Embodiments of the present disclosure provide example multi-core fiber interleavers, example optical fiber amplifiers, example transmission systems, and example transmission methods. One example multi-core fiber interleaver includes a first port, a second port, a third port, and a fourth port, respectively adapted to be coupled to a first multi-core fiber, a second multi-core fiber, a third multi-core fiber, and a fourth multi-core fiber. A first subset of a plurality of first cores is coupled to a first subset of a plurality of second cores. A first subset of a plurality of third cores is coupled to a first subset of a plurality of fourth cores. A second subset of the plurality of fourth cores is coupled to a second subset of the plurality of second cores. A second subset of the third cores is coupled to a second subset of the first cores.

An optical amplifying fiber includes: at least one core portion including a rare earth element added therein; an inner cladding portion surrounding the at least one core portion, the inner cladding portion having a refractive index lower than a maximum refractive index of the at least one core portion; and an outer cladding portion surrounding the inner cladding portion, the outer cladding portion having a refractive index lower than the refractive index of the inner cladding portion, the inner cladding portion including different refractive index regions each having a refractive index different from a refractive index of a region adjacent to that different refractive index region.

A fiber amplifier is provided, including a pump laser (202), a pump and signal combiner (203), and a few-mode doped fiber (204). The pump laser (202) is configured to output pump light. The pump and signal combiner (203) is configured to couple input few-mode signal light and the pump light into the few-mode doped fiber (204). Refractive indexes of a fiber core of the few-mode doped fiber (204) are distributed to be gradient along a radial direction of a cross section, the fiber core is etched with periodic gratings along an axial direction, and periods of the gratings satisfy a phase matching condition. The fiber amplifier achieves strong coupling and co-amplification between optical signal modes, thereby reducing a differential gain between mode groups.

The invention relates to an optical waveguide with two or more light-guiding cores (1a-1e) extending continuously along the longitudinal extension of the optical waveguide, parallel to one another and spaced apart from one another, from one end of the optical waveguide to the other, and with a first cladding (2) enclosing the cores (1a-1e). It is an object of the invention to provide a multicore optical waveguide for high-power operation with reduced system complexity compared to the prior art. This object is achieved by the invention in that the cores (1a-1e) are arranged relative to one another and are spaced apart from one another in such a way that the propagation modes of the light propagating in the optical waveguide at a working wavelength couple to one another, the length of the optical waveguide being selected such that the light coupled into only a single one of the cores (1a-1e) at one end of the optical waveguide first spreads to the other cores (1a-1e) during propagation through the optical waveguide and, after passing through the optical waveguide, leaves the optical waveguide again at the other end from a single core (1a) with at least 60%, preferably at least 75%, of the total light power propagating in the optical waveguide. The invention also relates to a laser system with such an optical waveguide as an optical amplifier, and a method for guiding light in an optical waveguide.

An object of the present disclosure is to implement a clad-excitation rare-earth-added optical fiber amplifier with a high light-to-light conversion efficiency. The present disclosure is an optical fiber amplifier having, in a longitudinal direction of a rare-earth-added optical fiber, a light collection structure that collets an excitation light, which propagates through a clad portion, into a core portion.

The present invention addresses the problem that, when an optical amplification device having a plurality of optical transmission paths, such as multi-core optical fibers, is used for bidirectional communication, it is difficult to construct an optical transmission system optimized for all of signal lights having different transmission directions. The optical amplification device of the present invention comprises: an optical guide means having a plurality of optical transmission paths including an optical amplification medium having a gain in the wavelength band of a signal light; an excitation light introducing means for introducing excitation light for exciting the optical amplification medium into the optical guide means from both ends of the optical guide means; and a residual excitation light introducing means for introducing residual excitation light output from both ends of the optical guide means and having a wavelength component of the excitation light into the optical guide means.

A system (e.g., an optical amplifier) comprising gain fibers (e.g., Bismuth-doped optical fiber) for amplifying optical signals. The optical signals have an operating center wavelength (λ0) that is centered between approximately 1260 nanometers (˜1260 nm) and ˜1360 nm (which is in the O-Band). The gain fibers are optically coupled to pump sources, with the number of pump sources being less than or equal to the number of gain fibers. The pump sources are (optionally) shared among the gain fibers, thereby providing more efficient use of resources.

An objective of the present invention is to provide an optical amplifier having a cladding excitation configuration that improves amplification efficiency. The optical amplifier includes an optical amplification unit 36 in which n (n is a natural number equal to or greater than 2) amplification fibers 34 that optically amplify signal light propagating through cores with excitation light supplied to claddings and n−1 optical input/output units 35 that input/output the signal light to/from the cores and the outside of the amplification fibers 34 are connected in series such that the amplification fibers 34 and the optical input/output units 35 are disposed in an alternating manner, an excitation light generator 31 that outputs the excitation light in multi-mode, and optical multiplexer/demultiplexers 33 that cause the excitation light from the excitation light generator 31 that has been divided into two light beams to be incident on the claddings of the amplification fibers 34 disposed at both ends of the optical amplification unit 36 and cause the signal light to be input to/output from the cores of the amplification fibers 34 disposed at both ends of the optical amplification unit 36.

An objective is to provide an optical amplifier having a core excitation configuration that improves amplification efficiency. An optical amplifier according to the present invention includes an excitation light conversion fiber 11 that absorbs first excitation light L1 propagating in a cladding and having a first wavelength and emits, into a core, spontaneous emission light having a second wavelength, an oscillator 12 for causing the spontaneous emission light to be reflected on two reflectors 15 to reciprocate the light within the core of the excitation light conversion fiber 11 and laser-oscillating second excitation light L2 having the second wavelength, and an amplification fiber 13 that is connected to the excitation light conversion fiber 11 and amplifies signal light with the second excitation light L2 supplied from the excitation light conversion fiber 11 to the core.

An object is to provide an optical amplifier with a cladding pumped configuration that improves amplification efficiency. The optical amplifier according to the present invention includes a pump light conversion fiber 11 that converts first pump light L1 with a first wavelength propagating in a cladding into second pump light L2 with a second wavelength, an amplification fiber 13 that is connected to the pump light conversion fiber 11 and optically amplifies signal light Ls with the second pump light L2 supplied to the cladding from the pump light conversion fiber 11, and an oscillator 12 that causes the second pump light L2 to be reflected on two reflectors 15 and to reciprocate within the claddings of the pump light conversion fiber 11 and the amplification fiber 13 to cause laser oscillation of the second pump light L2.