Optical amplification across the whole communication windows in PbS quantum-dot-doped fiber

Abstract

The surge of big data, cloud computing, and AI bring in explosive requirement of data transmission capacities. However, the transmission capacity of traditional single-mode-fiber already reaches its limit due to the narrow emission bandwidth of rare-earth-ion. Here, we achieved ultra-broadband optical amplification in O + E + S + C + L bands for the first time in PbS quantum-dot-doped glass fiber with the maximum gain of 5 dB at 1370 nm under 100 mW pump. The mechanism of the broadband optical amplification, the advantages of quantum dot-doped fiber amplifier (QDFA), and a new measurement scheme for QDFA are systematically discussed. It is believed that in the future, the further optimization of the composition and architectures of the glass fiber, and the preparation method of quantum dot-doped fiber may lead to important applications in optical interconnection, artificial intelligence, Internet of things, mobile electronics and so on.