Abstract
Er3+ doped silica fiber lasers and amplifiers operating at around 1.54 μm are of particular interest in telecommunications as this wavelength coincides with the low loss transmission window of conventional silica optical fibers. To design efficient devices, a detailed understanding of the spectroscopy of Er3+ ions in silica is needed. Recent measurements performed on Er3+ doped fibers1 have indicated that absorption of pump photons by Er3+ ions residing in the 1.5-μm upper laser level is significant, particularly at wavelengths around 800 nm. It has also been suggested that absorption of laser photons by ions in this upper laser level may be occurring and degrading device performance. Gain measurements on Er3+ doped fibers are presented, which indicate that the cross section for absorption of laser photons by upper laser level ions is small compared with the stimulated emission cross section.
© 1989 Optical Society of America
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