Test of spectral emission and absorption characteristics of active optical fibers by direct side pumping

Abstract

Emission and absorption are two main properties of active optical fibers that are important for fiber amplifiers and lasers. We propose a direct side pumping scheme for non-deconstructive evaluation of active optical fibers. This scheme enables a simple in situ test of both emission and absorption characteristics without cutting fiber and produces good accuracy with very low pumping background. A commercial Er-doped fiber and a home-made Bi/Er co-doped optical fiber have been tested to demonstrate that the scheme is a useful alternative technique for characterizing active optical fiber or waveguides.