Upconversion pumped thulium-doped fluoride fiber amplifier and laser operating at 1.47 μm

A 1.064-/spl mu/m band upconversion pumped Tm/sup 3+/-doped fluoride fiber amplifier and a laser both operating at 1.47 /spl mu/m are investigated in detail. The two devices are based on the /sup 3/F/sub 4//spl rarr//sup 3/H/sub 4/ transition in a trivalent thulium ion, which is a self-terminating system. When pumped at 1.064 /spl mu/m, the amplifier has a gain of over 10 dB from 1.44 to 1.51 /spl mu/m and a low-noise characteristic. Also, the fiber laser generates a high-output power of over 100 mW with a slope efficiency of 59% at around 1.47 /spl mu/m. These levels of performance will be important for optical communication systems. >