Thulium-doped fluorotellurite glass fibers for broadband S-band amplifiers

We demonstrated broadband S-band (1460-1530 nm) amplification in Tm3+-doped fluorotellurite glass fibers (TDFTFs) by using a 1400/1570nm dual-wavelength pump technique. TDFTFs based on TeO2-BaF2-Y2O3 (TBY) glass were fabricated by using a rod-in-tube method. For an input signal power of 0 dBm (or 1 mW), a broadband positive net gain ranging from <1440nm to 1546nm was achieved in a 1.55-m-long TDFTF with a Tm3+ doping concentration of ∼4000 ppm, as the pump powers of the 1400nm and 1570nm lasers were 1.7Wand 0.14W, respectively. The corresponding bandwidth for a net gain of >20 dB was ∼66nm (1458-1524 nm), and the measured saturated output power was ∼24.84 dBm at 1490 nm. In addition, numerical simulation was performed by using the parameters of the TDFTFs and thepump lasers, and the noise figurewas calculated to be <5.6 dB in the S band. Our results showed that the TDFTFs were promising gain media for constructing efficient broadband S-band fiber amplifiers.