EE 230: Optical Fiber Communication Lecture 2

Fibers from the view of Geometrical

Optics

From the movie

Warriors of the Net

Total Internal Reflection

Snells Law :
n1 sin1 n2 sin 2
Re flection Condition
1 3
When n1 n2 and as 1 increases eventually 2
goes to 90 deg rees and
n
n1 sinc n2 or sinc 2
n1
c is called the Critical angle
For 1 c there is no propagating refracted ray

Reflection as a function of angle

The reflectivities of waves polarized

parallel and perpendicular to the plane of
incidence as given by the Fresnel equations

Fiber Optics Communication Technology-Mynbaev & Scheiner

This additional Phase

Shift is not accounted for
in geometrical wave
approach

Principal Types of Optical Fiber

Types of Fibers
Single mode/Multi-mode
Step Index/Graded Index
Dispersion Shifted/Non-dispersion shifted
Silica/fluoride/Other materials
Major Performance Concerns for Fibers
Wavelength range
Maximum Propagation Distance
Maximum bitrate
Crosstalk

Understanding Fiber Optics-Hecht

Fabrication of Optical Fiber

Fabrication of fiber preform:
macroscopic version with correct index
profile
Drawing of preform down into thin fiber
Jacketing and cabling

Step-Index Fiber
Cladding typically pure silica
Core doped with germanium to increase
index
Index difference referred to as delta in
units of percent (typically 0.3-1.0%)
Tradeoff between coupling and bending
losses
Index discontinuity at core-clad
boundary

Basic Step index Fiber Structure

Fiber Optics Communication Technology-Mynbaev & Scheiner

Ray Trajectories in Step Index

fiber

Meridional Rays

Skew Rays

Coupling Light into an Optical

Fiber

Fiber Optics Communication Technology-Mynbaev & Scheiner

Acceptance Angle
The acceptance angle (i) is the largest incident
angle ray that can be coupled into a guided ray
within the fiber
The Numerical Aperature (NA) is the sin(i) this
is defined analagously to that for a lens

1
2 2
)

1
2 2
= (2D n )

1
2
= n(2D )

NA = (n12 -

n2

Where D

n1 - n2
n + n2
and n 1
n
2

f#

f
f
=
D FullAccep tan ceAngle
=

1
2 NA

Optics-Hecht & Zajac

2
1

2
1
nCO

nCL

For Corning SMF-28 optical fiber

nco=1.4504, nCL=1.4447 at 1550 nm
NA = 0.13
Acceptance angle = 7.35 degrees

Geometrical View of Modes

Ray approximation valid in the
limit that goes to zero
Geometrical Optics does not
predict the existance of discrete
modes
Maxwells Equations and
dielectric boundary conditions
give rise to the requirement that
the fields and phase reproduce
themselves each cycle

Fiber Optics Communication Technology-Mynbaev & Scheiner

Rays and Their E-field Distribution

Origin of Modal Dispersion

Straight path along fiber axis has distance L and velocity c/nCO for
transit time of LnCO/c

Path at maximum acceptance angle c has distance L/cos2 where

2=90-c and thus a longer transit time.

NA

cos 2 1 sin 2 2 1
nCO
t 2 t1

LnCO
c

nCO

1
nCL

Transit time difference equal to

Dispersion limits rate of signals that fiber can handle

If spread can be up to 70% of bit period, then maximum bit rate is
1.4cnCO/(NA)2

Intermodal Dispersion

n1
L
D tSI = c n nD
2
D tSI @L
c nD for n1 @n2
(NA)2
D tSI @L
c 2n
Fiber Optics Communication Technology-Mynbaev & Scheiner

Bandwidth for Various Fiber Types

Bit Rate BR < 1
4D t
BRSI =

1 = c
4D tSI 4LnD

BRGI = 2c 2
n1LD
BRGI
BRSI

2c
n1LD 2
c
4LnD

8
D

No intermodal time shift for single

Mode Fiber
Fiber Optics Communication Technology-Mynbaev & Scheiner

Graded Index Fiber

n( ) n1 1 for <a
a

n( ) n1 1 =n 2 for >a

Fiber Optic Communication Systems-Agarwal

for 2 a "parabolic profile"

1

NA=n1 2 2 1

tGI

which varies with

Ln1 2
8c

Fiber Optic Communications-Palais

Ray Propagation in Graded-Index

Fiber

Graded Index Slab Uniform in X and Z

Fundamentals of Photonics - Saleh and Teich

Ray spreading comparison

L NA
t SI
2cnCO
tGI

L NA

3
8cnCO

Comparison, continued
If NA=0.13 and nCO=1.45,
tSI/L=19 ps/m
tGI/L=0.039 ps/m
Graded-index fiber has substantially less
modal dispersion