Patent · US Expired

Optical amplifiers with dispersion compensation

US6417961B1 · kind B1 · utility

18Cited by
17References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 4, 2000
Grant dateJul 9, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 29, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01S3/10023
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Optical amplifiers are provided that have dispersion-compensating fiber that is pumped with an optical source to produce Raman gain. Removable modules of dispersion-compensating fiber, which may be separate from the Raman-pumped dispersion-compensating fiber, may be used to adjust the amount of dispersion compensation provided by a given amplifier. The Raman pump may be formed using fiber-Bragg-grating-stabilized diode lasers or other suitable pump sources. Two cross-polarized diode lasers may be used for the Raman pump to reduce the dependence of the Raman gain on the polarization of the pump. If desired, the dispersion-compensating fiber may be Raman pumped using a two-pass configuration in which pump light reflects off of a reflector to produce additional gain. The reflector may be a Faraday rotator to minimize polarization-dependent pump effects.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.