Performance characteristics of a mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser as a function of erbium ion concentration

Abstract

The generation of ultrastable picosecond pulses in the 1550 nm range is required for numerous applications including photonic analog-to-digital converter systems and high-bit rate optical communication systems. Mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring lasers are typically used to generate pulses at this wavelength. In addition to stability and output power, the physical size of the laser cavity is of primary importance. The length of the erbium-doped fiber used as the gain medium may be on the order of meters or even tens of meters which makes packing of the laser rather difficult. However the length of the gain medium can often be reduced if the erbium ion concentration within the fiber is increased. This paper will investigate the performance of an erbium-doped fiber ring laser as a function of ion concentration within the gain medium. Results will be presented for mode-locked lasers consisting of Lucent HE980 , HG980 and HC erbium-doped fibers. The parameters that will be compared between the lasers include the output power as a function of length and concentration, optical pulse width and spectral bandwidth. Phase noise measurements of the laser output will also be presented.