UNIT II OPTICAL FIBRE & LASERS

CHAPTER-A
Optical Fibre
 What is Fiber Optic Technology?

Also called Lightwave Technology

Fiber Optic Technology uses light

as the primary medium to
carry information.

The light often is guided through

optical fibers.

Most applications use

invisible (infrared) light; LEDs or LDs
 Why Fiber Optic Technology?
During past three decades, remarkable and dramatic changes took place
in the electronic communication industry.

A phenomenal increase in voice, data and video communication -

demands for larger capacity and more economical communication
systems.

Lightwave Technology : Technological route for achieving this goal

Most cost-effective way to move huge amounts of information (voice,

video, data) quickly and reliably.
 Why Optical Transmission ?
Capacity ! Capacity ! and More Capacity !

A technical revolution in Communication Industry to explore for large capacity,

high quality and economical systems for communication at Global level.

Radio-waves and Trrestrial Microwave systems have long since reached their
capacity
Satellite Communication Systems can provide, at best, only a temporary relief to
the ever-increasing global demand.
extremely high initial cost of launching

geometry of suitable orbits,

available microwave frequency allocations and

if needed repair is nearly impossible

Next option: Optical Communication Systems !

Optical Region
 Potential of Optical Transmission ?

The information carrying capacity of a communications system is

directly proportional to its bandwidth;
Wider the bandwidth, greater the information carrying capacity.

Theoretically; BW is 10% of the carrier frequency

Signal Carrier Bandwidth
VHF Radio system; 100 MHz. 10 MHz
Microwave system; 6 GHz 0.6 GHz.
Lightwave system; 106 GHz 105 GHz.
A system with light as carriers has an Excessive bandwidth
(more than 100,000 times than achieved with microwave
frequencies)
Meet the today’s communication needs or that of the foreseeable
future
 Fiber Optics Timeline
1951: Light transmission through bundles of fibers- flexible fibrescope used
in medical field.
1957 : First fiber-optic endoscope tested on a patient.
1960 : Invention of Laser (development, T Maiman)
1966: Charles Kao et al; proposed cladded fiber cables with lower losses as a
communication medium.
1970: (Corning Glass, NY) developed fibers with losses below 20 dB/km.
1972: First Semiconductor diode laser was developed
1977: GT&E in Los Angeles and AT&T in Chicago send live telephone signals
through fiber optics (850nm, MMF, 6 Mbps, 9km ) -World’s first FO link
1980s: 2nd generation systems; 1300nm, SM, 0.5 dB/km, O-E-O
3rd generation systems; 1550nm, SM, 0.2 dB/km, EDFA, 5Gb/s
1990s : Bell Labs sends 10 Billion bits through 20,000 km of fibers using a
Soliton system & WDM Techniques.
2000s : NTT, Bell Labs and Fujitsu are able to send Trillion bits per second
through single optical fiber Þ All optical networks.
Introduction

• Communication is defined as the transfer of information from one point to another.

• Main constraints in the communication are transmission fidelity, data rate,

distortions, and distance between relay stations.

• In order to meet out the demands of telecommunication companies worldwide,

optical fibers are used as a dominant transmission system.

•This optical communication system consists of hair-thin glass fibers that guide light
signals with minimum losses over long distances.

•An optical fiber is a cylindrical waveguide system consisting of three regions. The
centre is a the core, the middle region is a cladding and the outer region is a
protective sheath.

•Fibers fabricated with recently developed technology are characterized by extremely

low losses (less than 0.2 dB/km) as a consequence of which, the distance between
two successive repeaters could be as large as 250 km.

•Due to the low cost and better response, optical fibers are replacing the traditional
copper cables.
Why we use optical fibers?

There are many advantages of optical fibers over conducting wires. The main
advantages are:

(1) Cheaper:
• Silicon (Si) is the main component in the manufacturing of optical fibers.
• It is one of the most abundant materials on earth.
• Due to this the overall cost of optical fiber is lower than that of an equivalent cable
used in communication.

(2) Not hazardous:

• In optical fiber cables there is no chance of sparking and short circuit.
• This removes the risk of high damage.

