers were for sale and were being installed by major telecommunications companies MCI, for example, purchased and began the installation of 500 optical amplifiers in 1993 By 1996, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers were in commercial... cleaved fiber ends butted directly to mirrors highly reflective at the lasing wavelength, and transmissive at the pump wavelength, as the pump light was injected through one of the ends of the fiber All the necessary ingredients now being in place, the development of low-loss single-mode fiber lasers was followed shortly thereafter by that of fiber amplifiers Erbium-doped single-mode fiber amplifiers. .. of amplifiers for systems application Previous work, exploring optical amplification with semiconductor amplifiers, provided a foundation for understanding signal and noise issues in optically amplified transmission systems [24] It is safe to say that, starting in 1989, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers were the catalyst for an entirely new generation of high-capacity undersea and terrestrial fiber- optic... rare-earth-doped amplifiers for the 1300 nm band, corresponding to the other important low-loss window in silica, which was the first to be exploited commercially The ions of choice are the four-level systems neodymium and praseodymium in non-silica host glasses Although several experiments have been reported, their performance is not yet competitive with EDFA's In summary, Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers: ... Dedicated to our parents, Jean-Philippe and Lissy, Nils-Petter and Inga, Harold and Edith, and to our wives, Tomomi, Lana, Carol, and to our children, Fumiyuki, Nicolas, Anna, Julie and Katie, for their support during this long project Chapter 1 Introduction The erbium-doped fiber amplifier is emerging as a major enabler in the development of worldwide fiber- optic networks The purpose of this chapter is to... fibers, shown in Figure 1.6, immediately attracted worldwide attention In these early experiments, the ends of the fibers were immersed in cells containing index matching-fluid to prevent laser oscillation Today's erbium-doped fiber amplifiers are fusion spliced to standard single-mode fiber, and fiber isolators placed after these splices prevent the laser oscillation 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Figure 1.7: . Cataloging-in-Publication Data Becker, P. C. Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers: Fundamentals and Technology / P. C. Becker, N. A. Olsson, J. R. Simpson. p. cm. — (Optics and Photonics) Includes. volume. Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers Fundamentals and Technology P. C. BECKER Passive Optical Networks Group Switching and Access Group Lucent Technologies Tokyo, Japan N. A. OLSSON Passive. bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-1 2-0 8459 0-3 —ISBN 0-1 2-0 8459 1-1 (Diskette) 1. Optical communications — Equipment and supplies 2. Optical amplifiers. 3. Optical fibers