Solutions of Problem No.

1
Optical fiber

1.a. At both sides of the point O (outside and inside the fiber), according to Snell law, we
have:

0 i 1
sin sin n n
1
= (1)
where
1
is the value of angle at point O inside the fiber.
The light trajectory lays in the xOz plane. Because the refraction index n varies along x
direction, we divide Ox axis into small elements dx, so that in each of these elements n can be
considered as constant. We have, then:

( ) ( ) sin .sin n i n dn i di = + + (2)
where i is the angle between the light trajectory and x direction. Because
2
i

+ =
, then

( ) cos .cos( ) n n dn d = + + (3)
Thus, at each point of coordinate x on the light trajectory, we have:

2 2
1
1 cos cos cos n n x n
1 1
= = (4)
Because

2
2 i
1 1
2
1
1 1
n

= =
sin
cos sin
(5)
we have

2
2 2 i
1 1 1 1
2
1
1 n n n n
n

i
= = =
sin
cos cos sin

Then
2 2
1
n C n
i
= = cos sin
(6)
1.2. Because
' tan
dx
x
dz
= =
, from (6) we have:
( )
1
2 2 2 2 2
2
1 1
1 1 1 cos tan n x n x

= + C =
(7)
Squaring the two sides, we obtain:

( )( )
2
1
2 2 2
2
1
1 1 tan
C
x
n


+ =

and

2
2 2 2 1
2
1 (1 ) '
n
x x
C
+ =
(8)

After derivating the two sides of (8) versus z, we get:

2 2
1
2
0 ''
n
x x
C

+ =
(9)
Because
2 2
1
1 x = n n and
1
at x=0
1
n n =
at x=a
2
n n =
we get

2 2
1 2
1
.
n n
a n

=

Finally, we get the equation for x''

2 2
1 2
2 2 2
1
0 ''
( sin )
i
n n
x x
a n

=
)
(10)

1.c. The equation for the light trajectory is obtained by solving (10). This is an equation
similar to that for an harmonic oscillation, which solution can be written right away

(
0
sin x x pz = q + (11)
with

2 2
1 2
2 2
1 i
1
sin
n n
p
a n

The parameters p and q are determined from the boundary conditions:
at z=0, x=0, hence q=0
at z=0 inside the fiber,
1
' ta
dx
x
dz
n = = , then

1
0
2 2
1 2
tan . sin a
x
p
n n
i

= =

(12)
The equation for the trajectory of the light inside the fiber is:

2 2
i 1 2
2 2
2 2
1 i
1 2
sin
. sin .
sin
a n n z
x
a
n
n n

| |

=
|

\ .
|
(13)


1.d. Here is a sketch of the trajectories of two rays entering the fiber at O, under different
incident angles.



O
a
a








2

2.a. The condition for the light to propagate along the fiber is that
0
x a . This means that:

i
2 2
1 2
sin a
a
n n

or:

2 2
i 1
sin n n
2
(14)
Thus the incident angle
i
must not exceed
i M
, with

2 2
iM 1 2
0 344 sin . n n = = (14a)
or:

( )
2 2
i i M 1 2
0 344 0 351rad 20 13 Arc n n Arc = = = = sin sin . . .
o


2.b. The crossing points of the light beam with Oz axis must satisfy the condition pz k = ,
with k - an integer. The z coordinates of these points are:
2 2
1
2 2
1 2
sin n k
z k a
p
n n
i



= =

(15)
except for
i
=0.

3.a. The rays entering the fiber at different incident angles have different trajectories. As a
consequence, the propagation speeds of the rays along the fiber should be different.
The light trajectories are sinusoidal as given in (13). Let us calculate the time it takes the
light to propagate from point O to its first crossing point with Oz axis. This is twice the time it
takes the light to propagate from point O to its position most distant from Oz axis.
The time required for the light to travel a small segment ds along its trajectory is

2
2 2
2
1 .
n n n dz
dt ds dx dz dx
c c c
dx
= = + = +
dx
ds
dz

2
1
1 .
tan sin
n n
dx
c c
dx

| |
=
|
\ .
= +
From (6), we have

( )
2 2 2
1
2 2 2 2
i 1
1
.
. sin
n x
dt dx
c n x

and

0 0 0 2 2
2 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2
0 0 0
i 1 i 1
2
sin sin
x x x
n dx x dx
dt
c
n x n x

(
(
= =
(



2
(16)

2
2 1
1 2
n
I I
c

(

=
3
where

0
1
1
2 2
1 i
0
1 2
1
2
sin
sin
x
n x a
I Arc
n
n n


= =

(17)
0
0
2 1
2 2 2 2 i 2
i 1
i
2
2 2 3 3 3 3
1 1
0
0
2 2
sin . sin
sin sin sin
x
x
n x
Arc
x n x
I
n n

i
1
4n



= + = (18)
Using (16), (17), (18), we obtain

2 2
1
2
2 2
1
1 2
1
2
. sin a n
n
c n n
i

| |

\ .
= |
|
(19)
The propagation speed along the fiber is
z
v

= , where is the coordinate of the first

crossing point, which is determined by (15) for k = 1. Because and depend on the incident
angle
z
z
i
, v also depends on
i
.
For
i i M
= , from (14a), we get

1
2 2 2
1 2
2 2
M
2 2 2
2 2
1 1 1
1 2
2
2
1 .
c n n
an n cn
an n n n
n n

| |

= + |
|
+
\ .
2
2
2
= v (20)

and

8
8
M
2 2
2 2 998 10 1 460
1 998 10 m/s
1 500 1 460
. .
.
. .

= =
+
v (20a)
The propagation speed of the light along the Oz axis is
1
c
v
n
= (21)
because the refraction index is n
1
on the axis of the fiber.
The numerical value is

8
8
0
2 998 10
1 999 10 m/s
1 5
.
.
.

= = v (21a)
3.b. If the beam of the light pulses is formed by rays converging at O, then the rays with
different incident angles has different propagation speeds. The two rays of incident angles
0
i
= and
i M i
= arrive to the plane z with a time delay

( )
2
1 2
M 0 2
2
.
n n
z z z
t
v v c n

= = (22)
This means that a very short light pulse becomes a pulse of finite width given by (22)
at the plane z. If two consecutive pulses enter the fiber with a delay greater than , then at
the plane z, they are separated. Hence the repetition frequency of the pulses must not exceed
the maximal value:
t
t
4
( )
( )
1
2
M
2
1 2
2. .
.
c n
f t
z n n

= =

(23)
If , then 1000 m z =

( )
8
M
2
2 2 998 10 1 460
547 1MHz
1000 1 500 1 460
. .
.
. .
f

= =





5