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US 5,530,710 AGranted
High-power pumping of three-level optical fiber laser amplifier
AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorStephen G. Grubb
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A high-power pumping source for a three-level optical fiber amplifier includes a cladding-pumped four-level fiber laser. The four-level laser converts the high-power output of a diode array into an intense diffraction-limited beam which is utilized to pump an associated three-level laser. In turn, the output of the three-level laser is coupled to the fiber amplifier to supply a high-power pumping signal thereto.
Claims22
An optical communication system comprising
- an input fiber for propagating an optical signal,
- an output fiber for propagating an optical signal,
- a three-level fiber laser amplifier interposed in the path between said input and output fibers for amplifying an optical signal propagated between said input and output fibers,
- a three-level fiber laser coupled to said fiber amplifier for supplying a pumping signal to said amplifier,
- and a cladding-pumped four-level fiber laser coupled to said three-level laser for supplying a pumping signal to said three-level laser.
2 more elements
A cladding-pumped laser comprising
- a composite single-mode optical fiber core having a center region doped with a first type of rare-earth ions and an outer region doped with a second type of rare-earth ions, said core having an index of refraction n1,
- a multimode cladding, having an index of refraction n2, surrounding said single-mode core,
- an additional cladding, having an index of refraction n3, surrounding said multimode cladding,
- wherein n1>n2>n3,
- means associated with the center region of said core for favoring laser emission from said center region in a three-level mode of operation at a first characteristic wavelength when said center region is pumped at a second characteristic wavelength,
- means associated with the outer region of said core for favoring laser emission from said outer region in a four-level mode of operation at said second wavelength when said outer region is pumped at a third characteristic wavelength,
- and means for applying a high-power multimode signal to said multimode cladding to pump said outer region of said core at said third wavelength to cause said outer region to lase at said second wavelength and thereby apply a pumping signal to the adjacent center region of said core to cause the center region to provide a laser emission at said first wavelength.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.