OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

(READ THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL WITH REFERENCE TO NOTES DICTATED IN OFC

REGULAR CLASS)

What is an Optical Fiber? Optical fibers are long strands of thin and
flexible cylindrical transparent materials made of plastic or glass designed to
transmit visible or infra red light across great distance.

Main Parts of an Optical Fiber Cable:

1. Core: innermost part of the fiber, made of glass or plastic or glass

2. Cladding: layer surrounding the core, made of glass or plastic,
refractive index is greater than that of core, constricts light within core
using total internal reflection.
3. Jacket: outermost layer protecting the cladding from environmental
hazards, pollution and shocks, made of plastic or polymer

Dimension of fiber:
Core: 5 micrometer
to 50 micrometer
Cladding: about 125
micrometer
Jacket: about 250
micrometer
Advantages of fibers over Cables and Wires:

 Lighter in weight and occupy less space

 More economical than cables and wires in the long run
 No physical connection is required from sender to receiver
 Transmission speed is very fast compared to wires and co axial cable.
 The electrical noise does not interfere with propagated light signals.
Thus in optical fiber, cross talking can be avoided.
 The attenuation in a fiber is markedly low
 The bandwidth of the fiber is higher
 Raw materials required for production of optical fibers are available in
plenty
 The fibers last longer than copper wires as they are immune to
pollution and environmental hazards
 The information carrying capacity of an optical fiber is several
(thousands) of times more than the copper cable or co-axial cables
used for transferring radio waves for telephones.


Working Principle: The core is made of a material of refractive index n1

while the cladding is made of a material of refractive index n2
(n1>n2).

When light enters one end of the fiber, it travels from a denser
medium towards a rarer medium with a finite angle. The light ray hits the
core-cladding interface with an angle greater than the critical angle for the
interface and thus gets reflected at the interface due to total internal
reflection. It suffers multiple total internal reflections at the core-cladding
interface along the whole length of the fiber and finally emerges out of the
other end of the fiber. The transmission occurs without any loss of energy
even when the fiber is bent.

The ability of light gathering of the fiber depends on:

 1. core diameter
2. numerical aperture

Classification of optical Fiber:

1. Step-index optical Fiber: It has small core diameter (same order as

that of the wavelength of light) along with a core and cladding of
uniform refractive index n1 and n2 respectively (n1>n2). It is called so
because a sudden change of refractive index occurs at the junction of
the core-cladding interface in a single step to allow total internal
reflection to take place.

Advantage: Best for long distance communication as the pulse repetition

can be high and maximum information can be send.

Disadvantage: use of thin core creates mechanical difficulties in

manufacturing and handling of the fiber.

Utility: Used in under sea-level transmission of data where the expenditure

is justified

2. Graded-index optical fiber: It is a multimode fiber with huge core

diameter and with a core having non-uniform refractive index, the
refractive index being a function of radial distance from the fiber axis.
The refractive index of the cladding is uniform. Since the refractive
index towards the core-cladding interface is lower than that at the
center, the light rays traveling along the edge travels faster. Thus, all
rays arrive the end of the fiber at approximately the same time.
Advantage: The signal distortion is reduced as the light rays are
continuously refocused within the core as they travel down the fiber.

Snells Law: “When the light ray propagating from denser medium to rarer
medium the light ray bends away from the normal line”.

n1 sin φ 1=n 2 sin φ2

 Numerical Aperture and Acceptance Angle

Acceptance Angle: The maximum angle of incidence at the entrance

aperture of the fiber for which the light ray undergo total internal reflection
at the core-cladding interface and propagates through the fiber is called the
acceptance angle.

Define Numerical aperture.

Numerical aperture (N.A) of the fiber is the light collecting
efficiency of the fiber and is the measure of the amount of light
rays that can be accepted by the fiber. It is equal to the sine of
acceptance. Its a dimensionless quantity.

