Erbium-doped tellurite glass fibre laser and amplifier

Er3+-doped tellurite singlemode fibre is fabricated and signal amplification and laser oscillation are demonstrated for the first time. A small-signal gain of 16 dB at 1560 nm is obtained for a pump power of 130 mW at 978 nm. A laser oscillation is observed with a threshold pump power of 120 mW at 978 nm and a slope efficiency of 0.65% using this fibre.