UNIT - III

LASER-FIBER CONNECTION

AGENDA
Launching optical power into a fiber
Fiber-to-Fiber coupling
Fiber Splicing and connectors

Coupling Efficiency
PF
power coupled into the fiber
=
=
power emitted from the sourse Ps

Ps
Source

PF
Optical Fiber

Radiance (Brightness) of the source

B= Optical power radiated from a unit area of the source into a

unit solid angle [watts/(square centimeter per stradian)]

Surface emitting LEDs have a Lambertian

Pattern:
B ( , ) = B0 cos

Edge emitting LEDs and Laser Diodes radiation pattern

1
sin
cos
=
+
T
L
B( , ) B0 cos B0 cos
2

For edge emitting LEDs, L=1

Power Coupled from source to the fiber

As and s : area and solid emission angle of the source

PF = B ( As , s )d s dAs =

A f and f : area and

Af
f
solid acceptance angle of fiber
rm 2
2 0 max

= B ( , ) sin dd d s rdr

0
0
0 0

Power coupled from LED to the Fiber

0 max

2B0 cos sin d d s rdr

0
0

rs

P=
0

rs

= B0

2
sin
0 max d s rdr

rs

= B0

NA

d s rdr

PLED,step = rs B0 ( NA) 2 rs B0 n1
2

Power coupling from LED to step-index fiber

Total optical power from LED:
2 / 2

Ps = As

B ( , ) sin dd

Ps = rs 2B0
2

/2

2
d
rs B0
cos

sin

PLED,step

Ps ( NA) 2

= a 2
2

P
(
NA
)
s
rs

if rs a

if rs a

Equilibrium Numerical Aperture

Possible Lensing Schemes used to improve

optical source-to-fiber coupling efficiency

Laser diode to Fiber Coupling

Fiber-to-Fiber Joint
Fiber-to-Fiber coupling loss:

LF [dB] = 10 log F
Low loss fiber-fiber joints are either:
1- Splice (permanent bond)
2- Connector (demountable connection)

Different modal distribution of the optical beam emerging from a fiber lead to different degrees of
coupling loss. a) when all modes are equally excited, the output beam fills the entire output NA.
b) for a steady state modal distribution, only the equilibrium NA is filled by the output beam.

Mechanical misalignment losses

Lateral (axial) misalignment loss is a

dominant
Mechanical loss.

F ,step

Acomm 2
d
d d
=
= arccos

1
2

2a a 2a
a

1/ 2

Longitudinal offset effect

Losses due to differences in the geometry and waveguide characteristics

of the fibers

aR
LF (a ) = 10 log( )
aE

for a R a E

NA R
LF (a ) = 20 log(
)
NA E

for NA R NA E

E & R subscripts refer to emitting and receiving fibers.

Experimental comparison of Loss as a function

of mechanical misalignment

Fiber end face

Fiber end defects

Fiber splicing

Fusion Splicing

V-groove optical fiber splicing

Optical Fiber Connectors

Some of the principal requirements of a good connector design are as
follows:
1- low coupling losses
2- Interchangeability
3- Ease of assembly
4- Low environmental sensitivity
5- Low-cost and reliable construction
6- Ease of connection

Connector Return Loss