Da. Chapman, ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS - THE LATEST REVOLUTION IN OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS, Electronics & communication engineering journal, 6(2), 1994, pp. 59-67
Like many technological advances associated with optical fibre communi
cation, erbium-doped fibre amplifiers have moved from the laboratory t
o the field with extraordinary speed. They are capable of low-noise, l
ow-distortion, high-gain and high-power operation over a broad bandwid
th. This paper describes the physical principles behind their operatio
n and shows how their unique characteristics are set to bring about a
qualitative change in the way in which optical fibre is used.