Experimental determination of the energy-transfer parameters for homogeneous upconversion in Er-doped silica

Applying a nonlinear spectroscopic technique, we accurately monitor the dynamics of the homogeneous upconversion (HUC) in Er-doped fibers. We provide the first experimental confirmation, to our knowledge, of the earlier theoretical predictions that, for low erbium concentrations, a decay of HUC-influenced excitation probability of Er ions can be well approximated by the formula describing the static HUC. By correlating the experimentally obtained HUC dynamics with the results of our analytical model in a wide range of Er concentrations, we accurately estimate energy-transfer parameters for Er-doped silica glass and experimentally assess the validity of the model. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.