Abstract

An important aspect of the reliability of an erbium-doped-fiber amplifier is the loss induced by exposure to both high-energy and optical irradiation. It is expected that erbium-doped fiber, which generally contains germanium and aluminum co-dopants, may be more susceptible to radiation-induced darkening than is transmission fiber. We exposed several erbium-doped fibers to optical intensities that are high compared to normal operating conditions. In addition enhanced 7-ray doses were applied. A variety of fiber types were examined; their core compositions were near 15 mol. % Ge and 2-6 mol. % Al, resulting in corecladding index difference An = 0.02 to 0.03.

© 1993 Optical Society of America