Modeling of erbium doped fiber ring laser

A numerical model for the analysis of the continuous wave operation of an erbium doped fiber ring laser is presented. The model has been obtained by developing the so called spectral one already presented for the analysis of erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA). In particular the approach has been modified to account for the cyclical propagation of the field in the ring laser. The effects of multi-wavelength signals propagating within the laser cavity have been analyzed both in linear and in saturated gain regime. Numerical simulations provide interesting information on the spectral behavior as well as important parameters for device analysis and design as, for example, the lasing wavelength and the output power. Comparisons with experimental data confirm the validity of the approach and the correctness of the numerical solutions. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.