NA=sin φ=√ n21 −n 22

where n1 and n2 are the refractive indices of core and
cladding respectively.

Numerical aperture derivation using Snells Law

The numerical aperture (NA) of an optical system is a dimensionless

number that characterizes the range of angles over which the system can
accept or emit light.

“Numerical aperture (N.A) of the fiber is the light collecting efficiency of the
fiber and is the measure of the amount of light rays that can be accepted
by the fiber”.
The numerical aperture of an optical system such as an objective lens is
defined by

where n is the index of refraction of the medium and θ is the half-angle of

the maximum cone of light that can enter or exit the lens.

Derivation of Numerical aperture by using Snell’s law:

Consider the optical fiber with refractive index of the fiber core is n1 and
refractive index of the cladding is n2.
When a light ray is incident from a medium of refractive index n to the core
of index n1 at the maximum acceptance angle, Snell's law at the medium–
core interface gives

From the geometry of the above figure we have:

Where is the critical angle for total internal reflection.

Substituting cos θc for sin θr in Snell's law we get:

By squaring both sides

Solving, we find the formula stated above:

This has the same form as the numerical aperture in other optical systems

Write the expression for the refractive index in graded index fibers.
α 1/2 ;
n(r)= n1[1-2Δ(r/a) ] for O<=r<=a
1/2
n 1(1-2 Δ) ~n1(1- Δ) =n2 ;for r>=a

r- radial distance from fiber

axis a- core radius
n1- refractive index at the core
n2- refractive index at the cladding
α - shape of the index profile
A - index difference

Define Mode-field diameter.

Mode field diameter is the measure of width of field distribution.

“The mode field diameter is the diameter at which the electric and
magnetic field strengths are reduced to 1/e of their maximum values”, or
“the diameter at which power is reduced to 1/e 2 of the maximum power”,
because the power is proportional to the square of the field strength.
Mode field diameter is always greater than core diameter of the optical
fiber.

What is the necessity of cladding for an optical fiber?

a) To provide proper light guidance inside the core
b) To avoid leakage of light from the fiber
c) To avoid mechanical strength for the fiber
 d) To protect the core from scratches and other mechanical
damages

What are the uses of optical fibers?

a) To transmit the information which are in the form of coded
signals of the telephone communication, computer data, etc.
b) To transmit the optical images (Example : Endoscopy)
c) To act as a light source at the inaccessible places.
d) To act as sensors to do mechanical, electrical and magnetic
measurements.

What is the principle used in the working of fibers as light guides?

The phenomenon of total internal reflection is used to guide
the light in the optical fiber. To get total internal reflection, the ray
should travel from denser to rarer i.e. from core to clad region of
the fiber and the angle of incidence in the denser medium should
be greater than the critical angle of that medium.

What are step index and graded index fibers?

In the case of step index fiber, the refractive index of a core
is a constant and is larger than the refractive index of the cladding.
The light propagation is mainly by meridional rays. In the case of
graded index fiber (GRIN fiber) the refractive index of the core
varies parabolically from the centre of the core having maximum
refractive index to the core-cladding interface having constant
minimum refractive index. Here the light propagation is by skew
rays.

Define acceptance angle.

The maximum angle ‘Φmax’ with which a ray of light can
enter through the entrance end of the fiber and still be totally
internally reflected is called acceptance angle of the fiber.

Why do we prefer step index single mode fiber for long distance
communication?
Step index single mode fiber has
a)low attenuation due to smaller core diameter
b) higher bandwidth and
c) very low dispersion.

What are meridional rays?

Meridional rays are the rays following Zig Zag path when
 they travel through fiber and for every reflection it will cross the
fiber axis.

What are skew rays?

Skew rays are the rays following the helical path around the
fiber axis when they travel through the fiber and they would not
cross the fiber axis at any time.

What is V number of fiber or normalized frequency of fiber?

V number of fiber or normalized frequency of fiber is used to
find the number of propagating modes through the fiber.

