Erbium-doped lithium niobate thin film waveguide amplifier with 16 dB internal net gain

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a highly efficient erbium-doped lithium niobate waveguide amplifier with significant gain and detailed analysis, advancing integrated photonic systems on the LNOI platform.

Contribution

The work presents a novel, highly efficient Er:LNOI waveguide amplifier with detailed characterization, achieving high gain and providing insights for integrated photonics development.

Findings

27.94 dB signal enhancement achieved

16.0 dB internal net gain demonstrated

Thorough analysis of pumping and noise figure conducted

Abstract

Erbium-doped lithium niobate on insulator (Er:LNOI) has attracted enormous interest as it provides gain and enables integrated amplifiers and lasers on the lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) platform. We demonstrate a highly efficient waveguide amplifier on Er:LNOI. The 2.58-cm long amplifier can achieve 27.94 dB signal enhancement, 16.0 dB internal net gain (6.20 dB/cm), -8.84 dBm saturation power, 4.59 dB/mW power conversion efficiency, and 4.49 dB noise figure at 1531.6 nm. Besides, thorough investigation on the pumping wavelength, pumping scheme, output power and noise figure have been performed to provide a comprehensive understanding on this novel waveguide amplifier. This work will benefit the development of a powerful gain platform and can pave the way for a fully integrated photonic system on LNOI platform.