Optics Communications 277 (2007) 118–124

www.elsevier.com/locate/optcom

Simplified analytic solutions and a novel fast algorithm

for Yb3+-doped double-clad fiber lasers
Zhengqian Luo, Chenchun Ye *, Guoyong Sun, Zhiping Cai, Miaoling Si, Qibo Li
Department of Electronic Engineering, Keyan 2-508 of Haiyun, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China

Received 26 October 2006; received in revised form 26 January 2007; accepted 25 March 2007

Abstract

In this paper, continuous wave Yb3+-doped double-clad fiber lasers (DCFLs) with linear-cavity are investigated theoretically and
numerically using the rate equations. Under the steady state conditions, the simplified analytic solutions of Yb3+-doped DCFLs under
considering the scattering loss are deduced in the strongly pump condition. Compared with the known analytic solutions in published
literatures, our analytic solutions are more accurate, especially, at higher reflectivity of output mirror. In addition, a fast and stable
algorithm based on the Newton–Raphson method is proposed to simulate numerically Yb3+-doped DCFLs. The results by simplified
analytic solutions are in good agreement with those by the numerical simulation. Moreover, we have performed the optimization of
an Yb3+-doped DCFL using the simplified analytic solutions and the numerical simulations, respectively.
Ó 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Double-clad fiber lasers; Simplified analytic solutions; Fast algorithm; Numerical simulation

1. Introduction authors have studied DCFLs theoretically and obtained

In recent years, double-clad fiber lasers (DCFLs) have
been attracting more and more attentions [1–3]. It is due
to their inherent advantages over the conventional solid-
state lasers, including the high output power, high conver-
sion efficiency, low cost, excellent beam quality. As a result,
DCFLs have applications in many fields, such as medicine,
military, industry and modern telecommunications. As a
representative example of such applications, DCFLs are
used as pump sources of Raman fiber lasers or fiber ampli-
fiers for optical communication system because of their
high coupling efficiency [4,5].
The research of rare-earth doped DCFLs has advanced
considerably over recent years. Jeong et al. achieved a con-
tinuous wave (CW) output power of 610 W [1] and 1 kW
[2] from a large-core Yb3+-doped DCFL. Gapenstov devel-
oped a DCFL with more than 2 kW output power by com-
bining output beams of several fiber lasers [3]. Several
*
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 5922580141.
E-mail address: ccye@xmu.edu.cn (C. Ye).
many significant achievements [6–8]. Based on the rate
equations for a linear-cavity DCFL without the scattering
loss, Kelson and Hardy have obtained the analytic expres-
sions of output power, lasing threshold, slope efficiency, the
optimal fiber length and reflectivity of output mirror [6,8].
Moreover, they have reported the quasi-analytic solutions
with the scattering loss where several numerical iterations
must be performed simultaneously [6]. Xiao et al. have fur-
ther deduced the approximate analytic solutions under
considering the scattering loss [7]. However, their analytic
expressions [7] had large relative error comparing with
the exact numerical simulation when the reflectivity of out-
put mirror is high. The relative error of their analytic solu-
tions is 6.4% with the reflectivity of output mirror 0.2,
about 15% of relative error with the reflectivity 0.4 and lar-
ger error with higher reflectivity [7]. On the other hand, for
better design and analysis of DCFLs, the numerical simu-
lations based on the rate equations have been investigated
and good agreement with the experimental measurement
has been achieved [9,10]. However, since the lasing power
is reflected at the two ends of cavity and the boundary

