Technical Insight
Fiber amplifiers market to hit $3.4 billion by 2005 (Market News)
Fiber amplifiers market to hit $3.4 billion by 2005 Driven by the proliferation of dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM), the optical fiber amplifiers market will grow from $2.65 billion in 2000 to $3.4 billion by 2005, predicts an ElectroniCast report. The report points out that Raman fiber amplifiers will become increasingly widespread as DWDM increases the bandwidth carried by each fiber. Raman amplifiers give higher gain across a wider bandwidth than erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), though they require high pump laser powers to ensure adequate gain. With this application in mind, high-power 14xx nm laser diodes are the subject of much development activity among companies such as Agere and Fitel. The report also explains that Raman amplification is not going to replace EDFAs, but that the two will be used in combination. Raman amplifiers provide additional gain between EDFA stages, meaning that the optical signal never becomes as weak between stages as it does in an EDFA-only system. A stronger signal is thus maintained at each EDFA stage (where most of the noise is introduced), giving an improved signal-to-noise ratio. The report details the production and consumption of optical amplifiers, components, and passive and active gain blocks on a global basis, and discusses significant applications in the 1310 and 1550 nm wavebands. Between 2000 and 2005 little change is forecast for market consumption in the Europe and Rest-of-World segments. The major changes come in the North American market, where the share of global consumption will fall from 48% to 42%, and in the Japan/Pacific Rim region, where market share will rise from 24% to 29% over the same period (see ). "Optical Fiber Amplifier, Gain Block and Components Global Market Forecast" is available from ElectroniCast see www.electronicast.com.
