Domestic High Quality Radiation-Resistant Erbium-Doped Fiber

Objective With the rapid development of aerospace technology, erbium (Er)-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) has gradually become the best choice for satellite communication tasks because of its advantages such as high gain, wide bandwidth, and good compactness. However, the Er-doped fiber, a key component of the EDFA, is extremely sensitive to various cosmic rays (gamma rays, etc.) . To maintain the performance and life of Er-doped fibers in the irradiated environment, the homemade radiation-resistant Er-doped fiber was developed. Methods Radiation-resistant Er-doped fiber was fabricated using modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) technology. The homemade Er-doped fiber was designed with Al-Ge-Ce-La co-doping to strengthen the radiation resistance. Cerium ion-doping technology was used to eliminate color centers due to irradiation. The radiation resistance of the fiber was further improved by adjusting the doping concentration and the ratio of aluminum and germanium. Lanthanum ions were used to reduce the clustering effect of Er ions and improve efficiency. Our fiber's radiation-induced attenuation (RIA) and radiation-induced gain variation (RIGV) were tested based on Photon Kinetics 2500 and typical EDFA structure, respectively. Results and Discussions The radiation-resistant Er-doped fiber has the core and cladding diameters of 9 and 125 mu m, respectively. After irradiation by Co-60, radiation source with a cumulative and average dose of 1500 Gy and 0.2 Gy/s, respectively, Fig. 1 shows that RIA of radiation-resistant Er-doped fiber at 980 and 1550 nm is 1. 4 and 0.8 dB/m, respectively. The gain-performance test was performed using a typical EDFA structure ( Fig. 2) with - 20 dBm signal at pump source of 1550 and 980 nm. As shown in Fig. 3, RIGV at 1550 nm is 0.8 and 0.2 dB at 100 and 500 mW pumping power, respectively. Conclusions In this study, we prepared a radiation-resistant Er-doped fiber through the MCVD process. RIA at 980 and 1550 nm is 1. 4 and 0. 8 dB/m, respectively. EDFA with - 20 dBm signal at pump source of 1550 and 980 nm was built for the gain test. In addition, RIGV at 1550 nm is 0. 8 and 0. 2 dB at 100 and 500 mW puming power, respectively. The Er-doped fiber shows good antiradiation performance and broad application prospects in the fields of satellite communications, data acquisition, and space exploration.