0030-4018/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2007.03.053
 Z. Luo et al. / Optics Communications 277 (2007) 118–124
conditions of the rate equations are not kept constant, one
usually needs to guess the set of initial values while using
the shooting method and the Runge–Kouta method
[9,10]. Consequently, the algorithm is not only time con-
suming, but also unstable if the guessed initial values are
not properly chosen.
In this paper, based on the rate equations under the
steady state conditions for a linear-cavity Yb3+-doped
DCFL, we obtain the simplified analytic solutions with
the scattering loss considered. Our analytic solutions are
more accurate than those in Ref. [7] at higher reflectivity
of output mirror. Then, using the Newton–Raphson
method, we propose a fast and stable algorithm to solve
the two-point boundary value problem of the rate equa-
tions. The results of analytic solutions are then compared
with the results of exact numerical simulation. The good
agreement is demonstrated.
2. Simplified analytic solutions
The behavior of a linear-cavity Yb3+-doped DCFL
under the steady state conditions is governed by the rate
equations [9,10]:
dP þ ðzÞ rs sf
¼ aa P p exp½ðaa F p þ ap Þz
dz hvp
Fp P 0 þ P þ ðzÞ
  as P þ ðzÞ
Af 1 þ ½P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ=P s
dP  ðzÞ rs sf
¼ aa P p exp½ðaa F p þ ap Þz
dz hvp
Fp P 0 þ P  ðzÞ
 þ as P  ðzÞ
Af 1 þ ½P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ=P s
r s sf
gðzÞ ¼ aa P p exp½ðaa F p þ ap Þz
hvp
Fp 1 formed by a high reflectivity mirror and a lower feedback
 ð3Þ
Af 1 þ ½P ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ=P s
þ
The boundary conditions are
P þ ð0Þ ¼ R1 P  ð0Þ
 þ
P ðLÞ ¼ R2 P ðLÞ
Here, Pp is input pump power at position z = 0. P ðzÞ,
P  ðzÞ is forward and backward signal power, respectively.
aa is the absorption coefficient of the core at the pump
wavelength kp. ap and as represent the scattering loss coef-
ficient at pump wavelength kp and signal wavelength ks,
respectively. sf is spontaneous lifetime. rs is stimulated
emission cross-section at ks. Af is the cross-sectional area
of fiber core and Fp is the overlap factor of pump mode
field with the doped area. hmp is the pump photon energy.
P s ¼ ðhvs =rs sf Þ  Af is the saturation signal output power.
P0 is the spontaneous emission power. g(z) is the gain
coefficient along the fiber. L is the double-clad fiber
length. R1 and R2 are the reflectivity of cavity mirror at
signal wavelength ks at left (z = 0) and right (z = L)
end, respectively.
119
In our rate equations, the scattering loss is considered
because of its significant influence on Yb-DCFLs [6], while
the effects of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) are
ignored. The effects of ASE on the operation of rare-earth
doped fiber amplifiers and lasers have been analysed
[6,11,12]. It has been found that under strongly pumped
conditions, the effects of ASE become weaker and can be
neglected. The reason is that under strongly pumped condi-
tions, the oscillating laser power (or the signal power in an
amplifier) is so high that the population inversion between
the two laser energy levels is saturated. Therefore the effects
of the ASE on the population inversion become negligible.
According to Ref. [11], when the input signal power of the
amplifier is more than 0.2 W, the effects of ASE are weak.
Similarly, for the Yb-DCFLs in this paper, we have esti-
mated that the effects of ASE are weak when the laser
power is more than 1 W. When the laser power is lower
than 1 W, the strongly pumped condition may be not well
satisfied and neglecting ASE could result in significant
errors.
Under these approximations, from Eqs. (1) and (2), the
following two equations, which can also be found from
Refs. [6,7,9], can be obtained:
P þ ðzÞ  P  ðzÞ ¼ constant: ð6Þ
For a special condition,
P þ ð0Þ  P  ð0Þ ¼ P þ ðLÞ  P  ðLÞ ð7Þ
ð1Þ
2.1. Forward pumping configuration
A schematic of a DCFL with forward pumping config-
ð2Þ
uration is shown in Fig. 1. The pump laser is coupled into
the fiber through mirror M1, and the output laser is from
mirror M2. For the most of DCFLs, the laser cavity is
element. As a result, we can assume that the reflectivity
of output mirror R2 is low, and that R1 is close to 1. The
signal gain is larger than the signal loss as long as the
double-clad fiber is not too long and the residual pump
ð4Þ
power is high enough. Thereby, the forward signal power
ð5Þ will gradually increase along the fiber (from z = 0 to
þ z = L), while the backward signal power increases in oppo-
site direction (from z = L to z = 0). Moreover, it should be
noted that P þ ð0Þ is nearly equal to P  ð0Þ, i.e. P þ ð0Þ ¼
P  ð0Þ ¼ P left , resulting from that R1 is close to 1. Then,
one can find that the power difference of forward and back-
M1 (R1 →1) M2 (R2)
Pump laser Output laser
z=0 DCF z=L
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the DCFL with forward pumping
configuration.
120 Z. Luo et al. / Optics Communications 277 (2007) 118–124

