Optical amplification in a bismuth-doped silica fiber

Abstract

We report optical amplification in a bismuth-doped silica glass and fiber at 1300 nm region. The optical gain was obtained in a bismuth-doped silica glass at five different wavelengths between 1260 and 1360 nm and the amplification bandwidth was greater than 75 nm. This new gain medium is expected to be useful for application in ultra-wide broadband optical communication. A 5.8 dB gain was observed at 1308 nm in an 8.0 cm bismuth-doped silica fiber. A launched pump power of 152 mW was obtained using an 810-nm laser diode. Simultaneous amplification of two signals from a dual-wavelength near 1300 nm region, the closest to the important telecommunications window, was also achieved. This technique can be used for wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifiers at 1300 nm, which is the range of zero-dispersion for silica fibers.