How does a erbium-doped fiber amplifier work?

How does a erbium-doped fiber amplifier work?

In general, EDFA works on the principle of stimulating the emission of photons. With EDFA, an erbium-doped optical fiber at the core is pumped with light from laser diodes. Pump lasers, known as pumping bands, insert dopants into the silica fiber, resulting in a gain, or amplification.

Which wavelength is most suitable for pumping an erbium-doped fiber amplifier?

around 980 nm
The most common pump wavelength for EDFAs is around 980 nm. Light at this wavelength pumps erbium ions from their ground-state manifold 4I15/2 to the 4I11/2 manifold, from where there is a quick non-radiative transfer to the upper laser level 4I13/2.

Which amplifier is constructed using erbium-doped glass?

Explanation: The erbium-based micro fiber amplifier uses Er3+-doped erbium glass. It supports the doping constructions of erbium ions at high levels as compared to conventional glasses.

Why is erbium used in EDFA?

As we talked above, EDFA uses the erbium-doped fiber as an optical amplification medium. The 1550nm signal is amplified through interaction with the doping Erbium ions. This action amplifies a weak optical signal to a higher power, effecting a boost in the signal strength.

What are the advantages of EDFA?

Advantages of EDFA :

• Gain is an excess of up to 40 to 50 dB.
• Low noise 3-5 dB, it is suitable for long-haul application.
• High pump power utilization.
• Good gain stability.
• The high energy conversion efficiency.
• High gain with little crosstalk.

What is gain in optical fiber?

In photonics, the term gain is usually used to quantify the amplification of optical amplifiers or of a laser gain medium. Different meanings occur in the literature: The gain can simply be an amplification factor, i.e., the ratio of output power and input power.

What is a doped Fibre?

Rare-earth doped fiber is an optical fiber in which ions of a rare-earth element, such as neodymium, Erbium or holmium, have been incorporated into the glass core matrix, yielding high absorption with low loss in the visible and near-infrared spectral regions. Such fibers are often called active fibers.

What is erbium in optical fiber?

Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) is an optical amplifier used in the C-band and L-band, where loss of telecom optical fibers becomes lowest in the entire optical telecommunication wavelength bands. The inline amplifiers are placed in the transmission line, compensating the attenuation induced by the optical fiber.

What is doped fiber?

What is the difference between EDFA and Raman amplifier?

The main difference: the amplification mechanism is different. Edfa uses the principle of stimulated radiation of EDF fiber to amplify the optical signal. Raman amplification uses the Raman effect to achieve energy conversion and amplify the optical signal.

What are the limitations of EDFA?

Disadvantages of EDFA :

• Size of EDFA is large.
• Fixed gain range.
• Gain up flatness.
• Optical surge problem.
• High pump power consumption.
• It cannot be integrated with other semiconductor devices.

What is gain flattening?

Gain Flattening Filter (GFFs), also known as gain equalizing filters, are used to flatten or smooth out unequal signal intensities over a specified wavelength range. Typically, GFFs are used in conjunction with gain amplifiers to ensure that the amplified channels all have the same gain.

How does the erbium doped fiber amplifier work?

This erbium doped fiber act as a gain medium that amplifies an optical signal. Hence, it is named as EDFA (Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier). The erbium doped fiber is pumped with a laser, at a wavelength of 980 nm or 1480 nm and produce optical gain in the 1550 nm region.

How is the shape of the erbium gain spectrum affected?

The shape of the erbium gain spectrum depends on the absorption and emission cross sections, which depend on the host glass. Also, the spectral shape of the gain and not only its magnitude is substantially influenced by the average degree of excitation of the erbium ions, because these have a quasi-three-level transition.

Which is the core component of erbium doped fiber?

Its core component is the erbium-doped optical fiber, which is typically a single-mode fiber (or sometimes a few-mode fiber ).

How are doped fiber amplifiers used in FTTH?

Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), are used extensively in FTTH systems. They accept the optical signal from the broadcast optical transmitter and amplify it. EDFAs used in HFC networks are characterized to operate from about 1535 to 1565 nm.