Er(3)/Yb(3)-codoped phosphate glass for short-length high-gain fiber lasers and amplifiers

Er(3)/Yb(3)-codoped phosphate glass with compositions of (78.2-x)P(2)O(5)-14Al(2)O(3)-5Li(2)O-1K(2)O-1.8Yb(2)O(3)-xEr(2)O(3)(x=0.2,0.4,0.6) in mol. % were investigated. Judd-Ofelt (JO) intensity parameters have been calculated to predict radiative properties based on absorption spectra. The stimulated emission cross section (σ(e)) calculated according to McCumber theory was 1.50×10(-20)  cm(2), almost twice larger than values reported before. The effective line width (Δ(eff)), full width at half-maximum (FWHM) and the quality parameters for designing optical amplifier devices were listed in the table compared with other types of phosphate glass matrices. A theoretical model of a Er(3)/Yb(3)-codoped system based on rate and power propagation equations was put forward to investigate the potential advantages of the materials applied for short-length, high-gain fiber amplifiers. A simulated gain of 32.2 and 2.6  dB/cm per unit length was achieved in 12.5-cm-long fiber.