(3) Immune to RFI and EMI:

• The information is carried by photons in the optical fiber communication.
• Due to this signals propagating through fibers suffer less loss and are immune to
electromagnetic interference and radio frequency interference.
(4) Small size, light weight, flexible, and strong:
• The size of optical fiber is very small. It is of the order of few hundred microns.
• Its weight is very less .
• Optical fibers are flexible. They can be molded at any place with the help of suitable
connectors and splices.
• An optical fiber has an outer jacket, which protects it from any outer damage and
hence,
makes it strong.

(5) No crosstalk:
• There is no chance of crosstalk in the optical fiber communication because the
information propagating through the optical fiber is trapped within the fiber and
cannot
leak out.

.
(6) High information-carrying capacity:
• A light source, acting as a carrier wave is capable of carrying far more
information than
radio waves and microwaves.
• It has been observed that the light signals used instead of electric signals in the
process of communication can transmit 45 million pulses per second

(7) Low loss:

• Optical fibers are characterized by extremely low losses (less than 0.2 dB/km) as a
consequence of which, the distance between two successive repeaters can be as large
as 250 km.

(8) Higher data-rate transmission:

• Optical fiber communication permits the transmission of data over longer distances
and at higher data rates than other forms of wired and wireless communications.
FUNDAMENTALS OF OPTICAL FIBERS:

What is an optical fiber?

Optical fibers are dielectric waveguides which are fabricated from glass or plastic and
are operated on optical frequencies.

Structure of an optical fiber:

 Optical fibers are normally of cylindrical form. It has three principal sections:
(i) Core
(ii) Cladding
(iii) Jacket

Fig1: An optical fiber waveguide showing core, cladding, and protective jacket
(i) Core
• It is the innermost region of the fiber which has specific property of conducting an
optical beam.
• Core is usually made of glass or plastic.
• It is covered with another layer of glass or plastic having slightly different chemical
composition known as cladding.

(ii) Cladding
• It is the region just above the core region of the optical fiber.
• It has lower refractive index than the core region.
• The optical fiber may have an abrupt boundary between the core and the cladding or
there may be a gradual change in the material between the two.

(iii) Jacket
•The outermost section of the optical fiber is known as jacket.
•It is made up of plastic or special kind of polymer and other materials usually opaque in
nature.
•It protects the core from abrasion, interaction with environment, moisture, absorption,
crushing, and other adversities of the terrestrial atmosphere and thus, enhances its tensile
strength.
PROPAGATION OF LIGHT THROUGH OPTICAL FIBER:

•In the optical fiber, the arrangement of core and cladding regions is done in such a way
that the core acts like a continuous layer of two parallel mirrors.
•The message which has to be sent through fiber is first encoded into a light wave and then
fed into the fiber where it is propagated as a result of multiple internal reflections.

Fig2: Propagation of light in an optical fiber

•The end at which the light enters the fiber is known as the launching end.
Let
n1 = the refractive index of the core and
n2 = the refractive index of cladding (n2 < n1).
n0 = refractive index of outside medium from where the light is launched
And
θi be the angle made by light with the axis of fiber at launching end and
θr be the angle made by the refracted ray with the axis
Φ be the angle at which refracted ray strikes the core–cladding interface
If Φ > critical angle (θc), then the ray undergoes total internal reflection at the interface. As
long as the angle Φ > θc the light remains within the fiber.

Applying Snell’s law at the launching face of the fiber, we get

(1)

Now, the largest value of θi will be at Φ = θc

From the right-angled triangle ABC, we have
sin θr = sin (90°– Φ) = cos Φ
From Eq. (1), we know that

By putting the value of sin θr , we get

When Φ = θc , θi = θmax
Now,

(2)

Using Snell’s law at point B or cladding boundary,

or, (because for total internal reflection, reflection angle will be 90°)
So, (3)

Using the value of cos θc from Eq. (3) in Eq. (2), we get

(4)

For the conditions when for all values of angle of incidence, total internal
reflection will occur. For special condition, when n0 = 1, the maximum value of angle of
incidence (θi) for the ray to be guided is given by

(5)

In the above expression, θm is known as the acceptance angle of the fiber.

