Chapter 2: Fiber Optics as a communication medium

2.1 Fiber Fabrication:

Basically, fiber manufacturers use two methods to fabricate multimode and single mode glass
fibers. One method is vapor phase oxidation, and the other method is direct-melt process.
In vapor phase oxidation, gaseous metal halide compounds, dopant material, and oxygen are
oxidized (burned) to form a white silica powder (SiO2). Manufacturers call SiO2 the soot.

Manufacturers deposit the soot on the surface of a glass substrate (mandrel) or inside a hollow
tube by one of the following three methods:

Outside Vapor Phase Oxidation (OVPO).

Inside Vapor Phase Oxidation (IVPO).

Vapor Phase Axial Deposition (VAD).

The soot forms the core and cladding material of the preform. The refractive index of each layer
of soot is changed by varying the amount of dopant material being oxidized. Figures 1, 2, and 3
illustrate the different vapor phase oxidation preform preparation methods.

Figure 1. - OVPO preform preparation.

Figure 2. - IVPO preform preparation.

Figure 3. - VAD preform preparation.

During vapor phase oxidation, the mandrel or tube continuously moves from side to side and
rotates while soot particles are deposited on the surface. This process forms cylindrical layers of
soot on the surface of the mandrel or inside the hollow tube. This deposited material is
transformed into a solid glass preform by heating the porous material (without melting).

The solid preform is then drawn or pulled into an optical fiber by a process called fiber drawing.

The fiber drawing process begins by feeding the glass preform into the drawing furnace. The
drawing furnace softens the end of the preform to the melting point. Manufacturers then pull the
softened preform into a thin glass filament (glass fiber). To protect the bare fiber from
contaminants, manufacturers add an acrylate coating in the draw process. The coating protects
the bare fiber from contaminants such as atmospheric dust and water vapor.

Figure 4 illustrates the process of drawing an optical fiber from the preform.

Figure 4. - Fiber drawing process.

In the direct-melt process, multicomponent glass rods form the fiber structure. Rods of
multicomponent glass combine in a molten state to form the fiber core and cladding. The double-
crucible method is the most common direct-melt process. The double-crucible method combines
the molten rods into a single preform using two concentric crucibles.

Optical fibers are drawn from this molten glass using a similar fiber drawing process as in vapor
phase oxidation. Figure 5 illustrates the double-crucible drawing process.

Figure 5. - Double-crucible fiber drawing process.

2.2 Advantages of Optical fiber communication:

Advantages of Optical transmission link over conventional copper systems

1. Low transmission loss and wide B.W.: Optical fibers have lower transmission losses and wider
B.W. than Copper wires. This means that with optical fiber cable systems more data can be sent
over longer distances, thereby decreasing the no of wires and reducing the no of repeaters needed
for these spans. This reduction in equipment and components decreases the system cost and
complexity.

2. Small size and weight: Optical fibers have very small diameters which are often no greater
than the diameter of a human hair. Hence even when such fibers are covered with protective
coating they are far smaller and much lighter than Cu cables.
The optical fibers have low weight and small (hair sized) dimension of fibers. This small size and
weight offer a distinct advantage over heavy and bulky wire cables in crowded underground city
ducts or in ceiling mounted cable trays. This is also of importance in aircrafts, satellites and ships
where small light weight cables are advantageous and in tactical military applications where
large amounts of cable must be unreeled and retrieved rapidly.

3. Immunity to interference: The dielectric nature of optical fibers provides optical wave guides
with immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) such as inductive pick up from signal
carrying wires and lighting. It also ensures freedom from electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects
which is of interest in military application.

4. Electrical isolation: Since optical fibers are constructed of glass which is an electrical
insulator, there is no problem of ground loops; fiber to fiber cross talk is very low. Equipment
interface problems are simplified. This makes the use of fiber attractive in electrically hazardous
environments, since fiber creates no arcing or sparking.

5. Signal Security: The light from optical fibers does not radiate significantly and therefore they
provide high degree of signal security. A transmitted optical signal cant be obtained from fiber
in a non invasive manner. By using an optical fiber, a high degree of data security is available,
since the optical signal is well confined within the wave guide. So, these fibers are used where
information security is important such as banking, computers networks and military systems.

