Equilibrium Degradation Levels in Irradiated and Pumped Erbium-Doped Optical Fibers

This paper investigates the local interplay between radiation-induced darkening and pump-induced bleaching in erbium-doped silica optical fibers. Thanks to proper characterization conditions using short fiber samples, we demonstrate that degradation levels can be tuned reversibly between equilibrium levels by varying the pump power and/or the dose rate while the dose is being accumulated. This nov...