ward signals, dðzÞ ¼ P þ ðzÞ  P  ðzÞ is larger and larger from Then, P þ ðLÞ is written as
z = 0 to L. Using Eq. (6), we can then obtain, Pþ þ
1 ðLÞ þ P 2 ðLÞ
þ þ P þ ðLÞ ¼
P ðzÞ  ðP ðzÞ  dðzÞÞ ¼ P 2left ð8Þ 2 !
By solving the above quadratic equation of P þ ðzÞ, we 1 1
¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ
have, R2 R1 þ R2 =R1 1 þ R2
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  
Að1  eðF p aa þap ÞL Þ Ps
P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ ¼ 4P 2left þ dðzÞ2 ð9Þ   ð16Þ
2ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ 2
Consequently, from Eq. (9) one can find that there exist
So the output power with forward pumping configura-
the lower- and upper-bound values for P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ,
tion can be described as
because dðzÞ is monotonously increased from z = 0 to
min
z = L. The lower-bound value P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞj of P out ¼ ð1  R2 ÞP þ ðLÞ
þ 
P ðzÞ þ P ðzÞ is at z = 0, !
1 1
¼ ð1  R2 Þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ
P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞjmin ¼ P þ ð0Þ þ P  ð0Þ ð10Þ R2 R1 þ R2 =R1 1 þ R2
þ  max  
The upper-bound value P ðzÞ þ P ðzÞj of P ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ
þ
Að1  eðF p aa þap ÞL Þ Ps
is at z = L,   ð17Þ
2ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ 2
max
P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞj ¼ P þ ðLÞ þ P  ðLÞ ð11Þ When Pout = 0, the threshold pump power is obtained
For a CW linear-cavity fiber laser, the following station- hvp Af ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ
ary condition must be satisfied: P th ¼ ð18Þ
rs sf F p aa ð1  eðF p aa þap ÞL Þ
Z L
gðzÞdz ¼ as L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2 ð12Þ
0 2.2. Backward pumping configuration
Using Eq. (3), Eq. (12) can be rewritten as:
Z L A schematic of a DCFL with backward pumping config-
expððF p aa þ ap ÞzÞ uration is shown in Fig. 2. In this case, M1 is the output
A dz ¼ as L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2 ð13Þ
0 P s þ P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ mirror with low reflectivity R1, and R2 is close to one.
rsF a P P The pump laser is still coupled into the fiber through mir-
where A ¼ s f hvpp Aaf p s is a constant.
ror M1. Then the output end is at z = 0. By the similar
In order to simplify the integration in the left hand side
analyses method above, one can find that the upper- and
of Eq. (13), we perform an approximation treatment in
lower-bound values of P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ also exist with the
which P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ in Eq. (13) is replaced by its upper-
backward pumping configuration. The upper-bound value
and lower-bound values given in Eqs. (10) and (11), respec-
of P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ is at z = 0, i.e. P þ ð0Þ þ P  ð0Þ. The lower-
tively. Then, the final solutions are obtained as the average
bound value of P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ is at z = L, i.e.
values of their corresponding solutions using Eqs. (10) and
P þ ðLÞ þ P  ðLÞ.
(11). Under the lower-bound values, using Eqs. (4), (5), (7),
With the backward pumping configuration, we also use
and (10), we can analytically integrate Eq. (13) over the
the same approximation treatment as the forward pumping
fiber (from z = 0 to L), then the corresponding P þ ðLÞ can
configuration. Similarly, P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ in Eq. (13) is
be obtained,
replaced with the lower-bound value P þ ðLÞ þ P  ðLÞ. Then,
Pþ
1 ðLÞ using Eqs. (4), (5), (7), and (13) can be analytically inte-
   
1 A 1  eðF p aa þap ÞL grated and the corresponding P  ð0Þ marked as subscript
¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  Ps 1 can be then obtained
R2 R1 þ R2 =R1 ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ
1
ð14Þ P
1 ð0Þ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
R1 R2 þ R1 =R2
where subscript 1 indicates that the value of P þ ðLÞ is ob-  
tained using Eq. (10). Að1  eðF p aa þap ÞL Þ
  Ps ð19Þ
Similarly, under the upper-bound values, using Eqs. (5), ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ
(11) and analytically integrating Eq. (13), the correspond-
ing P þ ðLÞ can be obtained M1 (R1) M2 (R2→ 1)
    Pump laser
þ 1 A 1  eðF p aa þap ÞL
P 2 ðLÞ ¼  Ps
1 þ R2 ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ Output laser
ð15Þ z=0 DCF z=L
þ
where subscript 2 indicates that the value of P ðLÞ is ob- Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the DCFL with backward pumping
tained using Eq. (11). configuration.
 Z. Luo et al. / Optics Communications 277 (2007) 118–124 121

