Optical Fiber and optical

communications
 What is optical fiber
• Optical fibers are very fine fibers of glass.
• They consist of a glass core, roughly fifty micrometres in
diameter, surrounded by a glass "optical cladding" giving
an outside diameter of about 120 micrometres.
• They make use of total internal reflection to confine light
within the core of the fiber.
 Structure of a Fibre
• The core has a higher refractive index than the cladding.
• Although the cladding does not carry light, it is nevertheless
an essential part of the fibre.
• The cladding is not just a mere covering.
• It keeps the value of the critical angle constant throughout
the whole length of the fibre.
• Optical Fibres are optical waveguides.
• This means that wherever the fibre goes the light, which is
confined to the core of the fibre, also goes.
• So optical fibres can be used to make light bend round
corners
 What is optical fiber (continued)
• The basic optical fiber is provided with a buffer coating which
is mainly used for protection during the manufacturing
process.
• This fiber is then enclosed in a central PVC loose tube which
allows the fiber to flex and bend, particularly when going
around corners or when being pulled through conduits.
• Around the loose tube is a braided Kevlar yarn which
absorbs most of the strain put on the fiber during installation.
• Finally, a PVC outer jacket seals the cable and prevents
moisture from entering.
 What is optical fiber (continued)
• Basic optical fiber is ideal for most inter-building applications
where extreme ruggedness is not required.
• In addition to the "basic" variety, it is also available for just about
any application, including direct buried, armored, rodent
resistant cable with steel outer jacket.
• Color-coded, multi-fiber cable is also available.

The Optical Fiber: Other Types of Fibers

• Two additional types of fiber – very large core diameter silica
fiber and fiber made completely of plastic – are normally not
employed for data transmission.
• Silica fiber it typically used in applications involving high power
lasers and sensors, such as medical laser-surgery.
• All-plastic fiber is useful for very short data links within
equipment because it may be used with relatively inexpensive
LEDs.
• Typical example of an application for plastic fiber- An isolation
system for high voltage power supply
 Standard Single-Mode (SM)
Fiber core
Fiber
SiO2+ GeO2
Ø 10 µm
n ≅ 1.443

SiO2 Cladding
Ø 125 µm
n ≅ 1.44

Primary coating (soft)

Ø 400 µm

Secondary coating (hard)

Ø 1 mm
 Optical Fibers in brief
• An optical fiber consists of a high-index glass
core in a low-index glass sheath
• When light tries to leave the high-index core at a
shallow angle, it experiences total internal
reflection
• Light bounces endlessly through the core and
emerges from the end of the fiber
• If the glass is pure and perfect enough, the light
may travel for many kilometers through the fiber
 Reflection & refraction

n2<n1 ϕ2 n2<n1 n2<n1

θ2
θ1 θ1 θ1= θc
ϕ1 ϕc ϕ1 >ϕc
n1 n1 n1

Snell’s law Critical angle Total internal

n1 sin ϕ1 = n2 sin ϕ 2 n reflection
sin ϕ c = 2
n1
n1 cos θ1 = n2 cos θ 2
n
cos θ c = 2
n1
 Total Internal Reflection
• As light goes into
material with a lower
index of refraction, it
bends away from the
perpendicular
• When the bend exceeds
90 degrees, the light
reflects instead
• The reflection is perfect –
total internal reflection
Total internal Reflection
 Fiber propagation

n1
n2
 Propagation of light in optical fiber
• The angle θA in the Figure is called the Acceptance
Angle.
• Any light entering the fibre at an angle θ < θA will meet the
cladding at an angle greater than θc .
• If light meets the inner surface of the cladding (the core -
cladding interface) at an angle θ greater than or equal to
θc then TotaI Internal Reflection occurs.
• So all the energy in the ray of light is reflected back
into the core and none escapes into the cladding.
•The ray then crosses to the other side of the core and because
the fiber is more or less straight ,the ray will meet the
Cladding on the other side at an angle which again causes
Total Internal Reflection.
• The ray is then reflected back across the core again and the
same thing happens.
• In this way the light zig zags its way along the fiber.
•This means that the light will be transmitted to the end of the
fiber.
How Does fiber optic transmit light
 Optical fiber is a wave guide
• Optical fiber is essentially a wave guide.
• It guides electromagnetic wave through it.
• The guiding is done by total internal
reflection, i.e. by suitable choice of
refractive indices of the core and the
cladding.
 Source and transmitters