6. Abundant raw material: The principle material of which optical fibers are made is silica. This
raw material is abundant and inexpensive.

7. No hazard of short circuits as in metal wires.

8. No problems when used in explosive environments.

9. Immunity to adverse temperature and moisture conditions.

10. No need for additional equipment to protect against grounding and voltage problems.

11. Very nominal shipping, handling and installation costs.

Disadvantages of Optical Fiber :

The disadvantages of optical fibers are as follows

1. Strength: Optical fibers have a significantly lower tensile strength than coaxial cable.
This can be improved by providing protective jacket of PVC. In addition glass fiber is
much more fragile than copper wire making fiber less attractive where hardware
portability is required.

2. Optical fiber cables are more susceptible to losses introduced by bending the
cable: Electromagnetic waves propagate through an optical cable by either refraction or
reflection. Therefore bending the cable causes irregularities in the cable dimensions;
resulting in a loss of signal power. Optical fibers are more prone to manufacturing
defects, as even the minor defect can cause excessive loss of signal power.

3. Specialized tools, equipment and training: Optical fiber cables require special tools to
splice and repair cables and special test equipment to make routine measurements. Not
only repairing fiber cables is difficult and expensive but technicians working on optical
cables also require special skills and training. Sometimes it is difficult to locate faults in
optical cables because there is no electrical continuity.

2.3 Light Fresnel Reflections:

Reflection of a portion of the Light incident on a planar Interface between two homogeneous
media having different refractive indices. Fresnel reflection occurs at the air-glass interfaces at
entrance and exit ends of an optical fiber. Resultant Transmission losses (on the order of 4% per
interface) can be virtually eliminated by use of anti-reflection coatings or index matching
material. The reflection that occurs at the planar Junction of two materials having different
refractive indices. Fresnel reflection is not a function of the angle of incidence.

2.4 Basic Fiber Construction:

An optical fiber is a thin transparent flexible strand that consists of a core surrounded by
cladding. It confines electromagnetic energy in the form of light to within its surfaces and guides
the light in a direction parallel to its axis. The core is the portion of the fiber that carries the
transmitted light. The cladding surrounds the core. It has a lower index of refraction to keep the
light in the core. An optical fiber has an additional coating around the cladding called protective
jacket. It protects the core and cladding from shocks that might affect their optical or physical
properties. It has no optical properties affecting the propagation of light within the fiber.

2.5 Fiber Classification:

See class notes

2.6 Refractive Index Profile:

Three basic types of fiber optic cable are used in communication systems:

1. Step-index multimode

2, Step-index single mode

3, Graded-index
1. Step-index multimode

This fiber has an index of refraction profile that steps from low to high to

low as measured from cladding to core to cladding. Relatively large core diameter and

numerical aperture characterize this fiber.The core/cladding diameter of a typical multimode

fiber used for telecommunication is 62.5/125 m (about the size of a human hair). The term

multimode refers to the fact that multiple modes or paths through the fiber are possible. Step-

index multimode fiber is used in applications that require high bandwidth (< 1 GHz) over

relatively short distances (< 3 km) such as a local area network or a campus network backbone.

The major benefits of multimode fiber are: (1) it is relatively easy to work with; (2) because of

its larger core size, light is easily coupled to and from it; (3) it can be used with both lasers and

LEDs as sources; and (4) coupling losses are less than those of the single-mode fiber. The

drawback is that because many modes are allowed to propagate (a function of core diameter,
wavelength, and numerical aperture) it suffers from modal dispersion . The result of modal

dispersion is bandwidth limitation, which translates into lower data rates.

2. Single-mode step-index

This type of fiber allows for only one path, or mode, for light to travel within the fiber. In a
multimode step-index fiber, the number of modes M propagating can be approximated by V 2/2

M=V2/2

Here;V is known as the normalized frequency, or the V- number , which relates the fiber size, the

refractive index, and the wavelength.