Correspondingly, when P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ in Eq. (13) is the solution. The procedure of Newton–Raphson method
replaced with the upper-bound value P þ ð0Þ þ P  ð0Þ, using is as follows:
Eqs. (4),(13), the corresponding P  ð0Þ marked as subscript
2 can be obtained (I) A random guessing initial input value P  0 ð0Þ is given,
  for example P  0 ð0Þ ¼ 2:
 1 Að1  eðF p aa þap ÞL Þ
P 2 ð0Þ ¼  Ps (II) The rate equations Eqs. (1) and (2) are integrated by
1 þ R1 ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ Runge–Kouta method, the error between the output
ð20Þ f ðP 
0 ð0ÞÞ and the target output R2 is obtained.

Then, P  ð0Þ is written as (III) Increasing P  0 ð0Þ by a small disturbance Dh, for
example Dh ¼ 0:001, we obtain the output
P 
1 ð0Þ þ P 2 ð0Þ f ðP 
P  ð0Þ ¼ 0 ð0Þ þ DhÞ. Then, the derivative of the output
2 ! f ðP  ð0ÞÞ at P  0 
0 ð0Þ can be obtained f ðP ð0ÞÞjP  ð0Þ ¼
0
1 1 f ðP  ð0ÞþDhÞf ðP  ð0ÞÞ
¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ 0
Dh
0
.
R2 R1 þ R1 =R2 1 þ R1
  (IV) The input value P 
0 ð0Þ is updated by adding
Að1  eðF p aa þap ÞL Þ Ps R f ðP  ð0ÞÞ
  ð21Þ DP 0 ¼ f 0 ðP2  ð0ÞÞj0 .
2ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ 2 P  ð0Þ
0

So the output power with backward pumping configura- (V) If the error between the output f ðP 
0 ð0ÞÞ and the tar-

tion can be described as
P out ¼ ð1  R1 ÞP  ð0Þ
!
1 1
¼ ð1  R1 Þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ
R2 R1 þ R1 =R2 1 þ R1
 
Að1  eðF p aa þap ÞL Þ Ps
 
2ðF p aa þ ap Þðas L  lnðR1 R2 Þ=2Þ 2
Furthermore, for two-end pumping configuration, we
must indicate that the upper- and lower-bound values of
P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ also exist by the similar analyses method
above. The corresponding analytic solutions can be easily
obtained after replacing the term of pump absorption
P p exp½ðaa F p þ ap Þz in rate Eqs. (1)–(3) with P p exp
½ðaa F p þ ap Þz þ P 0p exp½ðaa F p þ ap Þðz  LÞ. Where P 0p is
power of the second pump source at z = L.
3. The fast and stable algorithm for numerical simulation
To numerically solve Eqs. (1)–(5), we rewrite Eqs. (4)
and (5) as
P þ ð0Þ
¼ R1
P  ð0Þ
P  ðLÞ
¼ R2
P þ ðLÞ
From Eq. (23), we can find that P þ ð0Þ and P  ð0Þ are corre-
lated. Moreover, P þ ðLÞ and P  ðLÞ also actually depend on
P  ð0Þ and P þ ð0Þ by Eqs. (1)–(3). Thereby, there is only one
independent variable among P þ ð0Þ, P  ð0Þ, P þ ðLÞ and
P  ðLÞ. If we define P  ð0Þ as the independent input variable
and the output is defined as
P  ðLÞ
f ðP  ð0ÞÞ ¼
P þ ðLÞ
Then, the problem will be to find suitable input value P  ð0Þ
that leads to corresponding output f ðP  ð0ÞÞ satisfying Eq.
(24). The Newton–Raphson method can be used to obtain
get output R2 is below a small threshold (for example
108), the iteration will stops. Otherwise, continu-
ously repeat procedures (I)–(IV).
In this paper, to testify our novel algorithm as well as
the accuracy of our simplified analytic solutions, we discuss
both the forward and backward pumping configurations
ð22Þ
and use the same values of following parameters given in
Ref. [7]. kp = 920 nm, ks = 1090 nm, sf = 1 ms, rs ¼ 2
1025 m2 , F p  aa ¼ 0:03 m1 , ap ¼ 3  105 cm1 , as ¼ 5
105 cm1 , Af ¼ 5  107 cm2 , L = 40 m, Pp = 20 W.
The forward and backward signal powers are calculated
by numerical simulations under the forward and backward
pumping configuration, respectively. For the forward
pumping configuration, Fig. 3a shows the evolution of for-
ward, backward signal powers and the half of their sum
along the fiber with R1 = 1 and R2 = 0.8, 0.3, 0.04, respec-
tively. For the backward pumping configuration, Fig. 3b
shows the evolution of forward, backward signal powers
and the half of their sum along the fiber with R2 = 1 and
R1 = 0.8, 0.3, 0.04, respectively. Our numerical results are
of the same as those obtained by other authors [7]. From
Fig. 3, one can find that ðP þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞÞ=2 can keep a
ð23Þ monotonous increasing (or decreasing) trend from z = 0
to L with the forward (or backward) pumping configura-
ð24Þ tion, which is accordant with the theoretical analyses in
Section 2. Moreover, it is interesting to find that the value
of ðP þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞÞ=2 varies slightly along position z, and
that it is almost keeps a constant with the higher reflectivity
of output mirror. Therefore, the difference between the
upper- and lower-bound values of P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ is small
and it is close to zero with the higher reflectivity of output
mirror. This fact has further shown that our approximation
treatment with Eq. (13) is appropriate, especially, in the
ð25Þ case of higher reflectivity of output mirror.
Based on our algorithm, the numerical simulations have
been performed. Our algorithm is more stable and fast
comparing with the published work [9,10]. Fig. 4 shows
the convergence processes of P  ð0Þ for different initial
122 Z. Luo et al. / Optics Communications 277 (2007) 118–124

