Diffraction-Limited Fundamental Mode Operation of Core-Pumped Very-Large-Mode-Area Er Fiber Amplifiers

Author

Jasapara, Jayesh C. ; Andrejco, Matt J. ; DeSantolo, Anthony ; Yablon, Andrew D. ; Vrallyay, Z. ; Nicholson, Jeffrey W. ; Fini, John M. ; DiGiovanni, David J. ; Headley, Clifford ; Monberg, Eric ; DiMarcello, Frank V.

Author_Institution

OFS Labs., Somerset, NJ

Volume

15

Issue

1

fYear

2009

Firstpage

3

Lastpage

11

Abstract

Diffraction-limited fundamental mode amplification is demonstrated in Er-doped fibers with mode areas ranging from 900 to 1800 mum². The amplifiers are core-pumped with Raman fiber lasers with both signal and pump selectively launched into the fundamental mode. This scheme results in differential gain for the fundamental mode and stabilizes it against mode mixing caused by perturbations in the core. Gains that are greater than 30 dB are demonstrated from a single stage without significant amplified spontaneous emission. The low nonlinearity of the large mode areas enables amplification to high peak powers without resorting to unconventional microstructured or higher order mode fibers.

Keywords

erbium; optical fibre amplifiers; Er-doped fibers; Raman fiber laser pump; differential gain; diffraction-limited fundamental mode amplification; large-mode-area fiber; Differential amplifiers; Diffraction; Erbium; Fiber lasers; Laser excitation; Laser modes; Operational amplifiers; Pulse amplifiers; Pump lasers; Stimulated emission; Core pumping; Er fiber amplifier; Raman laser; differential gain; large-mode-area fiber; picosecond pulse amplification;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSTQE.2008.2010262

Filename

4773295