Dilla University

College of Engineering
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Optics and Optical Communication (ECEg-4291)

Chapter Two
Fundamentals Optical Fiber Waveguides
 Fundamentals Optical Fiber Waveguides
Outline
• Geometric Optics
• Total Internal Reflection
• Acceptance Angle
• Numerical Aperture

• Electromagnetic Mode Theory for Optical Propagation

• Electromagnetic Waves
• Phase and Group Velocity

• Optical Fiber Types and Modes

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 Refractive Index
• In any dielectric medium, the speed of light becomes
c
v=
n
• The factor n is the index of refraction (or refractive index) of the
medium.
e.g. For air and gases, v ~ c, so that n ~ 1.
• At optic frequencies, the refractive index of water is 1.33.
e.g. Glass has many compositions, each with a slightly different n.
• An approximate refractive index of 1.5 is representative for the
silica glasses used in fibers.
• More precise values for these glasses lie between ~1.45 and ~1.48.
3
 Index of Refraction for Some Materials

• The index varies with a number of parameters, such as wavelength

and temperature.
4
Snell’s Law
• When a ray is incident on the interface between two dielectrics
of different refractive indices (e.g. glass-air), reflection and
refraction occur.

• The angle of incidence θ1 and the angle of refraction θ2 are

related to each other and to the refractive indices of the
dielectrics by Snell’s law of refraction as:
n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2
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 Critical Angle
• For n1 > n2, the angle of refraction θ2 is always greater than the
angle of incidence θ1.
When the angle of refraction θ2 is 900, the refracted ray emerges
•
parallel to the interface between the media.
• This is the limiting case of refraction and the angle of incidence
is known as the critical angle θc

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 Total Internal Reflection
• At angles of incidence θ > θc , the light is totally reflected back
into the incidence higher refractive index medium.
• This is known as total internal reflection.

Example : n1 = 1.44, n 2 = 1, then θc = sin −1

(1/1.44) = 440

For total internal reflection :θ1 > θc ⇒ θ 1 > 440

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 Light Ray Guiding Condition
• Light ray that satisfies total internal reflection at the interface of
the higher refractive index core and the lower refractive index
cladding can be guided along an optical fiber.

Example: Under what condition will light be trapped inside the

fiber core if n1 = 1.46 and n2 = 1.44?
θc = sin (n2 / n1) = sin (1.44 /1.46) = 80.5 , θ > θc ⇒ θ > 80.50
−1 −1 0

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 Optical Fiber Structures
• A typical bare fiber consists of a core, a cladding and a polymer
jacket (buffer coating).

• The polymer coating is the first line of mechanical protection.

• The coating also reduces the internal reflection at the cladding,
so light is only guided by the core.

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 Silica Optical Fibers

• Both the core and the cladding are made from a type of glass
known as silica (SiO2) which is almost transparent in the visible
and near-IR.
• In the case that the refractive index changes in a “step” between
the core and the cladding, the fiber structure is known as step-
index fiber.
• The higher core refractive index (~ 0.3% higher) is typically
obtained by doping the silica core with germanium dioxide
(GeO2).

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 Acceptance Angle

• The maximum angle to the axis of the core at which light may
enter the fiber in order to be propagated by total internal
reflection is referred to as acceptance angle.

• Ray A incident at the critical angle θc at the core-cladding

interface enters the fiber core at an angle θa to the fiber axis and
is refracted at the air-core interface.
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 Acceptance Angle Cont’d…...

• Any rays which are incident into the fiber core at an angle θ> θa
have an incident angle less than θc at the core-cladding
interface.
• These rays will NOT be totally internal reflected, thus
eventually loss to radiation (at the cladding-jacket interface).
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 Numerical Aperture

• Fiber numerical aperture (NA) characterizes the fiber’s ability to

gather light from a source and guide the light.

