Abstract

Erbium/ytterbium-doped fibre amplifiers (EYDFAs) have been demonstrated to provide high gain and efficient power amplification around 1.54µm using diode-pumped miniature Nd:YAG laser pump sources operating at 1.064µm^1,2, Such demonstrations are significant in that high power, tem₀₀ mini-Nd:YAG sources are highly developed, readily available and, crucially, utilise high reliability, low-brightness AlGaAs pump sources. The laser diode pump source is likely to be the limiting factor in the reliability of fibre amplifier systems and thus this facet is of substantial significance. The output power of these mini-Nd:YAG sources is expected to scale readily with additional pump power, particularly in side-pumped geometries. This may make the mini-Nd:YAG pumped EYDFA the preferred approach for use in a number of applications, particularly where high output powers are required eg local area networks. The high efficiencies reported to date from these systems have been due to the use of specialised phospho-silica based fibre hosts². These have given performance exceeding that even of fibres fabricated from commercial, highly-doped Er/Yb phosphate glasses.

© 1992 Optical Society of America