Fiber amplifier

Fiber amplifiers are used in fiber optic communication system. Some commonly used fiber amplifiers are fiber Raman amplifier (FRA), erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and fiber laser amplifier (FLA). Purpose of using fiber amplifier in long distance fiber optic communication is to shield the power loss of signal. Here we are using light waves as carrier waves. This light wave (due to LED or diode laser) which carries signal which is to be transmitted suffers attenuation and other losses. Attenuation arises due to the absorption, scattering and bending losses. Light signal gets absorbed by the core material and various impurities present in the material. If there is any scattering (example Rayleigh scattering), that will also lead to power loss. Optical fibers when subjected to bending may result in signal loss or signal distortion. Loss due to bending is referred as radiation loss. Nowadays EDFA is the preferred choice of fiber amplifier.