Observation of fuse effect discharge zone nonlinear velocity regime in erbium-doped fibres

Abstract

The self-propelled and self-focusing catastrophic failure in optical fibres, usually designated as fibre fuse effect, is a self-destruction process induced by the propagated signal with optical power values above 1.0 W. Whilst this phenomenon was initial reported in 1988, only recently has it become a real concern for optical networks operators due to the signal power increase. Reported, for the first time, is the existence of a fuse effect discharge zone velocity nonlinear saturation regime, and experimental validation of the theoretical predictions recently developed using travelling solutions is provided.