V= 2 π a (N.A)
λ

In step index fiber number of modes propagating through the fiber=V2/2

In graded index fiber number of modes propagating through the fiber=V2/4.

What are the conditions for total internal reflection?

a) Light should travel from denser medium to rarer medium.
b) The angle of incidence should be greater than the critical angle of
the denser medium.

Give the relation between numerical aperture of skew rays and

meridional rays.
[(NA )Skew = COS γ . (NA )Meridional ] , when the fiber is placed in air.
Here, γ is the half of the angular change in every reflection.

When do you have phase shift during total internal reflection of

light.
When the light ray travels from denser medium to rarer medium, if the
angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle of core medium, there
is a phase shift for both TE and TM waves.

Define cutoff wavelength of the fiber.

The cutoff wavelength is defined as the maximum value of wavelength
that can be transmitted through the fiber. The wavelengths greater than
the cutoff wavelength can not be transmitted through the optical fiber.
2 πa
λcutoff = ( NA )
V
Mention the rule distinguishing ‘mode’ and ‘order’.
The rule states that the smaller the modes propagating angle, the
lower the order of the mode. Thus the mode traveling precisely along the
fiber’s central axis is zero mode.

Give the expression for numerical aperture in graded index fibers.

α 1/2
N.A(r)= N.A.(0) (1-(r/a) ) for r<=a
2 2
where N.A(0) = axial numerical aperture = (n1 -n2 )1/2 a is core
radius and α is the refractive index profile.

Single Mode Optical Fibers

A single-mode optical fiber (SMF) (monomode optical fiber, single-mode

optical waveguide, or unimode fiber) is an optical fiber designed to carry
only a single ray of light (mode).

 Fiber supporting only one mode is called single-mode or mono-mode

fiber.

Modes define the way the wave travels through space (fiber), i.e. how
the wave is distributed in space (fiber). Waves can have the same mode but
have different frequencies. Although the ray travels parallel to the length of
the fiber, it is often called transverse mode since its electromagnetic
vibrations occur perpendicular (transverse) to the length of the fiber.
Mode field diameter (MFD): An expression of distribution of the optical
power, across the end faces of a single-mode fiber.
“The mode field diameter is the diameter at which the electric and magnetic
field strengths are reduced to 1/e of their maximum values”, or “the
diameter at which power is reduced to 1/e2 of the maximum power”,
because the power is proportional to the square of the field strength.

 Mode field diameter is always greater than core diameter of the optical
fiber.
Comparison between Single Mode Fiber (SMF) and Multi Mode Fibers
(MMF):

The following are the difference between Single Mode and Multimode fiber
optics:

1) Single Mode carries only a single ray of light whereas multiple rays of
light can travel through Multimode fiber optics.

2) Single mode fibers do not exhibit any dispersion unlike Multimode fibers.

3) Multimode fibers have multiple spatial modes unlike single mode fibers.

4) Single mode fibers are better at retaining the fidelity of light pulse over
long distances than multimode fibers.

5) Single mode fibers have higher bandwidth than multimode.

6) Single mode fiber equipment is more expensive than the equipment for
multimode.

7) Single mode fiber is cheaper than multimode fiber.

8) Multimode fibers have higher capacity and reliability over short distances
than single mode.

9) Multimode fibers support more than one propagation mode unlike single
fiber.

10) Multimode fibers are limited by modal dispersion whereas single mode
is not.
ELECTRO MAGNETIC SPECTRUM

Fiber Materials

Requirements for optical fiber material

 It must be possible to make long thin, flexible fibers from the material

 Material must be transparent at a particular optical wave length in

order for fiber to guide light efficiently

 Physically compatible materials that have slightly different refractive

indices for core and cladding must be available

Materials that satisfy these requirements are glasses and plastic.

Majority of fibers are made of glass consisting of either silica or
silicate. Plastic fibers are less widely used because of their higher
 attenuation. Plastic fibers are used for short distance applications
(several hundred meters) and abusive environments.

