Abstract
The generation and characterization of the Four-Wave-Mixing (FWM) effect in an Erbium Doped Zirconia-Yttria-Alumino Silicate Fiber (EDZF) is described. The EZDF is fabricated from a conventional silica preform by Modified Chemical Vapour Deposition (MCVD) and also solution doping to add glass modifiers and nucleating agents, with the resulting preform annealed and drawn into a fiber strand with a 125 ± 0.5 µm diameter. A 4 m long EZDF, ZEr-B with a propagation loss of 0.68 dB/m and an erbium concentration of 3000 ppm is used to investigate the FWM effect. The FWM power levels are measured to be approximately - 45 dBm at a region of 1565 nm and show good agreement with the theoretical predicted values. A non-linear coefficient of 14 W−1km−1 is also measured, along with chromatic and slope dispersion values of 28.45 ps/nm.km and 3.63 ps/nm2.km, which agree with the predicted values. The fabricated ZEr-B fibre has many potential applications utilizing the FWM effect, including the generation of multi-wavelength outputs.
Highlights
Fiber Optical Amplifiers (FOAs) are a key component in realizing the deployment of long range, high-speed and large capacity communication networks [1, 2]
FOAs are able to effectively counter the attenuation and distortion of multiple signals travelling in optical transmission fibers at the same time [2] and have been widely used in Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) and Optical Time Division Multiplexing (OTDM) systems
Research efforts focused on methods such as Raman amplification [9, 10] Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs) [11, 12] and Fiber Optic Parametrical Amplifiers (FOPAs) [13, 14] to amplify optical signals, but the cost and complexity of these methods made them commercially impractical
Summary
Fiber Optical Amplifiers (FOAs) are a key component in realizing the deployment of long range, high-speed and large capacity communication networks [1, 2]. Research efforts focused on methods such as Raman amplification [9, 10] Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs) [11, 12] and Fiber Optic Parametrical Amplifiers (FOPAs) [13, 14] to amplify optical signals, but the cost and complexity of these methods made them commercially impractical It was not until the early 1990s that a low-cost and commercially viable alternative was developed in the form of the Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) [1]. Zirconia co-doped fibers have been shown to exhibit significant non-linear characteristics These nonlinear characteristics, which are not seen in conventional Single-Mode Fibres (SMFs) or EDFAs, [1] have tremendous potential for the development of various new applications such as multi-wavelength outputs and wavelength conversion. The FWM effect has tremendous potential for the development of new fiber based wavelength sources, and is the focus of the later part of this work
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