• The numerical aperture (NA) is defined as:

NA = na sinθa

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 Numerical Aperture Cont’d……

• We can relate the acceptance angle θa and the refractive indices

of the core n1, cladding n2 and air na as follows:

Using Snell' s law at the air - core interface, we have :

na sin θ a = n1 sin α c

Launching the light from air (na ≈ 1), we get :

π
sin θ a = n1 sin α c , but α c = −θ c
2

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 Numerical Aperture Cont’d……

θ n2
⇒ sin θ a = n1 c , but sin θ c =
2
1− sin
n1
2
n2
⇒ sin θ a = n1 1− 2
= n12 − n2 2
n1

∴ NA = sin θ a = n1 − n2
2 2

• The NA may also be given in terms of the relative refractive

index difference ∆ between the core and the cladding which is
defined as: 2
n1 − n2
2
n1−n 2
∆= 2
≈ , for ∆ << 1
2n1 n1
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 Numerical Aperture Cont’d……

• The NA is then given by:

NA = n1 2∆

• The numerical aperture is a very useful measure of the light-

collecting ability of a fiber.
• It is independent of the fiber core diameter and will hold for
diameters as small as 8µm.
• However, for smaller diameters , it is inapplicable as the
geometric optics approach is invalid.

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 Lens Coupling to Fiber End Faces

• By measuring the output couple ray cone angle, we can measure

the fiber acceptance angle.

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 Large NA Fibers
• Developing ways for fiber to collect light efficiently was an
important early step in developing practical fiber optic
communications.
• It seems logical to have optical fibers with NA as large as
possible with as large ∆ as possible in order to couple maximum

• Soon, we will find out that such large NA fibers tend to be

“multimode” and are unsuitable for high-speed communications
because of a limitation known as modal dispersion.
• Relatively small NA fibers are therefore used for high-speed
optical communication systems.
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 Typical fiber NA
• Silica fibers for long range transmission are designed to have
numerical apertures from about 0.1 to 0.3.
• The low NA makes coupling efficiency tend to be poor, but
turns out to improve the fiber’s bandwidth.
• Plastic, rather than glass, fibers are available for short range
communications (e.g. within an automobile).
• These fibers are restricted to short lengths because of the
relatively high attenuation in plastic materials.
• Plastic optical fibers (POFs) are designed to have high
numerical apertures (typically, 0.4 – 0.5) to improve coupling
efficiency and so partially offset the high propagation losses.
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Examples On Geometric Optics
Example-1:

What is the fiber acceptance angle when n1=1.46 and

n2=1.44?
Solution:

∴ The acceptance angle θ a ≈ 140

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Examples On Geometric Optics
Example-2:

A silica optical fiber with a core diameter large enough to be

considered by ray theory analysis has a core refractive index of
1.50 and a cladding refractive index of 1.47.

Determine:

a. the critical angle at the core–cladding interface

b. the NA for the fiber

c. the acceptance angle in air for the fiber.

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Examples On Geometric Optics Cont’d…..
Solution:
a. The critical angle θ c at the core - cladding interface

is given by :

b. The NA is :

NA = n12 − n 2 2 = 1.5 −1.47 = 2.25 − 2.16 = 0.3

2 2

c. The acceptance angle in air θ a is given by :

θ a = sin −1 (NA) = sin −1 (0.3) = 17.40

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Examples On Geometric Optics Cont’d…..
Example-3:

A typical relative refractive index difference for an optical

fiber designed for long distance transmission is 1%. When the
core index is 1.46, calculate:

a. the numerical aperture (NA) for the fiber

b. the critical angle at the core–cladding interface within

the fiber

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Examples On Geometric Optics Cont’d…..
Solution:
a. With ∆ = 0.01, the NA is given by :

NA = n1 2∆ = 1.46 0.02 = 0.21

b. The relative refractive index difference ∆ is given by :

n1 − n 2 n1 n
∆= = 1− ⇒ 1 = 1 − ∆ = 1 − 0.01 = 0.99
n1 n2 n2
The critical angle θ c at the core - cladding interface is then :

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Exercises On Geometric Optics
Exercise-1:

Consider a multimode silica fiber that has a core refractive

index n1=1.48 and a cladding refractive index n2=1.46.

Find:

a. the critical angle

b. the numerical aperture

c. the acceptance angel

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Exercises On Geometric Optics Cont’d…..
Exercise-2:

Consider a multimode fiber that has a core refractive index of

and a core-cladding index difference of 2%.

Find:

a. the numerical aperture (NA)

b. the acceptance angle

c. the critical angle

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 The
End!

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