Abstract

Since nearly all optical fiber systems operate at 1300 nm, there has been a continuing effort to develop fiber amplifiers for this wavelength with performance approaching that of erbium amplifiers. Nd³⁺ is one of the most promising dopants for amplifiers in the second optical communications window, but suffers from several serious drawbacks. For most glass hosts, Nd³⁺ emission is at too long a wavelength to cover even the central region of the window. Figure 1 compares ⁴F_3/2 → ⁴I_13/2 emission spectra for several common glass types. Note that only fluorine-containing glasses emit at useful wavelengths and that the fluoroberyllate peaks at the shortest wavelength. We have found this short emission wavelength to be a general characteristic of fluoroberyllate glasses.

© 1992 Optical Society of America