25 fact shows the strong applicability of our algorithm. More-

R2=0.8
- - - - R2=0.3 P+(z) over, with a Pentium 4 processor, only about ten seconds
20
....... R2=0.04 will be needed even when we seek the optimal fiber length
or reflectivity of output mirror.
Signal power (W)

15 4. Comparison of the results of simplified analytic solutions

P-(z) (P+(z)+ P-(z))/2
with those of numerical simulations
10
In this section, the comparison between the results of
numerical simulation and those of simplified analytic solu-
5
tions is performed. For the forward pumping configura-
tion, Fig. 5a and b shows the output power obtained by
0 two methods as a function of input pump power with
25
L = 50 m and R2 = 0.04, 0.08, respectively. As shown in
R1=0.8
Fig. 5, the analytical solutions and the numerical simula-
P-(z) - - - - R1=0.3 tions are in good agreement with each other. With the very
....... R1=0.04
20 low reflectivity of output mirror 0.04, from Fig. 5a one can
find that the relative error between simplified analytic solu-
Signal power (W)

tions and numerical simulations is less than 6%. When the

15 (P+(z)+ P-(z))/2
P+(z) reflectivity of output mirror increases, the relative error will
decrease. As is shown in Fig. 5b, when R2 = 0.08, the rela-
10 tive error is smaller than 1%. We have further found that
the relative error can be neglected when R2 > 0.08 (not
given in figure).
5 For the backward pumping configuration, Fig. 6 show
the output power obtained by two methods as a function
of input pump power with L = 50 m and R1 = 0.04. From
0
0 10 20 30 40 Fig. 6, the relative error between simplified analytic solu-
Position z (m) tions and numerical simulations is very small (<3%). More-
Fig. 3. The evolution of forward and backward signal power along the over, comparing Fig. 6 with Fig. 5a, one can find that the
fiber for different reflectivities of output mirror for the (a) forward and (b) output powers of the backward pumping configuration are
backward pumping configuration. slightly higher than those of the forward pumping configu-
ration. The intrinsic mechanism has been illustrated in Ref.
input values P 
0 ð0Þ with R2 = 0.8 using our algorithm under [9] and we will not repeat in this work.
the forward pumping configuration. From Fig. 4 one can We have also performed the optimization of an Yb3+-
find that less than five iterations needed for P 0 ð0Þ converg- doped DCFL using the numerical simulations and the sim-
ing to the final value. It should be noted that for any initial plified analytic solutions, respectively. Fig. 7a and b shows
input value P  
0 ð0Þ in a wide range from 1.5 to 38 W, P ð0Þ the output power as a function of the reflectivity of output
can be efficiently converged to the final value 17.96 W. The mirror with the forward and backward pumping configura-
tion, respectively. The fiber length L = 50 m and pump
power Pp = 20 W are used. Both the forward and back-
40 -
P0 (0)=1.5 ward pumping configurations, one can find in Fig. 7 that
-
P0 (0)=10 the lower reflectivity of output mirror is, the higher the out-
-
P0 (0)=20 put laser power. Considering the Fresnel reflection of fiber
30 -
P0 (0)=30 end in a real DCFL, one can usually think the optimal
Updated P (0) (W)

