Performance Enhancement of Er–Yb: Co-doped Waveguide Amplifier Employing Backward Pumping in the Presence of Energy Transfer Upconversion

Integrated photonics (IP) is an emerging technology in photonics in which optical waveguides (WGs) and devices are fabricated as an integrated structure onto the surface of a flat substrate. IP technology has the great potential for reshaping the high-speed optical communication, sensing, and imaging exploiting the benefits of miniaturization, low cost, and high efficiency. Erbium-doped waveguide technology has become a popular area of research as it is compatible with CMOS technology. This is largely due to the success of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) in achieving high gain, high saturation power, and low noise figure (NF) in high-speed long-haul optical fiber links. In this paper, we report the performance enhancement of Er–Yb: co-doped waveguide amplifier (EYCDWA) for C-band (1530–1565 nm) employing backward pumping with a standard 980-nm pump in the presence of energy transfer upconversion (UC). The performance of EYCDWA is evaluated in terms of signal enhancement (relative gain), net internal gain (NIG), and NF using numerical simulations. The length of WG, ion densities of Er^3+ and Yb^3 , and excess losses are adjusted to achieve record high NIG of 11 dB/cm and signal enhancement of 15.5 dB/cm at signal wavelength of 1530 nm. Also, NF values in the range of 4.9–5.1 dB are observed for C-band wavelengths for input signal power of − 15 dBm.