Behavioral investigations of an erbium-doped fiber ring laser through numerical simulations

An erbium-doped fiber ring laser is modeled, using the standard propagation and rate equations of a homogeneous, two-level medium. The numerical model has been obtained by developing a spectral analysis of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers. This approach is modified to account for the cyclical propagati on of the field in the ring laser. The numerical simulations provide intere sting information on the spectral behavior as well as important characteris tics of the cavity, mainly the lasing wavelength and output power. The mode l also permits the study of competing modes' gain evolution during the tran sient state of a ring laser cavity, which enables cavity lasing wavelength predictions. To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind. (C) 200 0 Academic Press.