 Acceptance angle is defined as the maximum angle which incident light makes with the
axis of fiber at which the ray is propagated (guided) through the fiber.
The light rays contained within the cone having a full angle are accepted and
transmitted along the fiber. This cone is known as acceptance cone.
FRACTIONAL REFRACTIVE INDEX CHANGE

Fractional refractive index change is defined as the ratio of the difference between the
refractive indices of the core and the cladding to the refractive index of the core. It is
denoted by Δ and is given as

(6)

The value of Δ is always positive and less than one because n1> n2 (always), otherwise
the phenomena of total internal reflection will not be fulfilled.

 WHAT IS NUMERICAL APERTURE?

Numerical aperture (NA) is a number, which defines the light acceptance or light
propagating capacity of a fiber. It is also known as figure of merit. It is expressed as
Usually n0 is the refractive index of the air and is given as n0 = 1. Hence, the value of NA
can be given as

(7)
where n1 and n2 are the refractive indices of core and cladding, respectively.
Numerical aperture can also be expressed in terms of fractional refractive index change
(Δ)as follows:

Since the difference in n1 and is n2 small, so we can write

Hence Δ

or, (8)
•The assembly is placed in a furnace capable of heating the crucible contents to a
temperature between 80°C and 1200°C.

•Clad fiber is drawn directly from the melt through the nozzles in the bases of
crucibles. Index grading is achieved by the diffusion of mobile ions across the core–
cladding interface within the molten glass.

•Graded index fibers produced by this technique are subsequently less dispersive than
step index fibers.
TYPES OF FIBERS:

On the basis of refractive index profile and modes propagated through core, optical fibers
are classified mainly into two categories. These are as follows:

(i) Step index (SI) optical fiber

(ii) Graded index (GI) optical fiber

1. Step Index Optical Fiber:

• In step index optical fiber, there is a step discontinuity of the refractive index profile at
the core–cladding interface.
• The refractive index of these fibers is defined as
n(r) = n1 when r < a (where n1 > n2)
n2 when r > a
where n1 and n2 are the refractive indices of core and cladding respectively, and a is the
core radius.

 SI optical fibers can be further classified into two categories:

(i) Single-mode step index (SMSI) optical fiber

(ii) Multimode step index (MMSI) optical fiber
(i) Single-Mode Step Index Optical Fiber:

•In the SMSI optical fiber the refractive index difference between core and cladding is very
small.
•Due to this, only a single mode is propagated through the core of fiber (Fig. 16.4). These
fibers are also known as mono mode fibers.
•In general, the mono mode optical fiber has a core diameter of 8 mm to 10 mm and is
designed for use in the infrared region.
•Single-mode optical eliminates the modal dispersion because only single mode can travel
through the core.
•Hence, the information transmission capacity of a single-mode fiber is much larger than
that of a multimode fiber.
• Such fibers are used for communication longer than 200 m, and these are frequently
used under sea water.

Fig.4 (a) Structure of a single-mode optical fiber, (b) refractive index profile,
(c) input pulse, (d) pulse propagation, and (e) output pulse
(ii) Multimode Step Index Optical Fiber

• In general, an MMSI optical fiber has larger core diameter than an SMSI optical fiber.
• The diameter of core is about 20 mm–100 mm and the diameter of cladding is about 100
mm–200 mm. The standard overall diameter of the MMSI optical fiber is about 125 mm.
• In order to achieve the minimum angle for total internal reflection, the difference between
the refractive index of core and cladding material is kept relatively large.
• The interface between the core and the cladding acts as a cylindrical mirror at which the
reflection of the transmitted light takes place.
• Due to this structure, there are many paths available for light signals to travel through the
fiber.
• Since the refractive index of the core is constant, so all the rays making an angle equal to or
greater than critical angle travel with the same velocity in the core.
• They take different times to reach the output end of the fiber as their path lengths are
different (shown in Fig.5).
• Due to the time difference between the rays arriving at the end of the optical fiber, modal
dispersion takes place.
• It reduces the information carrying capacity of the fiber.
• Hence, Multimode optical fibers are used for short distances (less than 200 m), where high
power transmission is needed.

