Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Optical Fiber
Technology
Rüdiger Paschotta
Paschotta, Rüdiger.
Field guide to optical fiber technology / Rudiger
Paschotta.
p. cm. -- (The field guide series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8194-8090-3
1. Fiber optics. 2. Optical fibers. I. Title.
TA1800.P356 2009
621.36'92--dc22
2009049649
Published by
SPIE
P.O. Box 10
Bellingham, Washington 98227-0010 USA
Phone: +1 360 676 3290
Fax: +1 360 647 1445
E-mail: books@spie.org
Web: http://spie.org
Glossary of Symbols ix
Basics of Fibers 1
Principle of Waveguiding 1
Wave Propagation in Fibers 2
Calculation of Fiber Modes 3
Decomposition into Modes 5
Types of Fiber Modes 6
Cladding Modes 7
Step-Index Fibers 8
Single-Mode Fibers 9
V Number of a Single-Mode Fiber 10
Numerical Aperture of a Single-Mode Fiber 11
Effective Mode Area 12
Multimode Fibers 14
Glass Fibers 17
Non-Silica Glass Fibers 18
Nanofibers 19
Plastic Optical Fibers 20
Origins of Propagation Losses 21
Losses of Silica Fibers 22
Bend Losses 23
Chromatic Dispersion 24
Birefringence and Polarization Effects 29
Polarization-Maintaining Fibers 30
Nonlinear Effects in Fibers 32
Overview on Fiber Nonlinearities 32
Effects of the Kerr Nonlinearity 33
Self-Phase Modulation 34
Numbers on Fiber Nonlinearities 36
Soliton Pulses 37
Linear Pulse Compression 39
Nonlinear Pulse Compression 40
Cross-Phase Modulation 43
Four-Wave Mixing 44
Parametric Amplification 45
Raman Scattering 46
Brillouin Scattering 48
vi
Table of Contents (cont.)
vii
Table of Contents (cont.)
Equation Summary 96
Bibliography 101
Index 113
viii
Glossary of Symbols
a core radius
A(z,t) complex envelope function
Aeff effective mode area
c velocity of light in vacuum
D2 group delay dispersion
D dispersion parameter
E electric field strength
Ep pulse energy
Esat saturation energy
Flm(r) mode field function
g gain coefficient
gR Raman gain coefficient
gss small-signal gain coefficient
h Planck’s constant
k wavenumber
I optical intensity (power per unit area)
Ip pump intensity
Is intensity of Stokes or signal wave
Lb polarization beat length
n refractive index
n2 nonlinear index
ncore refractive index of the fiber core
neff effective refractive index of a mode
ncladding refractive index of the fiber cladding
NA numerical aperture
P optical power
Pp peak power of a pulse
Psat saturation power
V V number
w Gaussian beam radius
ix
Glossary of Symbols (cont.)
x
Optical Fiber Technology: Basics of Fibers 1
Principle of Waveguiding
cladding
core
θ
2 2
sin θ NA ncore ncladding ,
(r , φ) Flm (r ) cos(lφ),
Flm' (r ) 2 l2 2
Flm'' (r ) n (r ) k 2 2 β lm Flm (r ) 0,
r r
αj
a j ( z ) a j (0) exp z iβ j z .
2
E ( x, y, z ) alm ( z ) Elm ( x, y ).
l ,m
Cladding Modes
Step-Index Fibers
2 2
NA ncore ncladding
NA 2 ncladding δn .
2π 2π
a ncore ncladding .
2 2
V a NA
λ λ
Single-Mode Fibers
incident
laser beam
fiber
lens
For fiber designs with a small V number of, e.g., 0.5, much
of the optical power propagates outside the fiber core:
For V numbers between 0.8 and 2.5, the mode radius can
be estimated with Marcuse’s formula:4
w 1.619 2.879
0.65 3/ 2 .
a V V6
Optical Fiber Technology: Basics of Fibers 11
E I dA
2 2 2
dA
Aeff .
I
4
E
2
dA dA
The integration is done over the full area where the mode
intensity is not negligible. For a rectangular shape with
radius w, or for a Gaussian shape with the Gaussian mode
radius w (the 1/e E-field radius), one obtains the result Aeff
= w2.
P 2π
φ nl n2 L
Aeff λ
Multimode Fibers
core
cladding
Glass Fibers
Nanofibers
The losses also become higher for high doping of the core,
e.g., with germania. Multimode fibers also have higher
losses. They typically have higher numerical apertures,
which increase the tendency for scattering at the
corecladding interface. Such fibers are still used for
shorter transmission distances, since their losses are less
critical.
Optical Fiber Technology: Basics of Fibers 23
Bend Losses
Note that the bending of a fiber can not only increase the
propagation losses, but can also induce birefringence
(p. 25) as well as modify (often reduce) the effective mode
area. This is an important issue in the context of large
mode area fibers (p. 60). The strength of such effects can
strongly depend on the fiber design.
24 Optical Fiber Technology: Basics of Fibers
Chromatic Dispersion
β 1 2β 1 3β
ω ω0 2
ω ω0 ω ω0 ...
2 3
β(ω) β 0
ω 2 ω 6 ω3
1
Dλ (λ) ,
λ vg
2πc
Dλ β2 ,
λ2
2π
Lb .
β
Polarization-Maintaining Fibers
Stress birefringence is
obtained in designs with
built-in mechanical stress, stress
which influences the rod
refractive indices (photo-
elastic effect). Typically, two core
stress rods made of a
modified glass are inserted
into the fiber preform (see
the figure). Due to different
thermal expansion coeffi-
cients, a built-in stress arises during fiber fabrication,
when the fiber is cooled down. That stress remains
permanently in the fiber.
n n2 I
Self-Phase Modulation
P 2π
φ nl n2 L.
