Patent Number: 6,167,181

Title: Optical fiber light amplifier

Abstract: An erbium-doped optical fiber for amplifying a light signal 1 is wound to form a plurality of nearly-closed rings 1a that are arranged in a flat expanded configuration. A light-receiving device 4 receives a spontaneous emission light emitted by the entirety of erbium-doped optical fiber 1 and supplies an electric signal corresponding to the received spontaneous emission light. A laser diode 2 supplies a pumping light to the erbium-doped optical fiber 1 to create a population inversion in the erbium-doped optical fiber. An output-control device 3 controls an output of laser diode 2 in response to the electric signal supplied from the light-receiving device 4. The light-receiving device 4 is located so that the light-receiving device can receive the spontaneous emission light emitted from the entirety of the rings 1a.

Inventors: Fukaishi; Kosuke (Tokyo, JP)

Assignee: NEC Corporation

International Classification: H01S 3/067 (20060101); H01S 3/13 (20060101); H01S 3/06 (20060101); H01S 3/131 (20060101); G02B 006/02 ()

Expiration Date: 12/26/2017