-
P0 (0)=38 reflectivity of output mirror is 0.04. From Fig. 7, our ana-
20 lytic solutions are very accurate in both the forward and
-

backward pumping configurations. For the forward pump-

ing configuration, the largest error between our analytic
10 solutions and exact numerical simulation is only less than
6% when R2 = 0.04, which is acceptable in practices. Espe-
cially, as long as the reflectivity of output mirror is more
0
than 0.08, the relative error is less than 1%. For the back-
0 2 4 6 8 10 ward pumping configuration, the relative error is always
Iteration times
less than 3% at any reflectivity of output mirror. This is a
Fig. 4. The convergence processes of P  ð0Þ for different initial input significant improvement on the published analytic solu-
values P 
0 ð0Þ with R2 = 0.8 under the forward pumping configuration. tions given in Ref. [7]. The existence of the relative error
 Z. Luo et al. / Optics Communications 277 (2007) 118–124 123

18 16

numerical simulation numerical simulation

16
simplified analytic solution simplified analytic solution

12
Output power (W)

Output power (W)

12

8
8

4
4

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Input pump power (W) Input pump power (W)

Fig. 5. The output power as a function of input pump power under the forward pumping configuration with (a) R2 = 0.04, L = 50 m (b) R2 = 0.08,
L = 50 m (solid line: numerical simulation, +++: simplified analytic solution).

18 According to the optimization result of the reflectivity of

numerical simulation output mirror, we choose the reflectivity 0.04 of output
16
simplified analytic solution mirror to obtain the corresponding optimal fiber length
with Pp = 20 W. Fig. 8a and b shows the output power
as a function of the double-clad fiber length with the for-
Output power (W)

12
ward and backward pumping configuration, respectively.
For the forward pumping configuration, the optimal fiber
8 length is about 50 m from Fig. 8a. For the backward
pumping configuration, the optimal fiber length is about
70 m from Fig. 8b, longer than that for forward pumping.
4
5. Conclusion

0
0 5
Fig. 6. The output power as a function of input pump power under the
backward pumping configuration with R1 = 0.04, L = 50 m.
mainly is attributed to the fact that the approximation
treatment of P þ ðzÞ þ P  ðzÞ in Eq. (13) is not perfect with
a lower reflectivity of output mirror, as shown in Fig. 3.
10 15 20 25 30 In this paper, we have obtained the simplified analytic
Input pump power (W) solutions for Yb3+-doped DCFLs in the strongly pump
condition. In addition, we have proposed a fast and stable
algorithm based on Newton–Raphson method for numeri-
cal simulations. Using our algorithm, we find that the
speed of convergence is higher and only about ten seconds
of computing time are needed for any program which is
used to optimize the fiber length and the reflectivity of out-
put mirror with a Pentium 4 processor. The results by ana-

11 12

numerical simulation
simplified analytic solution 10
9
Output power (W)

8
Outpout power (W)

5
4

3
2

1 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Reflectivity Reflectivity

Fig. 7. Output power vs. reflectivity of output mirror with Pp = 20 W and L = 50 m for the (a) forward and (b) backward pumping configuration.
124 Z. Luo et al. / Optics Communications 277 (2007) 118–124

12 12
numerical simulation
simplified analytic solution
10 10
Output power (W)

8 8

Ouptut power (W)

6 6

4 4

2 2

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Double-clad fiber length (m) Double-clad fiber length (m)

Fig. 8. Output power vs. double-clad fiber length with the reflectivity 0.04 of output mirror and Pp = 20 W for the (a) forward and (b) backward pumping
configuration.

lytical and exact numerical solutions are compared and a References

good agreement is demonstrated between them. A signifi-
cant improvement on our analytic solutions has been
achieved. The results of our analytic solutions are accurate,
especially, at high reflectivity of output mirror. With the
reflectivity of output mirror R2 > 0.08, the relative error
between the simplified analytic solutions and numerical
simulation is less than 1% for the forward pumping config-
uration. Moreover, the relative error is always less than 3%
with any reflectivity of output mirror for the backward
pumping configuration. Therefore, the simplified analytic
solutions and the algorithm for numerical simulations pre-
sented in this paper will be useful for design and analysis of
DCFLs in practice.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the key scientific project of
Fujian, China under Grant No. 2005H089.
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