• A basic fiber optic communications system

consists of three basic elements:
– Fiber media
– Light sources
– Light detector
 Optical communication
TRANSMITTER FIBRE RECEIVER

+ –
+ –
 Types of Optical Fiber
• there are three types of fiber optic cable
commonly used:
• single mode,
• multimode and
• plastic optical fiber (POF)
 Types of Optical Fiber
Optical fibers are the actual media that guides the light
There are three types of fiber optic cable commonly
used

Graded index Multimode fiber

Single Mode

Step index Multi mode optic fiber

 Fiber types

SM
Single-Mode

MM-SI
Multi-Mode
Step Index

MM-GI
Multi-Mode
Graded
Index
1/ 2
 r 
α

n ( r ) = n1 1 − 2∆    for r < a refractive

  a  
index
(n12 − n22 )
n( r ) = n2 for r ≥ a, = .
2n12
Step Index (Singlemode,multimode)
graded index fiber
• Step Index Fiber:
• The refractive index of the fiber 'steps" up as we move
from the cladding to the core of the fiber.
• Within the cladding the refractive index is constant, and within
the core of the refractive index is constant.

• Multimode:
• Because of the wave nature of light, only certain ray directions can
actually travel down the fibre.
• These are called the "Fibre Modes".
• In a multimode fibre many different modes are supported by the fibre.

• Single mode:
• Because its core is so narrow Single Mode fibre can support only one
mode.
• This is called the "Lowest Order Mode".
• Single mode fibre has some advantages over multimode fibre.
 Graded Index Fibre
• Graded Index Fibre has a different core structure from
single mode and multimode fibre.
• Whereas in a step-index fibre the refractive index of the
core is constant throughout the core, in a graded index
fibre the value of the refractive index changes from the
centre of the core onwards.
• In fact it has what we call a Quadratic Profile.
• This means that the refractive index of the core is
proportional to the square root of the distance from the
centre of the fibre.
• Graded index fibre is actually a multimode fibre.
• It can support more than one fibre mode.
• But when we refer to "multimode" fibre we normally mean
"step index multimode".
Fiber classification (1)
MM-SI: Multi Mode - Step Index fiber

Core diameter 50 - 400 µm

Cladding 125 (500) µm
2nd coating 250 - 1000 µm
NA 0.16 - 0.5
Attenuation 1 - 4 dB/km
Bandwidth 6 - 25 MHz.km
Application Short distance, low cost
limited bandwidth
 Fiber classification (2)
MM-GI: Multi Mode - Graded Index fiber

Core diameter 50 µm standard

Cladding 125 µm
2nd coating 200-1000 µm
NA 0.2 - 0.3
Attenuation 1 dB/km (1300 nm)
Bandwidth 150 MHz.km - 2 GHz.km
Application Medium distance
communication
LED/Laser sources
 Fiber classification (3)
SM-SI: Single Mode - Step Index fiber
Core diameter 3-10 µm
Cladding 50-125 µm
2nd coating 200-1000 µm
NA ~0.1
Attenuation 0.20@1550 - 0.4@1300 dB/km
Bandwidth >> 500 MHz.km
Application Long distance communication
Lasers, standard fiber
 A Light Sources

LED (Light emitting diode) ILD (injection laser diode)

 Optical source
TRANSMITTER

FIBER

Performance
+ – Modulation speed
Fiber-coupled power
Light Emitting Diode (LED)

– +
Typical performance data
Power in MM-fiber: 100 µW
Power in SM-fiber: 1 µW
Direct Modulation Bandwidth: 100 MHz
 Laser

Typical performance

Power (in fiber): 5-10 mW

Max: 100-300 mW
Direct Modulation Bandwidth: 1-10 GHz
 Detectors

Detector is the receiving end of a fiber optic link.

