Chapter 3

Optical Components/Devices

OPTICAL FIBER PASSIVE DEVICES:

COUPLERS, ISOLATORS, CIRCULATORS, BRAGG GRATINGS AND ATTENUATORS

Optical Passive Devices

Passive Components i. Couplers ii. Isolators iii. Circulators iv. Fiber Bragg Gratings v. Attenuator

Optical Couplers
Couplers can perform both combining and splitting. The devices are widely used in optical LAN and broadcasting networks

Optical Couplers
Couplers are bi-directional, they can carry light in either direction. Used to split and combine the signals. A coupler with single fiber at one end and two at the other end would be referred to as 1 x 2 Coupler ( read as one by two). Although 1 x 2 and 2 x 2, are the most common sizes they can be obtained in wide range types up to 32 x 32.

Optical Couplers
An optical coupler is a passive (unpowered) device that diverges (1:N) or converges (N:1) optical signals from one fibre or optical signal path to more than one (or vice versa.) Configurations: Splitters, taps, combiners, directional couplers

Optical Couplers
Splitting Ratio (Coupling Ratio): The proportion of the input power at each output is called the splitting ratio or coupling ratio. In a 1 x 2 coupler, the input signal can split between the two outputs in any desired ratio. In practice however, the common ones are 90:10 and 50:50. These are also written as 9:1 and 1:1. In the cases where the splitting ratio is not 1:1, the port which carries the higher power is sometimes called the throughput port and the other is called the tap port.

2X2 Optical coupler

Optical Couplers
Coupling Tolerance: Even when the splitting ratio is quoted as 1:1, it is very unlikely, due to manufacturing tolerances that the input power is actually shared equally between two outputs. The acceptable error of between 1% and 5% is called coupling or splitting tolerance.

Optical Couplers
Losses:a. Excess loss (The Ratio of the input power to the total output power). The light energy has been scattered or absorbed within the coupler and is not available at the output. b. Crosstalk or directivity When we apply power to 1, we expect it to come out of port 2 and 3 but not out of port 4, the other input port. Because of backscatter within the coupler, some energy is reflected back and appear at port 4. This backscatter is very slight and is called directionality loss or crosstalk.

2X2 Optical coupler

Optical Couplers
c. Insertion loss Refers to the loss for a particular port-to-port path. For example, for the path from input port i to output port j. This looks at a single output power compared with the input power. There are two possibilities, the power coming out of port 2 and compare it with the input power at port 1 or port 3 compared with input power port 1.

Optical Couplers: Characteristics

COUPLING RATIO

Optical Couplers
EXCESS LOSS Ratio of the input power to the total output power

Optical Couplers
INSERTION LOSS

Optical Couplers
DIRECTIVITY

OPTICAL COUPLER SPECIFICATION

Standard Type The device is capable of branching or combining an optical power having a single wavelength in a designated ratio.

Standard specification

Number of ports Wavelength Excess loss

2x2 1310nm, 1480nm, 1550nm 0.2dB or less

Split ratio
Directivity Fiber type Ambient temperature Applicable connector, etc Length Connector End-face polishing

50:50 to 95:5 in (%)

50dB or better 0.25mm coated fiber, 0.9mm loose-tube fiber, 2.0mm fiber cord -40 to +75 deg.C, or -20 to +60 deg.C (2.0mm fiber coad) 0.5m, 1.0m, 1.5m, 2.0m FC, SC, SC2, MU, None Flat, PC, Super-PC

WDM Coupler
WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) coupler is an optical device capable of wavelength dividing two wavelengths on a single optical fiber into two, or vice versa; i.e., combining two wavelengths on two optical fibers into one.

Standard specification

Number of ports Wavelength Insertion loss Split ratio Directivity

2x2 980nm/1550nm, 1310nm/1550nm Pass port: 0.2dB or less Cut-off port: 20dB or more 50:50 to 95:5 in (%) 50dB or better

Fiber type
Ambient temperature Applicable connector, etc Length Connector End-face polishing

0.25mm coated fiber, 0.9mm loose-tube fiber, 2.0mm fiber cord

-40 to +75 deg.C, or -20 to +60 deg.C (2.0mm fiber coat) 0.5m, 1.0m, 1.5m, 2.0m FC, SC, SC2, MU, None Flat, PC, Super-PC

Optical Fibre Connectors

Optical Fibre Connectors

Type BICONIC D4 EC/RACE ESCON FC FDDI HMS-10 SC SC DUPLEX SMA ST Typical Insertion Loss (dB) 0.6 - 1.0 0.2 - 0.5 0.1 - 0.3 0.2 - 0.7 0.5 - 1.0 0.2 - 0.7 0.1 - 0.3 0.2 - 0.4 0.2 - 0.4 0.4 - 0.8 0.4 (SM) 0.5(MM) Fibre Type SM, MM SM, MM SM MM SM, MM SM, MM SM SM, MM SM, MM MM SM, MM

Optical Fibre Connectors

Example 1,

Sol:

Example: 2
Calculate the output power at port 3?

Sol:

ISOLATORS
To allow light to propagate in one direction only

P0

P1

A
P2

ISOLATORS
P0 P1

A
P3 P2

P0 Insertion loss 10 log P 1 P2 Isolation 10 log P 3

ISOLATOR SPECIFICATION

CIRCULATORS
Optical circulators redirects light sequentially from port-to-port in a unidirectional path
2 1

Same characteristics as isolators by looking port 1-2 @ port 2-3

3

To extract the desired wavelength, a circulator is used in conjunction with the rating

CIRCULATORS
Characteristics: high isolation low insertion loss can have more than 3 ports

Applications: Optical Amplifier Add-Drop Multiplexer Bi-directional transmission To monitor back-reflection from devices or optical subsystems

CIRCULATORS: APPLICATION

Fiber Bragg Gratings

A grating is a periodic structure or perturbation in a material that creates a property of reflecting or transmitting light in a certain direction depending on the wavelength.
External writing technique using UV light

l2

Fiber Bragg Gratings

l1 l2 l3 l1 l3

Transmission Reflection

l2 2neff

l2

Fiber Bragg Gratings

Fiber Bragg Gratings

Figure 2: FBGs reflected power as a function of wavelength

The reflected wavelength (B), called the Bragg wavelength, is defined by the relationship,

,
where n is the average refractive index of the grating and is the grating period.

Fiber Bragg Gratings

Characteristics:
high reflectivity to be used as a filter low insertion loss low cost/simple packaging

FBG APPLICATIONS

FIBER BRAGG GRATING SPECS.

ATTENUATORS
Function: To decrease light intensity (power)
Working Principles

Fiber displacement

Rotating an absorption disk

ATTENUATORS
Programmable attenuator
Set @ 60 dB

Insertion loss = 2 dB

Pin = 0 dBm

Pout = 0 - 20 - 2 = -22 dBm

ATTENUATORS
Characteristics: low insertion loss dynamic attenuation range wide range of operating wavelength high return loss

Applications:
adjust optical power to the dynamic range of receivers equalize power between different WDM signals To avoid receiver saturation

ATTENUATORS
Mechanical attenuator - by adjusting a screw

Waveguide attenuator - by adjusting biasing current