Spectral noise figure of Er sup 3 + -doped fiber amplifiers

Journal Article · Wed Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1990 · IEEE Photonics Technology Letters (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/68.50891· OSTI ID:6857035

Desurvire, E ^[1]

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1. Bell Labs., Holmdel, NJ (USA)

Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) operating at 1.53 {mu}m are promising components for optical fiber communications owing to their high gains and low thresholds amenable to laser diode pumping. The important issue of noise figure NF as expressing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) degradation by the amplifier was addressed in a recent study, which showed that NF can be theoretically as low as 0.2 dB above the 3 dB quantum limit. For applications of Er-fiber amplifiers to wide-band wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) systems, it is important to determine the spectral range where NF is close to this quantum-limited condition, as well as the pump power requirement to reach this limit. In this paper, the EDFA noise figure spectrum and its evolution under various pumping regimes is analyzed. It is shown that the fiber amplifier can actually be operated very near the 3 dB quantum limit ({+-} 0.15 dB) within a spectral range as broad as 50 nm.

• OSTI ID: 6857035
• Journal Information: IEEE Photonics Technology Letters (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (USA), Journal Name: IEEE Photonics Technology Letters (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (USA) Vol. 2:3; ISSN IPTLE; ISSN 1041-1135
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360603 -- Materials-- Properties
440600* -- Optical Instrumentation-- (1990-)
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
657002 -- Theoretical & Mathematical Physics-- Classical & Quantum Mechanics
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ALLOYS
AMPLIFICATION
COMMUNICATIONS
EFFICIENCY
ERBIUM ADDITIONS
ERBIUM ALLOYS
FIBERS
GAIN
OPTICAL FIBERS
OPTICAL PUMPING
OPTICAL SYSTEMS
PUMPING
QUANTUM EFFICIENCY
RARE EARTH ADDITIONS
RARE EARTH ALLOYS
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES