Propagation of Light Through

Optical Fiber
Outline of Talk
 Acceptance angle
 Numerical aperture
 Dispersion
 Attenuation
 Acceptance angle
Lost by
radiation
A
 max


Acceptance B
cone   c for total
internal reflection

 max is the maximum acceptance angle to the axis of the fiber

at which light may enter into the fiber in order to propagate
 Different cones of acceptance

Large diameter fiber Small diameter fiber

 Numerical aperture (NA)
The NA defines a cone of acceptance for light that will be
guided by the fiber

B n2
Air n0 
n1
A 2
1 C
f =90-2
> c
At the air core interface no sin 1  n1 sin  2

From the triangle ABC    2
2
 Numerical aperture (NA)
no sin 1  n1 cos
1

Using trigonometric relationship no sin 1  n1 (1  sin 2  ) 2

For total internal reflection, 1 = a, and   c

12
 n2 2
 n2
n1  n2
2 2 no sin  a  n1 1  2 

  n1  900
2
2n1
n1  n2 
no sin  a  n1  n2
2 2 12
 1
n1

n1

NA  no sin  a  n1  n2
2

2 12
n1 sin 1  n2 sin  2
Δ  approximates  to  the  fractional  index dif erence n2
Exmp. 2.1 and 2.2 NA  n1 (2 )1 2 sin  c 
n1
Types of ray propagation in OF
Meridional ray passes
through the fiber axis

Skew ray

Skew ray follows helical path in optical fiber

Skew rays & Meridional rays
 Skew rays are those rays which follow helical path but they are not
confined to a single plane. Analyzing the meridional rays is sufficient
for the purpose of result, rather than skew rays, because skew rays
lead to greater power loss.
 Skew rays propagate without passing through the center axis of the
fiber. The acceptance angle for skew rays is larger than the acceptance
angle of meridional rays.
 Skew rays are often used in the calculation of light acceptance in an
optical fiber. The addition of skew rays increases the amount of light
capacity of a fiber. In large NA fibers, the increase may be significant.
 However, the addition of skew rays also increases the amount of loss in
a fiber. Skew rays tend to propagate near the edge of the fiber core. A
large portion of the number of skew rays that are trapped in the fiber
core are considered to be leaky rays.
Dispersion & Attenuation
 Dispersion
Dispersion is a phenomenon that causes the separation of a wave
into spectral components with different wavelengths, due to a
dependence of the wave's speed on its wavelength.

Disperse
light

Sun
light
Prism
Types of Dispersion
 Material Dispersion
 Modal Dispersion
 Waveguide Dispersion
 Types of Dispersion
Material Dispersion
For glass material n(), i.e, n changes with  or frequency
Velocity of electromagnetic wave in any medium = c/n
Changing optical path length due to a changing refractive index n1

I
f1 n2

n1
f2
t
Input wave Output wave
 Waveguide Dispersion
 Waveguide dispersion is chromatic dispersion which arises from waveguide
effects. The origin of waveguide dispersion can be understood by considering
that a guided wave has a frequency-dependent distribution of k vectors

Field with shorter wavelength

concentrated in the core
Wave propagating in
core and cladding
with different group
velocities

Field with longer

wavelength leaked
from core to cladding
Definition of Modal Dispersion
Only a certain number of modes can propagate in
fiber optic waveguide. Each of these modes carries
the modulation signal and, as each one is incident on
the boundary at a different angle, they will each have
their own individual propagation times. In a digital
system, the net effect is to smear out the pulses, and
so there is a form of dispersion called modal
dispersion
 Modal Dispersion
I θi =c
θi=90 0
n2

c Ray1(axial)
θ
θa n1
t L Ray2
Input light
wave
 Effect of Dispersion on OFC
Short length fiber
1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1
n2
n1

t t
Input pulse Output pulse
L1

1 0 1 1 Long length fiber

n2

n1
Input pulse
L2
No zero level Indistinguishable pulse

Intersymbol
Interference
Output pulse
t
Intersymbol Interference (ISI)
  Intersymbol interference (ISI) is a
form of distortion of a signal in which
one symbol interferes with subsequent
symbols. This is an unwanted
phenomenon as the previous symbols
have similar effect as noise, thus
making the communication less reliable
Wavelength dependence of Ng and n
Wavelength dependence of Ng and n
 For crystals or glasses, the group
index in the visible or near-infrared
spectral range is typically larger than
the ordinary refractive index, which
determines the phase velocity. This
implies that the group velocity is often
(but not always) lower than the phase
velocity.
Source of Losses in Silica OF
 Losses in silica fiber are mainly occur due to
two mechanisms:
Intrinsic absorption mechanism (due to
characteristic of glass fiber)
Extrinsic absorption mechanism (due to impurities:

such as OH bonds and transition metal ions (iron,

cobalt, copper etc.))
 Source of Losses in Silica OF

Intrinsic absorption loss mechanisms are:

 Material absorption:
The atomic bonds associated with the core material absorb the
long wavelength light.(Si-O; 9.2 m, Ge-O; 11.0 m; P-O;
8.1; m)
 Electron absorption:
In the ultraviolet region, light is absorbed in order to excite the
electron in a core atoms to a higher energy state.
 Rayleigh scattering:
Due to small irregularities in the structure of the fiber core, which
are caused by density fluctuations into the glass material at
manufacture. This loss reduces with forth power of
 (~ -4).
 Attenuation wavelength Ch. Of Glass fiber
(Early fiber)
Attenuation
(dB/Km) Impurity
absorption

100

10 Rayl
e
scat igh
terin
g

1 Material
Electron absorption
absorption
0.1
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Wavelength (m)
 Attenuation wavelength Ch. Of Glass fiber
Attenuation
(Advanced fiber)
(dB/Km)

Due to OH

0.9
Conventional
fiber
0.6

0.3

Dry fiber

0.0
1.25 1.3 1.35 1.4 1.45 1.5 1.55 1.6
Wavelength (m)
 Other scattering losses

Mie scattering:
Due to imperfections such as irregularities in core-cladding
interface, core-cladding refractive index differences along
the fiber length, diameter fluctuations, strains, and bubbles
Stimulated Brilloiun Scattering:
Shift in incident light frequency in the acoustic range due to
scattering process, which causes reversal of propagation
direction

Stimulated Raman Scattering:

Shift in incident light frequency in the optical range causes
attenuation
 Problems:
 Pin 
Attenuation in decibels (dB) dB  10 log10  
 Pout 
1  Pin 
In OFC attenuation is usually expressed in dB/Km  dB  10 log10  
L  Pout 
Example: When the mean optical power launched into an 8 Km length of
fiber is 120 W, the mean optical power at the fiber out is 3 W.
Determine:
a) the overall signal attenuation in dB through the fiber assuming there
are no connectors or splices;
b) The signal attenuation/Km for the fiber
c) The overall signal attenuation for 10 Km optical link using the same
fiber with splices at 1 Km intervals, each giving an attenuation of 1 dB;
d) The numerical input/out power ratio in (c).