RARE EARTH DOPED FIBER AND FIBER OPTIC AMPLIFIER

Abstract

An object of the present disclosure is to allow gain compensation with a simple configuration without adding a new device to the outside. The present disclosure discloses a rare earth doped fiber including a core doped with a rare earth and a cladding region around the core, wherein one or more cavities are provided inside the core, and at least one of the cavities are provided along a longitudinal direction of the rare earth doped fiber.

Claims

1. A rare earth doped fiber comprising: a core doped with a rare earth; and a cladding region around the core, wherein one or more cavities are provided inside the core, and at least one of the cavities is provided along a longitudinal direction of the rare earth doped fiber.

2. The rare earth doped fiber according to claim 1, wherein the rare earth doped fiber has a loss difference between modes depending on a radius of the cavity or each of the cavities.

3. The rare earth doped fiber according to claim 1, wherein a ratio a.sub.2/a.sub.1 of a radius a.sub.2 of the cavity or each of the cavities to a radius a.sub.1 of the core is equal to or smaller than 0.4.

4. The rare earth doped fiber according to claim 1, wherein A ratio x/a.sub.1 of eccentricity x of the cavity or each of the cavities from a center of the core to a radius a.sub.1 of the core satisfies an equation (C1)
x/a.sub.1=−0.92a.sub.2/a.sub.1+0.6  (C1) where a.sub.2 is a radius of the cavity or a radius corresponding to each of the cavities.

5. The rare earth doped fiber according to claim 1, wherein the cavity or each of the cavities is provided at a middle portion or a subsequent portion thereof in the longitudinal direction of the rare earth doped fiber.

6. The rare earth doped fiber according to claim 1, wherein the rare earth is any one of erbium, thulium, ytterbium, praseodymium, or neodymium.

7. An optical fiber amplifier comprising: the rare earth doped fiber according to claim 1; a pump light inlet section configured to allow pump light, for amplifying signal light in the rare earth doped fiber, to exit therefrom; and a light coupling section configured to couple the pump light from the pump light inlet section with the signal light and to inject light obtained by coupling the pump light and the signal light into the rare earth doped fiber.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a side view of a rare earth doped fiber according to the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a cross-sectional view of a rare earth doped fiber according to the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a system configuration of an optical fiber amplifier.

[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a region having a core radius and relative index difference of the core that allow 2-LP mode transmission in the C-band.

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of losses in an LP.sub.01 mode and an LP.sub.11 mode when Δ.sub.1 and a.sub.1 are changed.

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a relationship between a loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss and a.sub.2/a.sub.1.

[0018] FIG. 7 illustrates the definition of eccentricity x of a cavity.

[0019] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a relationship between Δ.sub.Loss and x/a.sub.1.

[0020] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a relationship between a.sub.2/a.sub.1 and x/a.sub.1 where the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss is equal to or less than 0 dB.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments that will be described below. These embodiments are just illustrative examples, and the present disclosure can be implemented in forms in which various modifications and improvements are added on the basis of knowledge of those skilled in the art. Note that constituent elements with the same reference signs in the specification and the drawings are assumed to be the same constituent elements.

First Embodiment

[0022] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 illustrate a side view and a cross-sectional view of a rare earth doped fiber according to the present disclosure. A rare earth doped fiber 14 according to the present disclosure includes one or more cavities 83, each having a spherical shape, provided in an intermittent manner along a longitudinal direction as illustrated in FIG. 1. Here, a radius of a core 81, a radius of each of the cavities 83, a refractive index of the core 81, and a refractive index of a cladding region 82 are defined as a.sub.1, a.sub.2, n.sub.1, and n.sub.2, respectively. Also, relative index difference Δ.sub.1 of the core 81 is defined as below.

Δ.sub.1=(n.sub.1.sup.2−n.sub.2.sup.2)/2n.sub.1.sup.2  [Math. 1]

Also, although the embodiment will be described in which a 2-LP mode is adopted, a case where the number of modes increases can be considered as well.

[0023] In general, a gain of the rare earth doped fiber 14 with the 2-LP mode when a fundamental mode is used for pump light is higher in the fundamental mode having a large overlap with the pump light. Because this gain difference between the modes is directly connected to a mode dependent loss of an overall system, the transmission characteristics of the overall system are degraded.

