MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE FOR PUMP AND SIGNAL BACKGROUND ABSORPTION OF ERBIUM-DOPED FIBERS

An explicit analytical expression for the transmission of pump and sig nal power through an erbium-doped fibre in the presence of background loss is given. Because the solution is explicit, it can easily be fitt ed to measurement results. This leads to a simple method for determini ng the erbium absorption constant, saturation power and fibre backgrou nd absorption constant. The technique is demonstrated for wavelengths of the signal range.