Aeff λ
2πn2
φnl γPL with γ .
λAeff
Soliton Pulses
Pp
P (t ) Pp sech 2 (t / τ) ,
cosh 2 (t / τ)
2 β2
Ep ,
γτ
fiber dispersive
compressor
fiber
active
fiber
coupler
dispersive
pump compressor
laser
diode
Cross-Phase Modulation
A( z , t ) iγA( z , t ) A( z, t ) ,
2
z
Four-Wave Mixing
ν
ν ν ν ν
3 1 2 4
k1 k2 k3 k4 .
Parametric Amplification
Raman Scattering
Is gR I p Is
z
λ
I p gR s I p Is
z λp
Brillouin Scattering
Dispersion Compensation
Name Title
For active fibers (p. 74), the central region can be made
from rare-earth-doped glass. The dopant can be pumped
with pump light injected into the fiber core. Alternatively,
a pump cladding around the core can be obtained with
additional structures (See double-clad fibers, p. 77).
Optical Fiber Technology: Photonic Crystal Fibers 57
Birefringent PCFs
transverse offset Δx
4w12 w22 2 x 2
η exp 2 .
w w22
2 2
w1 w2
2
1
π θ w 2
η exp ,
λ 2
For any fiber joint, an air gap between the fiber ends
should be sufficiently narrow to avoid significant losses
via Fresnel reflection. The width of such an air gap should
be well below a quarter wavelength. The Fresnel reflec-
tions from both fiber ends then largely cancel each other
by destructive interference. That can also occur for larger
distances (integer multiples of /2), as long as the beam
divergence is negligible, but such distances will be more
difficult to stabilize, and the transmittivity becomes
wavelength-dependent.
Optical Fiber Technology: Using Passive Optical Fibers 65
4w02 wf2 2 x 2 n 1 2
η exp 2 1
2 .
w wf2
2
w0 wf n 1
2
0
π Δθ w / λ 2 n 1 2
η exp 1 .
2 n 1
Fusion Splicing
Fire the electric arc and push the fiber ends together.
Fiber Connectors
Note that there are also fiber cables that have protective
layers with different diameters, requiring different
techniques for preparing fiber ends.
Fiber Couplers
cladding
2π 2πneff
2 λ 2neff
λ
2π
β neff .
λ
pol 2
input
beam
pol 1 Faraday rotator
pol 2
input output
Rare-Earth-Doped Fibers
Double-Clad Fibers
pump
output
signal
free-space
laser beam
fiber
1.45 mm
1.55 mm
980 nm (exploiting the fast
980 nm
nonradiative transfer from 4I11/2
to 4I13/2) or in-band (similar to 4
I15/2
Yb3+) around 1.451.48 m. The
latter option can be more power- erbium (Er3+)
LD LD
980 nm 980 nm
84 Optical Fiber Technology: Active Fiber Devices
1060 nm
more limited, but on the
975 nm
other hand, it has additio-
nal laser transitions in the
2F
0.9-m and 1.3-m region. 7/2
ytterbium (Yb3+)
The 1-m transition of Nd3+
has four-level characteris- 4F
tics, whereas Yb3+ has
5/2
4F
quasi-three-level behavior, 3/2
1060 nm
808 nm
940 nm
Gain Efficiency
g av ηp
L ,
Pp Psat
hν s Aeff
Psat .
σ em σ abs τ 2
Gain Saturation
gss
g ( Ps ) ,
1 Ps / Psat
hν s Aeff
Psat
σ em σ abs τ 2
exp Ep / Esat ,
active
pump fiber output
FBG FBG
fiber-coupled
laser diode LD LD
975 nm 975 nm
erbium-doped
fiber
reflecting
saturable fiber end
absorber
Equation Summary
Numerical aperture:
V number:
2π 2π 2 2
V a NA a ncore ncladding
λ λ
4 2
M V (for V > 10)
π2
w 1.619 2.879
0.65 3/ 2 (for 0.8 < V < 2.5)
a V V6
E I dA
2 2 2
dA
Aeff
I
4
E
2
dA dA
Flm' (r ) 2 l2 2
Flm'' (r ) n (r ) k 2 2 β lm Flm (r ) 0
r r
97
αj
a j ( z ) a j (0) exp z iβ j z
2
β 1 2β
ω ω0 2
ω ω0
2
β(ω) β 0
ω 2 ω
1 3β
3
ω ω0 ...
3
6 ω
Group velocity:
1 β
vg ω
Dispersion parameter:
1 2πc
Dλ (λ) 2 β 2
λ vg λ
2π
Lb .
β
n n2 I
98
n (1) 2 n2 I (2)
P 2π
φ nl n2 L.
Aeff λ
Pp
P (t ) Pp sech 2 (t / τ)
cosh 2 (t / τ)
Soliton relation:
2 β2
Ep
γτ
Is gR I p Is
z
λ
I p gR s I p Is
z λp
4w12 w22 2 x 2
η exp 2
w w22 w1 w22
2 2
1
π Δθ w / λ 2
η exp
2
λ 2neff
or
βπ
g av ηp
L
Pp Psat
Saturation energy:
hν s Aeff
Esat
σ em σ abs
Saturation power:
hν s Aeff E
Psat sat
σ em σ abs τ 2 τ 2
gss
g ( Ps )
1 Ps / Psat
100
Bibliography
Basics of Fibers
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Bibliography (cont.)
Additional References