Pr3+:La-Ga-S Glass: A Promising Material for 1.3 µm Fiber Amplification

Abstract

Pr3+, due to its four level laser transition 1G4→3H5 has been shown to be a potential candidate for amplification at 1.3 µm. Pr3+-doped fluorozirconate glass (ZBLAN) fibers have recently been demonstrated to yield large (≈ 30 dB) gain at 1.31 µm.1 The pump power needed to invert the Pr3+ ion and produce an efficient amplifier has been, to date, several hundred mW. This is due in large part to the short lifetime of the 1G4 level, reported to be 110 ps in ZBLAN, which is limited by non-radiative decay.1 Improvements can be made by finding a host for which the 1G4 lifetime is longer.