High receiver sensitivity at 10 Gb/s using an Er-doped fiber preamplifier pumped with a 0.98 mu m laser diode

The authors report the realization of an extremely high receiver sensitivity at 10 Gb/s by using an erbium doped fiber (EDF) preamplifier pumped with a 0.98 mu m laser diode. The obtained EDF input sensitivity is -37.2 dBm (147 photons/bit). In addition, the importance of minimizing reflection from amplifier fiber ends is shown. >