[0024] In the present technique, by forming the cavities 83 having a spherical shape at a center portion of the rare earth doped fiber 14, a loss is applied to an LP.sub.01 mode of the fundamental mode but no loss is applied to an LP.sub.11 mode, at an end face, so a loss is applied only to the fundamental mode, and thus, the gain between the modes can be flattened. For example, a femtosecond laser is used to form the cavities 83 from the end faces or the side face of the fiber, and thus, the cavities 83 can be provided at the center of the core 81.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of an optical fiber amplifier. The optical fiber amplifier includes a signal inlet section 11, a pump light inlet section 12, a light coupling section 13, and the rare earth doped fiber 14. Signal light enters the signal inlet section 11. Pump light for amplifying signal light in the rare earth doped fiber 14 enters the pump light inlet section 12. The light coupling section 13 couples the pump light from the pump light inlet section 12 with the signal light from the signal inlet section 11. Light obtained by coupling the signal light and pump light in the light coupling section 13 is injected into the rare earth doped fiber 14.

[0026] Note that although FIG. 3 illustrates an example of injecting pump light in one direction of the rare earth doped fiber 14, the present technique is also effective for a bi-directional pumping optical fiber amplifier where pump light is injected in both directions of the rare earth doped fiber 14.

[0027] Additionally, when the cavities 83 are provided at a previous portion of the rare earth doped fiber 14, signal light suffers a loss by the cavities 83 before the signal light is amplified, and the deterioration of the signal light and the deterioration of a noise figure (NF) occur, so it is desirable to have each of the cavities 83 provided at a middle portion or a subsequent portion thereof in the longitudinal direction of the rare earth doped fiber 14.

[0028] In addition, in FIG. 1, an example is illustrated with five cavities 83 denoted by 83-1 to 83-5, but the effect of the present disclosure can be obtained by providing at least one cavity of the cavities 83-1 to 83-5. Radii of the cavities 83-1 to 83-5 may be freely selected.

Second Embodiment

[0029] In assuming the use in the C-band (with a wavelength of 1530 nm to 1565 nm), FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a region having the core radius a.sub.1 and the relative index difference Δ.sub.1 of the core 81 that allow the 2-LP mode transmission in the C-band. A line L41 in the figure indicates a theoretical boundary that can cut off light of an LP.sub.21 mode with a wavelength of 1530 nm. A line L42 indicates a boundary where a bending loss of light of the LP.sub.11 mode with a wavelength of 1565 nm is equal to or less than 0.5 dB/100 turn when a bending radius R is 30 mm A line L43 indicates a boundary where an effective core cross-sectional area A.sub.eff in the LP.sub.01 mode is 80 μm. The 2-LP mode transmission is allowed in the region enclosed by the lines L41, L42, and L43.

[0030] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a.sub.2/a.sub.1 and losses in the LP.sub.01 mode and the LP.sub.11 mode at P01 to P10 in the range in FIG. 4. P01 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.51% and a.sub.1=5.5 μm, P02 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.60% and a.sub.1=5.5 μm, P03 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.45% and a.sub.1=6.0 μm, P04 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.51% and a.sub.1=6.0 μm, P05 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.57% and a.sub.1=6.0 μm, P06 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.41% and a.sub.1=6.5 μm, P07 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.45% and a.sub.1=6.5 μm, P08 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.48% and a.sub.1=6.5 μm, P09 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.38% and a.sub.1=7.0 μm, and P10 indicates Δ.sub.1=0.48% and a.sub.1=7.0 μm. It can be seen from the figure that the dependency of the loss in each of the propagation modes on a.sub.1 and Δ.sub.1 is small under the conditions capable of the 2-LP mode transmission. Thus, hereinafter, calculation is performed by representatively using the structure with Δ.sub.1=0.45% and a.sub.1=6 μm.

[0031] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a relationship between a loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss of the LP.sub.01 mode and the LP.sub.11 mode and a.sub.2/a.sub.1. The loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss is a difference between the loss in the LP.sub.01 mode and the loss in the LP.sub.11 mode (LP.sub.01-LP.sub.11). It can be seen that changing a.sub.2/a.sub.1 can control the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss. As illustrated in FIG. 5, because the dependency of the loss in each propagation mode on a.sub.1 is small, the loss in the LP.sub.01 mode can be larger than the loss in the LP.sub.11 mode by increasing a radius a.sub.2 of each of the cavities 83.

