Special Issue of Journal of Optics dedicated to 25 years of the discovery of Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers and Lasers

摘要

Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) now forms an integral component of any optical communication network whether for long-haul inter-city or undersea telecom, or for metro communication or for CATV. EDFA became commercially deployed in 1996 and ever since growth of optical communication has been phenomenal. Its discovery led to emergence of dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) optical communication, which is the backbone for today's Internet traffic and enables our instant access to the Internet.