Coaxial-core erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA's) having a property of self-regulated gain spectrum are developed. The operation of a coaxial-core EDFA is based on the partial separation of the light paths for different wavelength channels in the directionally-coupled waveguides of a coaxial-core geometry. The degree of channel equalization depends on the geometrical and optical parameters of the coaxial-core EDFA and on relative channel power levels. A numerical analysis based on the coupled-mode theory and on the rate equation shows that, under fully optimized conditions, a coaxial-core EDFA provides equalization rates in excess of -0.4 dB per dB of input-power imbalance in the case with two WDM channels. A cascade experiment demonstrates the effect of coaxial-core EDFA's toward channel-power equalization in fiber links with a small number of WDM channels.

Coaxial-core erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA's) having a property of self-regulated gain spectrum are developed. The operation of a coaxial-core EDFA is based on the partial separation of the light paths for different wavelength channels in the directionally-coupled waveguides of a coaxial-core geometry. The degree of channel equalization depends on the geometrical and optical parameters of the coaxial-core EDFA and on relative channel power levels. A numerical analysis based on the coupled-mode theory and on the rate equation shows that, under fully optimized conditions, a coaxial-core EDFA provides equalization rates in excess of -0.4 dB per dB of input-power imbalance in the case with two WDM channels. A cascade experiment demonstrates the effect of coaxial-core EDFA's toward channel-power equalization in fiber links with a small number of WDM channels.