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Fiber attenuation
Fiber dispersion
Group velocity
Material dispersion
Waveguide dispersion
Chromatic dispersion compensation
Polarization mode dispersion
Polarization-maintaining fibers
Part of the lecture materials were adopted from powerpoint slides of Gerd Keisers book 2010,
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
1
Transmission characteristics of optical fibers
The transmission characteristics of most interest: attenuation (loss)
and bandwidth.
Now, silica-based glass fibers have losses about 0.2 dB/km (i.e.
95% launched power remains after 1 km of fiber transmission). This
is essentially the fundamental lower limit for attenuation in silica-
based glass fibers.
2
Attenuation
Signal attenuation within optical fibers is usually expressed in the
logarithmic unit of the decibel.
The decibel, which is used for comparing two power levels, may be
defined for a particular optical wavelength as the ratio of the
output optical power Po from the fiber to the input optical power Pi.
(Po Pi)
g L = - 10 log10 (Po/Pi)
4
dBm
dBm is a specific unit of power in decibels when the reference power
is 1 mW:
6
e.g. When the mean optical power launched into an 8 km length of
fiber is 120 mW, the mean optical power at the output is 3 mW.
Determine:
(a) the overall signal attenuation (or loss) in decibels through the fiber
assuming there are no connectors or splices
(c) the overall signal attenuation for a 10 km optical link using the same
fiber with splices (i.e. fiber connections) at 1 km intervals, each giving
an attenuation of 1 dB
(b) 16 dB / 8 km = 2 dB/km
8
fiber attenuation mechanisms:
1. Material absorption
2. Scattering loss
3. Bending loss
4. Radiation loss (due to mode coupling)
5. Leaky modes
10
Fundamental fiber attenuation characteristics
IR absorption
UV absorption
(negligible in the IR)
11
Extrinsic absorption
Major extrinsic loss mechanism is caused by absorption due to
water (as the hydroxyl or OH- ions) introduced in the glass fiber during
fiber pulling by means of oxyhydrogen flame.
These OH- ions are bonded into the glass structure and have
absorption peaks (due to molecular vibrations) at 1.38 mm.
Since these OH- absorption peaks are sharply peaked, narrow spectral
windows exist around 1.3 mm and 1.55 mm which are essentially
unaffected by OH- absorption.
(Lucent 1998)
l (nm)
1460 1530 1565 1625 1675
1500 1600
14
Absorption Losses of Impurities
15
2. Scattering loss
Scattering results in attenuation (in the form of radiation) as the
scattered light may not continue to satisfy the total internal reflection
in the fiber core.
<< l
Rayleigh
Scattering (1/l4)
0.2 dB/km
18
Fiber bending loss and mode-coupling to higher-order modes
20
Bending Losses in Fibers (2)
The total number of modes that can be supported by
a curved fiber is less than in a straight fiber.
21
Fiber dispersion
Fiber dispersion results in optical pulse broadening and hence
digital signal degradation.
Optical fiber
input output
Detection
1 0 1
threshold
Intersymbol interference
(ISI)
Signal distorted
Fiber length (km)
Parts of the wave arrive at the output before other parts, spreading out
the waveform. This is thus known as multimode (modal) dispersion.
0.8 1
0.7
TE 2
0.6
0.5
0.4
3
0.3
TM
0.2
4
0.1
5
(neff = n2) 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
V ( 1/l)
Phase velocity for mode m = w/bm = w/(neff(m) k0)
(note that m = 0 mode is the slowest mode) 25
Modal dispersion in multimode waveguides
m=2 f2
m=1 f1
m=0 f0
The carrier wave can propagate along all these different zig-zag
ray paths of different path lengths.
26
Modal dispersion as shown from the LP mode chart of a
silica optical fiber
(neff = n1)
(neff = n2)
V ( 1/l)
T + DT
Using the above e.g., each pulse will spread up to 100 ns (i.e.
pulse duration !) every km
Note that the same system can transmit 100 Mb/s along 100 m, or
1 Gb/s along 10 m, or 10 Gb/s along 1 m, or 100 Gb/s along 10 cm,
1 Tb/s along 1 cm
32
Single-mode fiber eliminates modal dispersion
cladding
core f0
intensity 1.0
0.5 Dl linewidth
l(nm)
lo
*In the case of the semiconductor laser Dl corresponds to only a
fraction of % of the centre wavelength lo. For LEDs, Dl is
likely to be a significant percentage of lo. 34
Spectral linewidth
Real sources emit over a range of wavelengths. This range is the
source linewidth or spectral width.