Fig.5 (a) Structural view of MMSI, (b) refractive index profile, (c) input pulse,
(d) pulse propagation, and (e) output pulse
2. Graded Index Optical Fiber

In graded index optical fiber, refractive index of the core region decreases with the radial
distance from the maximum value of n1 at the starting boundary (inner side) to a constant
value n2 beyond the core radius (a). The index variation may be given as

Where,
 Multimode Graded index(MMGI) Optical Fiber

• In the multimode graded index optical fiber, the index of refraction in the core
decreases continuously in a parabolic manner from a maximum value at the centre of the
core to a minimum constant value of the core–cladding interface (Fig. 16.6).

• The rays travelling close to the fiber axis have shorter paths in comparison to the rays
travelling into the outer regions of the core.

• Since, the velocity of light ray is inversely proportional to the refractive index and the
axial rays are transmitted through a region of higher refractive index, so they travel with
a lower velocity than the extreme rays.

• This compensates for the shorter path lengths and reduces the dispersion in the fiber.
MMGI optical fibers have the advantage of large core diameters (greater than 30 mm)
coupled with the bandwidths suitable for long-distance communication.
Fig.6 (a) Structural view of MMGI, (b) refractive index profile, (c) input pulse
(d) pulse propagation, and (e) output pulse
COMPARISON OF SINGLE-MODE AND MULTIMODE INDEX FIBRES
Table 1 Comparison of single-mode and multimode index fibers
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STEP INDEX AND GRADED INDEX FIBERS

Table 2 Differences between step index and graded index fibers

 FIBER ATTENUATION (LOSSES)

•Attenuation is defined as the reduction in the signal strength or power when it is

transmitted (or guided) through an optical fiber.

•Signal attenuation within an optical fiber is usually expressed in terms of logarithmic unit
of the decibel (dB).

•Decibel is defined for a particular optical wavelength as the ratio of the input optical
power Pi into a fiber to the output optical power Po from the fiber. Mathematically, it is
expressed as

(20)

•In optical fiber communications, attenuation is usually expressed in decibels per unit
length (i.e., dB/km) as

(21)

•Where αdB is the signal attenuation per unit length in decibel and L is the fiber length.
On the basis of several mechanisms which are responsible for signal attenuation within
optical fibers, we can categorize the losses in terms of the following points:

(i) Absorption losses

(ii) Scattering losses
(iii) Bending losses
(iv) Dispersion losses

1) Absorption Losses

The absorption of light by core and cladding materials of a fiber during wave propagation is
the main source of attenuation. Absorption of light is caused by the following three different
mechanisms:
(i) Atomic imperfection in the glass composition
(ii) Intrinsic absorption
(iii) Extrinsic absorption
Atomic Imperfections

 Atomic defects or imperfections in the atomic structure of fiber materials is due

to the missing of molecules, high density clusters of atom groups, or oxygen defects
in the glass structure. These losses increase up to a significant value if the fiber is
exposed to ionizing radiations.
 Radiations damage a material by changing its internal structure. Up to what
extent a material is damaged depends on the energy of ionizing particles, rays, and
radiation flux.
 The basic response of a fiber to ionizing radiation is an increase in the
attenuation, owing to the creation of atomic defects that absorb optical energy.
 The higher the radiation level, the larger the attenuation.

 Intrinsic Absorption

It is caused by interaction of the propagating light wave with one or more major
components of the glass which is used in the composition of the fiber.
A pure silicate glass has small intrinsic absorption due to its basic material
structure in the near infrared region. However, it does have two major intrinsic
absorption mechanisms at optical wavelengths which leave a low intrinsic
absorption window over 0.8 mm–1.7 mm wavelength range as shown in Fig.10.
Fig. 10 The attenuation spectra for the intrinsic loss mechanism in pure GeO2—SiO2
glass

The absorption due to the strong electronic and molecular transition band is characterized
by peak loss in the ultraviolet and diminishing loss as the visible region is approached.
 Extrinsic Absorption

 It is caused by the presence of minute quantity of metallic ions and the hydroxyl ion
from the water dissolved in glass.

 In the fabrication of various types of fibers, GeO2, P2O5, B2O3, etc., are used as
dopants in silica to modify its refractive index.

 B2O5 produces strong absorption at 3.2 mm and P2O5 at 3.8 mm wavelength.

However, in both the cases, absorption tails extend below 1.3 mm

 Loss increases considerably when the operating wavelength is beyond 1.55 mm.

