Modeling and optimizing of low-repetition-rate high-energy pulse amplification in high-concentration erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

Starting from the modeling of isolated ions and ion-pairs, a closed form rate and power evolution equations for pulse amplification in high-concentration erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are constructed. According to the equations, the effects of ion-pairs on the performance of a high-concentration EDFA in steady state including upper-state population, ASE powers without input signal are analyzed numerically. Furthermore, the effects of ion-pairs on the dynamic characteristics of low-repetition-rate pulse amplification in the EDFA including the storied energy, output pulse energy and evolution of pulse waveform distortion are systematically studied by using the finite-difference method. The results show that the presence of the ion-pairs deteriorates amplifier performance, such as the upper-state population, ASE power, storied energy, output pulse energy, and saturated gain, etc. For the high-concentration EDFA, the optimum fiber length should be modified to achieve a better performance. The relations between the evolution of pulse waveform distortion or output pulse energy and the input pulse peak power are also discussed. The results can provide important guide for the design and optimization of the low-repetition-rate pulse amplification in high-concentration EDFAs.