[0032] Note that, within a range where a.sub.2/a.sub.1 is larger than or equal to 0.48, the loss in each propagation mode becomes excessive due to the radius a.sub.2 of each of the cavities 83 becoming too large, and the control properties of the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss are significantly reduced. For this reason, a.sub.2/a.sub.1 is preferably set to the condition being equal to or less than 0.4.

[0033] In addition, the maximum value of the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss of one of the cavities 83 is 2 dB. Thus, when it is necessary to make the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss equal to or larger than 2 dB, by providing the plurality of cavities 83 in the longitudinal direction, the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss can be increased in proportion to the number of the cavities 83. For example, the rare earth doped fiber 14 includes the cavities 83-1 and 83-2 as illustrated in FIG. 1, the a.sub.2/a.sub.1 of the cavity 83-1 is set to 0.4, and the a.sub.2/a.sub.1 of the cavity 83-2 is set to 0.2, allowing the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss to be 3 dB.

Third Embodiment

[0034] In order to reduce the excessive loss in LP.sub.11 mode and to control the loss difference between modes, each of the cavities 83 is desirably at the center of the rare earth doped fiber 14. Thus, eccentricity of a center of one of the cavities 83 with respect to a center 84 of a core 11 will be considered. In FIG. 7, a definition of eccentricity x of one of the cavities 83 is illustrated. The eccentricity x is a distance from the center 84 of the core 11 to the center of that of the cavities 83. As the eccentricity x of the center of that of the cavities 83 increases, that of the cavities 83 overlays a region where an electric field is strong in the LP.sub.11 mode, and thus, the loss in the LP.sub.11 mode is significantly increased and becomes larger than the loss in the LP.sub.01 mode.

[0035] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a relationship between Δ.sub.Loss and x/a.sub.1 in each of the cases of a.sub.2/a.sub.1=0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4. In the same way as the above, calculation is performed under the conditions of a.sub.1=6 μm and Δ.sub.1=0.45%, and the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss of the LP.sub.01 mode and the LP.sub.11 mode is determined. Here, for the loss in the LP.sub.11 mode, an average loss of four modes including degeneracy and polarization is used. For each a.sub.2/a.sub.1, the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss is negative in a region where x/a.sub.1 is larger than or equal to a certain value, and a loss cannot be applied to the LP.sub.01 mode. As points each of which has Δ.sub.Loss is equal to or less than 0 dB, attention is focused on (a.sub.2/a.sub.1, x/a.sub.1)=(0.1, 0.46), (0.2, 0.38), (0.3, 0.3), and (0.4, 0.18).

[0036] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a relationship between a.sub.2/a.sub.1 and x/a.sub.1 where the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss is equal to or less than 0 dB. It can be seen from FIG. 9 that a boundary where the loss difference between modes Δ.sub.Loss is equal to or less than 0 dB can be approximated by the following relational equation.

[Math. 2]

x/a.sub.1=−0.92a.sub.2/a.sub.1+0.6  (2)

Thus, a.sub.2/a.sub.1 and x/a.sub.1 are preferably set within the filled-in area in FIG. 9 that is below the equation (2).

[0037] Note that the present technique does not depend on refractive index distribution and rare earth dopant distribution and can be applied to complex refractive index distribution and rare earth dopant distribution, such as step or ring types.

[0038] Furthermore, similar effects can be obtained by using rare earth doped fibers 14 doped with different types of rare earths such as erbium, thulium, ytterbium, praseodymium, and neodymium in accordance with the wavelength of signal light.

Effects of the Present Disclosure

[0039] Setting the cavity region inside the rare earth doped fiber 14 by external processing using a femtosecond laser without inserting a new device allows the gain deviation between modes to be optionally reduced without degrading the NF properties.

[0040] Gain compensation can be performed with a simple configuration having only the rare earth doped fiber, and performing the compensation at the center inside the optical fiber amplifier can suppress both the deterioration of the gain and the deterioration of the NF, thus achieving the gain compensation with low loss and low NF.

[0041] Point of the Present Disclosure By creating cavities at the center in a longitudinal direction of a fiber, gain deviation compensation between modes with low loss and low NF can be achieved.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0042] The present disclosure can be applied in the information communication industry.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0043] 11 Signal inlet section [0044] 12 Pump light inlet section [0045] 13 Light coupling section [0046] 14 Rare earth doped fiber [0047] 81 Core [0048] 82 Cladding region [0049] 83 Cavity