 The Hydroxyl ion absorption in optical fibers is due to the presence of trapped
hydroxyl ions remaining in water as a contaminant. Hydroxyl ion absorption produces
a significant attenuation of discrete wavelength, e.g., centered at 1.383 mm.

 Impurities such as Fe+3, Cr+2, and copper, present in the glass may create
unacceptable losses within the usable portion of the spectrum. However, these
impurities can be reduced considerably by using a good refining technique for
purifying the raw materials for silica.
2) Scattering Losses

 Scattering is another parameter for optical attenuation. Such losses in glass arise
due to microscopic variation in material density, random variation in refractive
index, and structural in homogeneities or defects occurring during fiber
manufacturing.
 Depending upon the various factors responsible for scattering losses, we can
classify them in the following two types:
(i) linear scattering losses and
(ii) non-linear scattering losses.

(i) Linear scattering losses

 Linear scattering mechanisms cause the transfer of some or all of the optical
power contained within one propagating mode to be transferred linearly
(proportionally to mode power) into a different mode. This process tends to result in
attenuation of the transmitted light.
 This transfer may be to a leaky or a radiation mode, which does not continue to
propagate within the fiber core, but is radiated from the fiber. There is no change in
the frequency on scattering.
 Linear scattering may be categorized into two major types:
(a) Rayleigh and
(b) Mie scattering.
(ii) Nonlinear Scattering Losses

 It is observed that in optical waveguide the output optical power does not always
increase in the proportion of the input power.
 Several nonlinear effects occur, which in the case of scattering cause disproportionate
attenuation, usually at high optical power levels. This nonlinear scattering depends critically
upon the optical power density within the fiber and hence, becomes significant only above
threshold power levels.
 There are two types of nonlinear scattering:

(a) Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS):

 Stimulated Brillouin scattering may be regarded as the modulation of light through

thermal molecular vibrations within the fiber.
 In this scattering, the incident photon produces a phonon of acoustic frequency as well
as a scattered photon, which produces an optical frequency shift according to the
variation in the scattering angle.
 If the polarization state of the transmitted light is not maintained, then the threshold
power density can be given as;

(22)
where d is the core diameter, λ is the operating wavelength (both are measured in μm), αdB is
the fiber attenuation in db/km, and ν is the source bandwidth in GHz.
(b) Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS):

 Stimulated Raman scattering is similar to stimulated Brillouin scattering except that

a high frequency optical phonon rather than an acoustic phonon is generated in the
scattering process.
 Similar to Brillouin scattering threshold, the threshold optical power for SRS in a
long single-mode fiber is given as

(23)

where PSRS is the threshold optical power for SRS, d is the core diameter, λ is the
operating wavelength, and αdB is the fiber attenuation in decibels.
3) Bending Losses
Bending losses occur due to imperfections and deformations present in the fiber
structure. Generally, there are two types of bending losses: micro bending losses and
macro bending losses.

(i) Micro bending losses:

 These losses occur when the core surface has small variations in shape. These
variations change the angle at which light strikes the core–cladding interface
and can cause the light to refract into the cladding rather than reflect into the
core.

(ii) Macro bending losses:

Macro bending losses depend on the core radius and the bend radius.
As the radius of curvature decreases, the loss increases exponentially until at a
certain critical radius.
If the bend radius is made a little bit smaller, then a threshold point may be
reached at which losses suddenly become extremely large. But practically, we never
reach this critical value. The critical value of radius of curvature Rc is expressed as

(16.24)

where all the symbols have their usual meanings.

4)Dispersion Losses

Dispersion loss is defined as the spreading of light pulse as it travels down along the
length of the fiber causing the pulses to overlap and thus making the pulses
undetectable at the receiving end. Mainly, there are two types of dispersions:
(i) Intramodal dispersion and (ii) Intermodal dispersion.

(i)Intramodal Dispersion

Intramodal or chromatic dispersion occurs in all types of fibers.

It is further divided in two categories:
(a) material dispersion and (b) waveguide dispersion.