Glass Fiber:

Glass is made by fusing mixture of metal oxides, sulfides, or selenides.

The resulting material is a randomly connected molecular network rather
a well defined structure as found in crystalline materials.

A consequence of this random order is glass does not have a well defined
melting point. When glass is heated, it gradually begins to soften until it
becomes a viscous liquid. Optical fibers are made from oxide glasses and
most popular is silica (SiO2) which has refractive index of 1.458 at 850
nm.

To produce two similar materials with slightly different refraction indices

for core and cladding, either fluorine or other oxides (dopants) are added
to silica. Sand is the principle raw material for silica. Glass composed of
 pure silica is referred to as either silica glass, fused glass, or vitreous
silica.

Desired properties of glass fibers are,

 Resistance to deformation at temperatures as high as 1000 C

 High resistance to breakage from thermal shock

 Good chemical durability

 High transparency in both visible and infrared regions of interest.

Plastic Optical Fibers

• Growing demand for delivering high-speed services to workstations

• Have greater optical signal attenuations than glass fiber

• They tough and durable

• Core diameter is 10-20 times larger.

Fiber Fabrication
• Two basic techniques

– Vapor-phase oxidation process

• Outside vapor phase oxidation

• Vapor phase axial deposition

• Modified chemical vapor deposition

• Plasma activated chemical vapor deposition

– Direct-melt methods.

Direct melt method

– Follows traditional glass making procedures

– Optical fiber are made directly from molten state of purified

components of silicate glass

Vapor phase oxidation

– Highly pure vapors of metal galides (SiCl4) react with oxygen to

form white powder of SiO2 particles

– Particles are collected on surface of bulk glass by above methods

and are transformed to a homogenous glass by heating without
melting to form a clear glass rod or tube. This rod is called
“perform”

– Preform is 10-25 mm in diameter and 60-120 cm long.

– Prefrom is fed into circular heater called drawing furnace.

– Preform end is softened to the point where it can be drawn into a

very thin filament which becomes optical fiber

– The speed of the drum at the bottom of draw tower determines

how fast and in turn how thick the fiber is

– An elastic coating is applied to protect the fiber.

 Outside Vapor Phase Oxidation

• Core layer is deposited on a rotating ceramic rod

• Cladding is deposited on top of core layer

• Ceramic rod is slipped out (different thermal expansion coefficient)

 • The tube is heated and mounted in a fiber drawing tower and made
into a fiber

• The central hole collapses during this drawing process.

Vapor Phase Axial Deposition

Similar to outside vapor deposition

• Starts with a seed which is a pure silica rod

• The preform is grown in the axial direction by moving rod upward

• Rod is also rotated to maintain cylindrical symmetery

• As preform moves upward it is transformed into a solid transparent

rod preform by zone melting (heating in a narrow localized zone)

• Advantages

– No central hole is formed.

Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition

• Pioneered at Bell Labs, and adopted to produce low loss graded index
fiber

• Glass vapor particles, arising from reaction of constituent metal halide

gasses and oxygen flow through inside of revolving silica tube

• As SiO2 particles are deposited, they are sintered to a clear glass layer
by an oxyhydrogen torch which travels back and forth

• When desired thickness of glass have been deposited, vapor flow is

shut off

• Tube is heated strongly to cause it to collapse into a solid rod prefrom

 • Fiber drawn from this prefrom rod will have a core that consists of
vapor deposited material and a cladding that consists of original silica
tube.

Double Crucible Method(Direct melt method)

•
Silica and halide glass fiber can all be made using a direct-melt double
crucible technique
• Glass rods for the core and cladding materials are first made
separately by melting mixtures of purified powders

• These rods are then used as feedstock for each of two concentric
crucibles

• Advantage of this method is being a continuous process

• Careful attention must be paid to avoid contaminants during melting.

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