L Arrives
lo+(Dl/2)
last
time time
f = kz - wt
carrier
= 2E {cos [(ko + dk)z - (wo+ dw)t] + cos [(ko dk)z - (wo dw)t]}
Hence vg = c / [n l(dn/dl)] = c / ng
1.48 1.465
group refractive index ng
1.478 1.46
1.476 1.455
n(l)
1.45
1.474
1.445
1.472
1.44
1.47
1.435
600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600
1.468
1.466 ng(l)
1.464
1.462
1.46
600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600
Wavelength (nm)
42
Phase velocity c/n and group velocity c/ng vs. l for
fused silica
2.090E+08
2.080E+08
Phase velocity v = c/n
2.070E+08 dispersion
velocity (m/s)
2.060E+08
2.050E+08
2.040E+08
vg= c/ng
2.030E+08
Group velocity
2.020E+08 dispersion (GVD)
2.010E+08
2.000E+08
600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600
Wavelength (nm)
43
Group-Velocity Dispersion (GVD)
Consider a light pulse propagates in a dispersive medium of length L
T = L/vg
DT = (dT/dl) Dl = [d(L/vg)/dl] Dl
= L [d(1/vg)/dl] Dl
44
Hence the pulse broadening due to a differential time delay:
DT = L D Dl
= -c-1 l d2n/dl2
45
Dispersion parameter D = - (l/c) d2n/dl2
30
Fused silica
Dispersion (ps/km-nm)
20
1276 nm
10 Anomalous
(D > 0)
0
1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700
46
Variation of vg with wavelength for fused silica
vg
2.0530E+08
2.0525E+08
2.0505E+08
2.0500E+08
C band
2.0495E+08
Dmat = 0
@ 1276 nm
2.0490E+08
1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700
47
Wavelength (nm)
Zero-dispersion wavelength
48
In fact there are two mechanisms for chromatic dispersion in a fiber:
(b) Light energy of a mode propagates partly in the core and partly in
the cladding of a fiber. The mode power distribution between the core
and the cladding depends on l. (Recall the mode field diameter)
MFD
ncore
nclad cladding pulse
faster
Singlemode fiber
time
=>
broadened pulse !
2.405
V ( 1/l)
or vg,eff-1 = db/dw
Waveguide effective index
= d/dw (c-1 w neff)
Dt = (dt/dl) Dl = [d(L/vg,eff)/dl] Dl
= L [d(1/vg,eff)/dl] Dl
= L Dwg Dl
= -c-1 l d2neff/dl2
53
Recall vg,eff = (db/dw)-1 and note that the propagation constant
b is a nonlinear function of the V number, V = (2pa/l) NA = a (w/c) NA
lo ~ 1310 nm
Dwg(l) compensate some of the Dmat(l) and shifts the lZD from about
1276 nm to a longer wavelength of about 1310 nm. 55
Chromatic dispersion in low-bit-rate systems
Broadening of the light pulse due to Chromatic Dispersion:
DT = D L Dl
LD = 1 / (D B Dl)
=> LD = 784 km
LD = 1 / (D B Dl)
=> LD 1 / B2 57
Chromatic dispersion in high-bit-rate systems
LD ~ 784 km / 16 ~ 50 km!
dD(l)/dl = So
59
The chromatic pulse broadening near lZD:
DT = L So |l lZD| Dl
30
For Corning SMF-28 fiber, lZD = 1313 nm,
Dispersion (ps/nm-km)
20 So = 0.086 ps/nm2-km
10
1313 nm
D(l) > 0
0
1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700
We can estimate the limiting bit rate by noting that for a source of
spectral width Dl, the effective value of dispersion parameter becomes
D = So Dl
62
Dispersion tailored fibers
63
Dispersion-shifted and flattened fibers
(standard)
ncore(r)
ncore(r)
Dispersion [ps/nm-km]
*SM fiber or non-zero
dispersion-shifted
fiber (NZDSF) with
D ~ few ps/(km-nm)
WDM
l
1500 1550 1600
time
+D (red goes
slower)
Positive dispersion
transmission fiber
time
Distance (km) 67
Positive dispersion
transmission fiber Negative dispersion element
-D -D -D
Accumulated dispersion (ps/nm)
+D -D +D -D +D -D
Distance (km)
In a dispersion-managed system, positive dispersion transmission
fiber alternates with negative dispersion compensation elements,
such that the total dispersion is zero end-to-end. 68
Fixed (passive) dispersion compensation
Dispersion [ps/nm-km]
17 +ve
SM fiber
l
lo
ls ls ll ls ll ls
ll ll
Initial chirp and broadening by a transmission link Compress the pulse to initial width
L1 L2
71
The DCF needed to compensate for 1700 ps with a large
negative-dispersion parameter
L2 dD2/dl = - L1 dD1/dl
The compensating fiber must have a negative dispersion slope, and that the
dispersion and slope values need to be compensated for a given length.
D2 L2 = - D1 L1
L2 dD2/dl = - L1 dD1/dl
(In practice, two fibers are used, one of which has negative slope, in which the pulse
wavelength is at zero-dispersion wavelength lzD.)
73
Dispersion slope compensation
Dispersion [ps/nm-km]
17 18 +ve
16
SM fiber
l
l1 l2
DCF
-96 -ve (due to large -ve Dwg)
-102
-108
Within the spectral window (l1, l2), DDCF/DSM = -6
Nonlinear effects may degrade the signal over the long length of the fiber
if the signal is of sufficient intensity.
Links that use DCF often require an amplifier stage to compensate the added
loss.
-D g -D g
vgy = c/ngy
Ex vgx = c/ngx vgy Ex
t t
Single-mode fiber L km
77
The refractive index difference is known as birefringence.
78
Randomly varying birefringence along the fiber
y
E
Principal axes
Elliptical polarization
79
The polarization state of light propagating in fibers with randomly
varying birefringence will generally be elliptical and would quickly
reach a state of arbitrary polarization.
B0 B1 B2 B3
Lo L1 L2 L3
Ex
Ey
t
84
PMD is of lesser concern in lower data rate systems. At lower
transmission speeds (up to and including 10 Gb/s), networks have
higher tolerances to all types of dispersion, including PMD.
89
Examples of Specialty Fibers
90
ITU-T Recommendations for
Fibers (2)
91
ITU-T Recommendations for Fibers (1)
92