There are two kinds of Detectors

1. PIN (Positive Intrinsic Negative)
2. APD (Avalanche photo diodes)

PIN
APD
 Photodiode detector

+ –
Typical performance data
Responsivity: ~1 mA / mW
Bandwidth: 1-20 GHz
 Acceptance angle
• Acceptance angle:
• In fiber optics, half the vertex angle of that cone
within which optical power may be coupled into bound
modes of an optical fiber.
• Note 1: The axis of the cone is collinear with the
fiber axis, the vertex of the cone is on the fiber
end-face, and the base of the cone faces the
optical power source.
• Note 2: The acceptance angle is measured with
respect to the fiber axis.
• Note 3: Rays entering an optical fiber at angles
greater than the acceptance angle are coupled into
unbound modes.
 Numerical Aperture
Multimode fiber
n0 n2
n0 n2 Critical angle: cos θ c =
n1
θ0 n1
θc Maximum entrance angle:
n1
sin θ 0 , max = sin θ c
n0
Numerical aperture:
2 2
NA ≡ n0 sinθ0,max = n1 sinθc = n1 1− cos2 θc = n1 − n2
if n1 ≈ n2 = n :
2 2
n1 − n2 n1 − n2 ∆n NA = n12 − n2 2 ≈ 2n1 ⋅ ∆n ≈ n1 2∆
∆≡ 2
≈ =
2n1 n1 n1
where n1 + n 2 ≅ 2 n1
NA = 0.1 ⇒ θ 0,max ≈ 6°
n1 2 − n 2 2 n − n2 ∆n
∆ ≡ ≈ 1 =
2 n1 2 n1 n1
 Mode intensity profiles
• Optical modes:
d

0 1 2
a 2πa 2 2
Fiber: V= n1 − n2
λ
Single-mode if V ≤ 2.405

• Excitation of modes: πd 2 2
V = n1 − n 2
λ
 Number of modes
• Number of modes in step-index fiber
2
1  2πa  2 2
M≈ 
2 λ 
( 2
 n1 − n2 = )
V
2

• Number of modes in graded-index fiber

V2  α 
M≈  
2 α + 2
 Dispersion in Fiber Optics

• Dispersion occurs when photons from the same

light pulse take slight different paths along the
optical fiber.
• Because some paths will be longer or shorter
than other paths the photons will arrive at
different times thus smearing the shape of the
pulse.
• Over long distances, one pulse may merge with
another pulse. When this happens, the receiving
device will not be able to distinguish between pulses
 Dispersion Continued …
 Normal fiber optic cable is called
multimode and the photons can take
different paths along it.
 The more expensive monomode fibre optic
overcomes dispersion by having a core so
thin that the light can only take one path
along it.
 Dispersion (intermodal)
L
n1
Tmin = L⋅
θc c
n1
n2
n1 n2
Tmax = L⋅ cos θ c =
c ⋅ cosθ c n1

∆ T∆ T = n=1 n 1n 1 −∆ n 2 ∆nn1 2 ∆ NANA2 2

L Ln
⋅ ⋅ ≈≈ ≈ ≈ [ns / km ]
2 n 2 cc cn 2 c 2 nc
2n2c
t
L n2c 2n2c
B⋅L = L = =
2 2 nc
[( Mb / s ) km ]
B⋅L = ∆ T =1 ∆ NA 2
n
2
∆T
B = bit rate NA
 Fiber materials
• Silica glass fiber
– starting material: pure silica (SiO2) in the form of
fused quartz (amorphous)
– modification of refractive index by addition of
impurities
• lowering refractive index : B2O3, F
• raising refractive index : P2O5, GeO2
• Polymer optical fiber (POF)
– large core (multimode)
– large refractive index difference between core
and cladding
– easy handling
– relatively high losses
 Attenuation

When light travels along the fibre, there is a loss of optical
power, which is called attenuation.

Signal attenuation is defined as the ratio of optical input
power (Pi) to the optical output power (Po)
Pulse Dispersion: spreading of pulses during propagation

Dispersive effects in a single mode fibre are much
smaller than a multimode fibre.

Because, in multimode fibres, different axial speeds of
different transverse modes cause intermodal dispersion
that limits the performance of the fibre.

Due to dispersion, signals degrade over long distances

In single mode, chromatic dispersion occurs because of the
slight variation in the index of the glass with the
wavelength of the light.
 Fiber performance

z=0 z=L
Attenuation

z=0 z=L
Dispersion
 Optical attenuation in glass

1000
Attenuation (dB/km)

CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition)

100

10

 20 dB/km (Corning)
1

0.16 dB/km
0.1
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
 Causes of Fiber loss
• Dispersion losses

