1.

OPTICAL FIBER TYPES

A. Optical Fiber Construction

Protections:
lacquer, silicone or acrylate coating applied outside the cladding to seal and preserve the fibers strength

-protect fiber from moisture to protect from

stress corrosions (static fatigue) caused by high humidity

-buffer jacket provides cable additional protection against abrasion and shock used steel, fiberglass, plastic, flame-retardant polyvinyl chloride (FR-PVC), Kevlar yarn, and paper -materials commonly used to strengthen and protect fibers from abrasion and environmental stress

 strength member increases the tensile strength of the over-all cable assembly

 polyurethane jacket over-all protection

3 essential types of optical fibers:

1. Plastic core and cladding more flexible and more rugged than glass easier to install can better withstand stress less expensive weigh approximately 60% less than glass higher attenuation characteristics and do not propagate light as efficiently as glass

2. Glass core with plastic cladding (PCS fiber [plastic-clad silica]) lesser attenuation than plastic fibers slightly better than plastic core & cladding less affected by radiation more immune to external interference

 3. Glass core and glass cladding (called SCS [silica-clad silica]) best propagation characteristics easier to terminate than PCS fibers least rugged more susceptible to increases in attenuation when exposed to radiation.

B. Cable Configurations

Loose tube construction each fiber is contained in a protective tube Inside the tube a polyurethane compound encapsules the fiber and prevents the intrusion of water Stress corrosion or static fatigue can result if the glass fiber is exposed to long periods of high humidity. Silicon dioxide crystals interact with the moisture and cause bonds to break down, casuing spontaneous fractures to from over prolonged period

oConstrained fiber more protection

oSorrounding the fiber are a primary and a secondary buffer comprised of oKevlar yarn which Increases the tensile strength of the cable and provides protection from external mechanical influences that could cause fiber breakage or excessive otpical attenuation.
oPolyurethane prevents moisture from coming into contact with the fiber core

Multiple strand cable configuration includes steel central member and a layer of Mylar tape wrap to increase the cables tensile strength.

Telephone cable

Plastic-silica cable

 Materials used to strengthen and protect fibers: steel fiberglass plastic FR-PVC (Flame-retardant polyvinyl chloride) Kevlar yarn paper

2. Light Propagation

A. Physics of Light

Energy absorbed or emitted (photon)

b. Optical Power
Photometry science of measuring only light waves that are visible to the human eye light intensity is described in terms of luminous flux density, lumens/A Radiometry measures light throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum measures optical power as the rate at which electromagnetic waves transfer light energy -generally used with light sources with output powers ranging from tens of micrwatts to more than 100 milliwatts optical power flow of light energy past a given point in a specified time - sometimes called radiant flux ( )

C. Velocity of Propagation
Refraction of light waves
refract towards the normal (imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the interface of the two materials at the point of incidence)
from less dense to more dense material

refract away from the normal from more dense to less dense material

 violet wavelengths are refracted the most while the red is the least prismatic refraction spectral separation of white light rainbow occurrence as water droplets acting as prism refractive index the ratio of the velocity of propagation of a light ray in free space to the velocity of propagation of light ray in a given material

 Critical Angle minimum angle of incidence at which a light ray may strike the interface of two media and result in an angle of refraction of or greater. light ray must travel from a medium of higher refractive index to a lower refractive index (i.e. glass into cladding)

3. Optical Fiber Configuration

4. Optical fiber classification

3 Practical Types of Optical Fiber Configurations: a. Single-Mode Step-Index Optical Fiber b. Multimode Step-Index Optical Fiber c. Multimode Graded-Index Optical Fiber

a. Single-Mode Step-Index Optical Fiber

 Advantages: i. minimum dispersion - less loss ii. higher bandwidth higher information rate Disadvantages: i. Difficult to couple light into and out ii. need highly directive light source such as laser iii. expensive and difficult to manufacture

b. Multimode Step-Index Optical Fiber

similar to single-mode step-index except that the center core is much larger with the multimode configuration has large light to fiber aperture allows more external light to enter the cable

Advantages: i. inexpensive and simple to manufacture ii. easier to couple light into and out Disadvantages: i. more distortion - more losses ii. less bandwidth less information rate

c. Multimode Graded-Index Optical Fiber

central core has nonuniform refractive index denser at the center continuous bending of light light rays traveling in the outermost area of the fiber travel a greater distance than the rays traveling near the center (velocity is inversely proportional to refractive index)

Advantages and disadvantages: i. easier to couple light compared to single-mode stepindex but difficult compared to multimode step-index ii. more loss than single-mode but less loss than multimode step-index

5. Losses in Optical Fiber Cables

Power losses reduce the :

systems bandwidth information transmission rate efficiency over-all system capacity

L A = cable power loss

Kinds of Losses:
1. Absorption Loss analogous to power dissipation in copper cables Caused by impurities in the fiber that absorb the light and convert it to heat Causes of Absorption Loss:
Ultraviolet absorption caused by valence electrons in the silica material from which fibers are manufactured (ionization) Infrared absorption photons of light are absorbed by the atoms of the glass core molecules Ion resonance absorption caused by (water molecules trapped in the glass during manufacture) ions in the material as well as iron, copper and chromium molecules.

2. Material, or Rayleigh Scattering Losses

caused by the submicroscopic irregularities which are impurities. Spreads out the light rays when it strikes these impurities

3. Chromatic, or Wavelength Dispersion

due to the different velocity that each wavelength travel light do not arrive at the far end of the fiber at the same time can be eliminated using a monochromatic light source such as an injection laser diode (ILD) occurs only in fibers with a single mode of transmission

4. Radiation Loss
caused by small bends and kinks in the fiber two types of bends:
microbends occurs as a result in the differences in the thermal contraction rates between the core and the cladding material constant-radius bends caused by excessive pressure and tension and generally occur when fibers are bent during handling or installation

5. Modal Dispersion
sometimes called pulse spreading caused by the difference in the propagation times of light rays that take different paths down a fiber occur only in multimode fibers reduced using graded-index fibers

Dispersion is expressed in: BLP Bandwidth Length Product (linewidth) Or BDP Bandwidth Distance Product
indicates what signal frequencies can be propagated through a given distance of fiber cable as the distance of the fiber increases, the bandwidth decreases

6. Coupling Losses - caused by imperfect physical connections - can occur at light source-to-fiber connections, fiber-to-fiber connections and fiber-to-photodetector connections. - caused by lateral misalignment, gap misalignment, angular misalignment and imperfect surface finishes