Optical fiber amplifier and a control method therefor
US8233214B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 12, 2009 |
| Grant date | Jul 31, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 16, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S2301/04
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A fiber amplifier having two erbium doped fiber coils and a pump laser diode optically coupled, through a fiber array, to a planar lightwave circuit, is described. A photodetector array, a multiport free-space optical isolator, and a strip of thin-film gain flattening filter are attached to a side surface of the planar lightwave circuit, which has a tunable optical power splitter for variably splitting the optical pump power for the laser diode between the two erbium doped fiber coils, and variable tilters for correcting the gain tilt of the amplifier. The variable splitter and the tilters are thermally tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometers.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.