POLARIZED SUPERFLUORESCENT FIBER SOURCE

We report the demonstration of a polarized superfluorescent fiber sour ce (SFS) that increases the power output in the desired Linearly polar ized component by a factor of 1.76 over that of a standard, unpolarize d SFS that uses the same pump power. This increase in efficiency is ac complished by insertion of a low-loss polarizer at an optimum point in the erbium-doped Fiber of a standard SFS. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America