Power requirements for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers pumped in the 800, 980, and 1480 nm bands

The authors examine relative merits of exciting Er/sup 3+/ amplifiers at the three wavelengths for which high-power laser diodes are available at 800, 980, and 1480 nm. Model calculations are confirmed by a detailed experimental comparison of the power requirements for pumping in the 800-nm band and at 980 nm. To obtain comparable performance with respect to gain and noise figure, 7-8 dB more power is required when pumping in the 800-nm-band.>