• Material absorption losses

• Impurity absorptions

• Interface inhomogeneities

• Scattering losses- Scattering effects

• Bending losses-Radiation from bends

 Material absorptions
• Atomic imperfection
• Intrinsic absorption
• Extrinsic absorption
• Due to molecular characteristics of material of
fiber.
• Changes with material
• Example: halide glasses are extremely low loss
fiber in middle IR (2-µm to 4-µm)
• Atomic imperfection: missing molecules, high
density atomic clusters, oxygen defects
• Small contribution but become significant for
ionising radiations
 – Intrinsic absorption –basic material of optical
fibre- Pure silica (SiO2)-absorption in NIR region
, two strong absorption regions in in optical
window- electronic and molecular Transition
Bands
– Extrinsic Absorption from impurities
• OH, B2O3, F, P2O5, GeO2
• Fe3+, Cr+2, Cu
• Absorption losses over a length L of fibre
• described by the usual exponential law:
I = Ioexp(-αL),
Where the attenuation is
α = -(10/L)log10(Pout/Pin) dB/km
 Impurity absorption
• Primary source of material impurities
are metallic ions and OH- ion from
water.
• Concentration in one part per billion
• Yields loss of 1dB/km at 950 nm
• Water OH- absorption takes place at 2.7
µm, 950 nm and 725 nm
• avoided by dehydrating materials
during manufacturing
 Scattering Losses
Basic fundamental “wave interacts with particle and
removes energy in the direction of propagating of the
wave, and transfers it to other directions”
Microscopic variation in material density, structural
inhomogeneities, random refractive index variation
1. Linear Scattering
 Rayleigh Scattering
 Mie scattering
2. Non-linear Scattering
 Brillouin scattering
 Raman scattering
 Linear Scattering
Frequency does not change; only power is
transferred.
• Rayleigh scattering:
– Interaction of light with inhomogeneties in medium
with size smaller than operating wave length.
– Scattering strength proportional to (1/λ4)
– 0.2 dm/km attained (silica at 1550 nm)
• Mie scattering:
 Inhomogeneities comparable in size to a wave
length
Large angular dependence
 Non linear scattering
• Disproportionate attenuation at high optical power
levels- significant above threshold levels
• Output power not proportional to input power
• Significant power scattered in all directions.
• Frequency shift takes place.
 Brillouin Scattering(SBS)
1. Modulation of light by thermal energy vibrations
2. Incident photon produces vibration energy in material
and scatter light [phonons of acoustic frequency and
scattered photons of optical frequency{varies with
scattering angle}]
3. Scattered light is modulated in forward and backward
direction.
4. Maximum is backward and minimum is Forward
• In a single mode fiber, the power at which this
scattering becomes significant is given by
PB = (17.6x10-3)a2λ2α∆ν
Where:
PB is power level (watts) i.e threshold level
a is radius of fiber (µm)
λ is wavelength (µm)
α is fiber loss (in dB/km)
∆ν is linewidth of source
 Raman Scattering(SRS)

• Interaction produces high frequency

phonon (optical) and scattered photon.

• This is in Forward direction

PR = (23.6)x10-2 a2λα
 Interface Inhomogeneties
• Macrobending and Microbending
• Cabling loss and spooling loss
• Micro bend 1 - 2 dB/km
Bend Losses
Po/Pi = exp(-αbz)
αb is the attenuation coefficient due to bend
and
αb =C1exp(-C2r)
where ‘r’ is the radius of curvature of bend
C1 and C2 are constants
The losses are negligible till r → rcritical (rCT)
rCT ≈ {(2n2λ)/4π(NA)3}
 Radiation from Bends
• Optical fibre radiates power to the surrounding
medium on bending.

• The proportion of the power radiated depends:

1. radius of curvature

2. difference between the refractive indices of

core and cladding.

• This effect can be observed with single mode

fibres as well as multimode fibres.
 Modulation
• When sending information by an optical
fiber, the information must be encoded or
transformed somehow into information that
is capable of being transmitted through a
fiber.
• The signal needs to be modulated. There
are two types of modulation Analog and
digital.
 Advantages of fiber optic over
wire cable
• Thinner
• Higher carrying capacity
• Less signal degradation
• Light signal
• Low power
• Flexible
• Non-flammable
• Lightweight
Disadvantage of fiber optic over
copper wire cable
• Optical fiber (< 1µm) is more expensive
per meter than copper
• Optical fiber can not be joined together
as easily as copper cable.
• It requires training and expensive
splicing and measurement equipment.
 Applications of Optical Fibre
• Light transfers information from source to
destination
• Both analog and digital representations
possible
– Analog is used to monitor some processes
remotely
– Digital is the dominant representation
• Noise immunity and error correction
• Compression
• Sharing a single communication channel is
common