Page 317 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2024

OPTIMIZATION OF O-BAND PRASEODYMIUM-DOPED OPTICAL FIBER AMPLIFIER IN
A CWDM COMMUNICATION LINK

2
1
Mohd Mansoor Khan , Krishna Sarma , and Kaisar Ali 3
1,2,3 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati
Guwahati–781015, Assam, India
2
1 mansoor@iiitg.ac.in, krishna.sarma@iiitg.ac.in, kaisar.ali21b@iiitg.ac.in
3

ABSTRACT towards the exploration of the 1300 nm optical window as
a prime candidate for optical communication, owing to its
In this paper, a Praseodymium-doped fiber amplifier (PDFA) remarkably low overall attenuation of 0.3 dB/km and nearly
operating in O-band (1276 nm to 1356 nm) is reported. zero dispersion [6]. Praseodymium is considered as the
The performance is evaluated by optimizing PDF length, primary choice for optical transmission systems operating
3+
Praseodymium (Pr ) concentration, its doping radius along within the 1300 nm window [7]. Praseodymium-doped
with the numerical aperture (NA), pump power and input fiber amplifiers (PDFAs) are now commercially accessible
power to the PDFA in terms of small signal gain and noise amplification in the O-band (1260 nm to 1360 nm) and
figure (NF). Small signal gain >25.23 dB has been observed attracting significant research focus to address bandwidth and
for the wavelength region of 1276 nm to 1356 nm with a capacity challenges in forthcoming optical networks.
maximum gain of 44.56 dB at 1312 nm. The NF varying in
Nishida et al. in [8] developed a PDFA module by connecting
the range of 4.1 dB to 8.2 dB has been obtained. Furthermore,
two PDFAs in series. They achieved a gain of >10 dB for
the performance of the PDFA is analyzed in a coarse
the wavelength region 1280 nm to 1330 nm at an input power
wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) transmission link
-30 dBm. Since the loss in O-band is relatively high as
of a fiber-optic communication system at a data rate of 10
compared to other optical communication bands, a high gain
giga bits per second (Gbps) as a pre-amplifier based on the
>20 dB is required for the O-band amplifier in a fiber-optic
quality factor (Q-factor). An errorless transmission with a
communication system [2]. Mirza et al. in [7] analyzed the
Q- factor >6 over 90 km of conventional single-mode fiber
performance of PDFA through simulation in OptiSystem ®
(SMF) has been achieved.
solver by optimizing pump power and doping concentration
3+
of Pr . A maximum small-signal gain of around 22.7 dB
Keywords - O-Band, Fiber-Optic Amplifier, PDFA
at 1300 nm and a minimum NF of 4 dB at 1284 nm were
observed for the operating wavelength 1250 nm to 1350 nm.
1. INTRODUCTION
Alharbi et al. in [9] performed a simulation study to enhance
Fiber optic communication ensures a dependable and the performance of PDFA with bidirectional pumping by
3+
effective pathway for data transmission since the advent of optimizing the length of PDF, the concentration of Pr , and
low-loss optical fiber, making it suitable for multi-terabit its mode-field diameter. A signal gain in the range of around
bandwidth-efficient applications [1]. Over the last few years, 27 dB to 56.4 dB was observed for the wavelength region 1270
network operators have been grappling with a significant nm to 1350 nm at an input power of -30 dBm and a minimum
upsurge in bandwidth demand attributed to the burgeoning noise figure of 4.1 dB at an input power of 0 dBm. Although
population of internet users across both wired and wireless the performance of PDFA presented by Alharbi et al. [9] is
platforms. This surge stems from the pervasive use better in comparison with the other state-of-the-art PDFAs,
of diverse bandwidth-intensive applications in our daily it was pumped bidirectionally with two 1.5 W pump lasers,
routines, including various social networking platforms, which is effectively considered as high optical power and
streaming services, web-based gaming, electronic commerce could be associated with other loss factors owing to thermal
platforms, etc. [2]. modal instabilities [10, 11, 12]. However, the significant
For fiber optic communication, the two commonly used variability in the small signal gain of the PDFA, ranging
windows include the 1550 nm and 1300 nm wavelength from approximately 24 dB to 56.4 dB, highlights a notable
regions, which exhibit minimal scattering and absorption drawback of the amplifier.
losses of around 0.22 dB/km and 0.3 dB/km, respectively In this work, an O-band PDFA has been designed using a 1017
3
1
1
[3, 4]. Since the conventional 1550 nm window is nearing its nm wavelength pump at energy levels H 4 → G 4 → D 2 and
1
3
capacity limits, it is urgently required to introduce new optical emitting in O-band (1260 nm to 1360 nm) G 4 → H 5 as shown
windows characterized by minimal scattering and absorption in Figure 1 [7]. Based on the literature survey, the novel
losses to address the rapid growth in bandwidth demand aspects of this work includes a gain >25 dB for the wavelength
[5]. In this context, significant attention is being directed region 1276 nm to 1360 nm i.e. covering the entire O-band

978-92-61-39091-4/CFP2268P @ITU 2024 – 273 – Kaleidoscope