(a) Material dispersion:

 Material dispersion is based on the wavelength of the optical signal and its
interaction with the glass of which the fiber is made.
 Every laser source has a range of optical wavelengths. The refractive index of silica
is different for different wavelengths of wave.
 Hence, different spectral components of an optical pulse have different speeds
which lead the pulse to spread out in time after travelling some distance in the fiber.
(b) Waveguide dispersion:

 Waveguide dispersion can occur for waves propagating through any inhomogeneous
structure, whether or not waves are confined to some region.
 Waveguide dispersion depends on the refractive index difference between core and
cladding. The effective refractive index is very close to the refractive index of the core.
 Waveguide dispersion is always positive and is not strongly wavelength-dependent. It
depends strongly on the core diameter (increases with decrease in core diameter) and on the
fiber distance (increases with distance).

(ii) Intermodal Dispersion

Intermodal dispersion occurs due to the propagation delay differences between the modes
propagating in a multimode fiber.
The higher-order modes travel a longer distance and arrive at the receiver end later than
the lower-order modes. Hence, different modes have different group velocities.
The effect of intermodal dispersion can be reduced by taking the parabolic refractive
index profile, usually as it is in the case of a GI optical fiber.
ATTENUATION CONSTANT

Attenuation losses in optical fibers are generally measured in terms of decibel.

To obtain the expression for attenuation constant, let us consider that Pout is the output
power at the end of 1 km of optical fiber, which is equal to the input optical power (Pin),
reduced by a fraction k (say), i.e.,

Similarly, after 2 km of optical fiber, the output power is

Hence, after L kilometer of optical fiber, the above expression can be given as

Or,

Taking log on both sides and then multiplying by 10 gives power loss in decibel as

where α = (10 log10 k) is the attenuation coefficient of the fiber in decibel/kilometer.

Therefore, (31)

Sometimes, the number of decibel loss is expressed with negative sign and hence, the
above equation can also be given as

(32)
APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIBERS

Optical fibers have wide range of applications in the field of optical communication,
medical science, illumination technology, optical sensor, etc. Some important applications
of optical fiber are as follows:

(i) Optical fibers are widely used in broadcast television, cable TV, remote monitoring,
and surveillance.
(ii) Fibers are most commonly used for transmission of digital data.
(iii)It is frequently used in military operations such as for secret communications,
command and control links on ship and aircrafts, data links for satellites, etc.
(iv) It is widely used in cable TV network and closed circuit TV (CCTV) systems.
(v) Fibers are frequently used in illumination technology.
(vi) Fibers have a variety of applications in medical services.
(vii) Fibers are frequently used for decorative applications.
(viii) A coherent bundle fiber is used, sometimes along with lens, for a long, thin imaging
device called endoscope.
(ix) Fibers are used to transfer infrared energy from the source to the point of application
of heat.
(x) Fibers are used to form sensors to measure physical and chemical parameters.
APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIBERS
APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIBERS

Fibers are Everywhere

 OPTICAL FIBER TRANSMISSION LINK

The block diagram of an optical communication system is shown in Fig.9. The system
has:
(i) Information source: It is the source of input signals which are to be transmitted
through the optical fiber up to the destination.

(ii) Electrical transmitter: It is the next part of the communication system where the
information signals are produced in the form of electrical signals.

(iii) Optical source: Optical source is capable of generating an optical signal at desired
frequencies. Basically LASER or LEDs are used as the source of light.

Fig.9 Optical fibre communication system

(iv) Optical fiber cable: The optical signal is launched into the optical fiber which is
contained inside the cable. The cable provides mechanical and environmental
protection to the hair-thin optical fiber.

(v) Optical detector: At the receiving end, photo detector is the main component. It is
capable of converting the received modulated wave back to the original signal, which
has the same wave shape as the optical wave envelope.

(vi) Electrical receiver: It is the part of the communication system where original
signal is recovered in its suitable form. Usually, electronic amplifiers and signal
restorers consisting of signal processor circuits are used in this section of
communication system.
 OFC- Systems
Firstly installed Systems: operating at 1310 nm
Low loss; minimum pulse broadening
Transmission rate 2-10 Gb/s
Regeneration of Signal after every 30-60 km
Conversion of O-E-O signal
Future OFC Systems: 1550 nm Wavelength band Silica has
lowest loss, increased dispersion
Design of Dispersion Shifted Fibers
Lowest loss and Negligible dispersion

Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)

Direct amplification of optical signal

Flat gain around 1550nm low loss window

BW » 12,500 GHz ; Enormous potential