Optimized design and performance of a shared pump single clad 2 µm TDFA

Abstract

We report the design, experimental performance, and simulation of a single stage, co-and counter-pumped Tmdoped fiber amplifier (TDFA) in the 2 μm signal wavelength band with an optimized 1567 nm shared pump source. We investigate the dependence of output power, gain, and efficiency on pump coupling ratio and signal wavelength. Small signal gains of >50 dB, an output power of 2 W, and small signal noise figures of <3.5 dB are demonstrated. Simulations of TDFA performance agree well with the experimental data. We also discuss performance tradeoffs with respect to amplifier topology for this simple and efficient TDFA.

Multistage single clad 2 μm TDFA with a shared L-band pump source

“…For 1909 nm, the simulation predicts values 1.0 dB larger than experiment; for 1952 nm the difference is 0.8 dB; and for 2004 nm it is 0.4 dB. Similar differences have been observed in previous experimental and theoretical reports [2][3][4]. While the differences are measurable, we note that the simulations still yield saturated output power values within 1.0 dB of the data for all wavelengths studied.…”

“…As in Ref. [4], simulated BW values for the amplifier can be derived from the points at which the theoretical curves cross a threshold of η = 50%. For + 1 dBm, the BW is found to be > 160 nm, while for -20 dBm it is 70 nm.…”

“…In Sections 3 and 4, we have shown that the shared pump tandem topology can deliver high performance that is fully in agreement with simulation results. Here we will compare the shared pump amplifier with a single stage, shared pump TDFA [4]. Summary performance of the two amplifiers is given below in Table 2.…”

“…Design optimization of amplifier architecture is critical for the practical realization of wideband, compact, and efficient TDFAs for these applications. Recently, we have reported results showing that single clad TDFAs can provide a combination of large gain and high output power over extended bandwidths [1][2][3][4]. In this work, we investigate the optimization of tandem single clad amplifier topologies for wideband TDFAs.…”

“…Section 4 compares measurement and simulation of the TDFA performance. Section 5 contrasts our simple TDFA design with performance of a one stage, shared pump design in [4]. Finally, Section 6 discusses design parameter tradeoffs for different TDFA architectures and applications.…”