Or; V can be determined as:

In either equation, a is the fiber core radius, is the operating wavelength, N.A. is the

numerical aperture, n is the core index, and is the relative refractive index difference between

core and cladding. The analysis of how the V- number is derived is beyond the scope of this
module, but it can be shown that by reducing the diameter of the fiber to a point at which the

V- number is less than 2.405, higher-order modes are effectively extinguished and single-mode
operation is possible.
The core diameter for a typical single-mode fiber is between 5 m and 10 m with a 125-m

cladding. Single-mode fibers are used in applications in which low signal loss and high data

rates are required, such as in long spans where repeater/amplifier spacing must be maximized.

Because single-mode fiber allows only one mode or ray to propagate (the lowest-order mode), it

does not suffer from modal dispersion like multimode fiber and therefore can be used for higher

bandwidth applications. However, even though single-mode fiber is not affected by modal

dispersion, at higher data rates chromatic dispersion can limit the performance. This problem can
be overcome by several methods.

3) Graded-index fiber

It is a compromise between the large core diameter and N.A. of multimode

fiber and the higher bandwidth of single-mode fiber. With creation of a core whose index of

refraction decreases parabolically from the core center toward the cladding, light traveling

through the center of the fiber experiences a higher index than light traveling in the higher

modes. This means that the higher-order modes travel faster than the lower-order modes, which
allows them to catch up to the lower-order modes, thus decreasing the amount of modal

dispersion, which increases the bandwidth of the fiber.

2.8 Losses in Optical Fiber

Refer class notes

2.9 Dispersion in Optical Fiber :

Dispersion, expressed in terms of the symbol t, is defined as pulse spreading in an optical

fiber. As a pulse of light propagates through a fiber, elements such as numerical aperture, core

diameter, refractive index profile, wavelength, and laser linewidth cause the pulse to broaden.

The overall effect of dispersion on the performance of a fiber optic system is known as

intersymbol interference.

Intersymbol interference occurs when the pulse spreading caused by dispersion causes the output
pulses of a system to overlap, rendering them undetectable. If an input pulse is caused to spread
such that the rate of change of the input exceeds the dispersion limit of the fiber, the output data
will become indiscernible.
Dispersion is generally divided into two categories: modal dispersion and chromatic dispersion

Modal dispersion is defined as pulse spreading caused by the time delay between lower-order

modes (modes or rays propagating straight through the fiber close to the optical axis) and

higher-order modes (modes propagating at steeper angles). This is shown in Figure 8-5. Modal

dispersion is problematic in multimode fiber, causing bandwidth limitation, but it is not a

problem in single-mode fiber where only one mode is allowed to propagate.

Chromatic dispersion is pulse spreading due to the fact that different wavelengths of light
propagate at slightly different velocities through the fiber. All light sources, whether laser or

LED, have finite linewidths, which means they emit more than one wavelength. Because the

index of refraction of glass fiber is a wavelength-dependent quantity, different wavelengths

propagate at different velocities. Chromatic dispersion is typically expressed in units of

nanoseconds or picoseconds per (kmnm).

Material dispersion is due to the wavelength dependency on the index of refraction of glass.

Waveguide dispersion is due to the physical structure of the waveguide. In a simple step-index-

profile fiber, waveguide dispersion is not a major factor, but in fibers with more complex index

profiles, waveguide dispersion can be more significant. Material dispersion and waveguide

dispersion can have opposite signs depending on the transmission wavelength. In the case of a

step-index single-mode fiber, these two effectively cancel each other at 1310 nm, yielding zero-

dispersion. This makes very high-bandwidth communication possible at this wavelength.

However, the drawback is that, even though dispersion is minimized at 1310 nm, attenuation is

not. Glass fiber exhibits minimum attenuation at 1550 nm. Coupling that with the fact that

erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) operate in the 1550-nm range makes it obvious that, if

the zero-dispersion property of 1310 nm could be shifted to coincide with the 1550-nm

transmission window, high-bandwidth long-distance communication would be possible. With

this in mind , zero-dispersion-shifted fiber was developed.