Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers Pumped in the 950-1000 nm Region.

We report the pump wavelength dependence of the gain of an erbium doped fiber amplifier pumped in the wavelength region 950 to 1000 nm. It is found that efficient gain at 1.557microns between 25 and 28 dB for 17 mW of launched pump power, can be obtained for any wavelength pump in the range 965 to 985 nm. The optimum length of erbium fiber needed is found to vary as a function of pump wavelength. The gain as a function of signal wavelength is also investigated at these pump wavelengths.