Praseodymium-doped fiber amplifiers: theory of 1.3 mu m operation

A theoretical model of optical amplification in a praseodymium-doped fiber amplifier that is optically pumped at about 1 mu m and amplifies signals at about 1.3 mu m is presented. The variation of gain with respect to fiber length in both small-signal and saturated operation is reported, and the adverse influences of a lower-level bottleneck and a multiphonon cascade from the pump band are discussed.<
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