Chapter 2

OPTICAL FIBER
Fiber-Optic Communications Systems, Third Edition.
Govind P. Agrawal

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Chapter Goals
Describe the details of Geometrical-Optics: Step-Index Fiber,
Graded-Index Fibers

Describe Refraction and Reflection rays

Derive Total Internal Reflection Conditions

Determine Numerical Aperture

Describe propagation rays in Multi-Mode Step-Index Fiber and

in Multi-Mode Graded-Index Fiber

Determine BL product Limitation of Graded-Index Fiber
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Determine Dispersion in Single-Mode Fibers: Group-Velocity,

Material, Waveguide, Higher-Order, Polarization-Mode
Determine Fiber Losses: Attenuation Coefficient, Material
Absorption, Rayleigh Scattering, Waveguide Imperfections.
Describe Fiber Manufacturing: Design Issues, Fabrication
Methods, Cables
Investigate Dispersion Compensation in Fiber by OptiWave

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Geometrical-Optics Description

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Geometrical-Optics Description
n2
n1
n2

MM-SI Fiber
1n

n1
n2

MM-GI Fiber

n2
n1
n2

SM Fiber
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Refraction and Reflection

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Refraction and Reflection

refracted
ray

Assuming: n1 n2

n2
n1
incident
ray

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Laws Snell:

1 1

n1. sin 1 n2 . sin 2

reflected
ray

Total Internal Reflection

n2

refracted
ray

1 increase then 2 increase

1 c then 2
2

n1

1 c

reflected
ray

n2
sin c , c : critical angle
n1

Total Internal Reflection conditions?

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Total Internal Reflection Conditions

n2
n1

1 c

refracted
ray

reflected
ray

Conclusion: The total reflection occurs when:

n1 n2

all rays with 1 c

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Numerical Aperture (NA) of the Fiber

NA n0 sin i (n n )
2
1

2
2

In analogy with lenses, is known as

the numerical aperture (NA) of the fiber. It represents

the light-gathering capacity of an optical fiber.

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Numerical Aperture (NA) of the Fiber

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Example 1
Determine Numerical Aperture of the Fiber?
(i) n1 = 1.46 and n2 = 1 (air)
(ii) n1 = 1.465 and n2 = 1.45.
Application of Eq:

NA n0 sin i (n12 n22 )

(i)

NA n12 n22 1.462 12 1.07

(ii)

NA n12 n22 1.4652 1.452 0.2091

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Numeric Aperture (NA) of the Fiber

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Numeric Aperture (NA) of the Fiber

NA n0 sin i (n n )
2
1

With

2
2

n1 n2

n1

Demonstrate:

NA n1 2 ?
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Typical Numerical Aperture values

of the MM Fiber

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Example 2
BL < n2c/n12

Determine BL of the MM-SI fiber which has these

parameters as follows: n1 = 1.5 and n2 = 1?

Determine Bit rate transferred through this fiber which

has length of 10 km?

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Answer 2

This condition provides a rough estimate of a fundamental

limitation of step-index fibers. Consider an unclad glass

fiber with n1 = 1.5 and n2 = 1 BL < 400 (kb/s)-km.

Rb 40 kb/s over L 10 km. Considerable improvement

occurs for cladded fibers with a small index step.

Most fibers for communication applications are designed with

< 0.01. As an example, BL < 100 (Mb/s)-km for = 2
103. Rb 10 Mb/s over L 10 km and may be suitable for
some local-area networks.

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Multimode Graded-Index Fiber

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Limitation BL
The quantity T /L, where T is the maximum
multipath delay in a fiber of length L, is found to vary
considerably with .
Figure 2.4 shows this variation for n1 = 1.5 and =
0.01. The minimum dispersion occurs for
= 2(1 ) and depends on as
T/L = n12 /8c.
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Limitation BL
The limiting bit ratedistance product is obtained by

using the criterion T < 1/B and is given by

BL < 8c/n12 .

The right scale in Fig. 2.4 shows the BL product as a

function of . Graded-index fibers with a suitably

optimized index profile can communicate data at a bit

rate of 100 Mb/s over distances up to 100 km.
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Figure 2.4: Variation of intermodal dispersion T /L

with the profile parameter for a GI fiber. The scale on
the right shows the corresponding BL product.
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Example 3

BL < 8c/n12

Determine BL of the MM-GI fiber which has these

parameters as follows: n1 = 1.5 and = 0.01.

Determine Bit rate is transferred through this MM-GI

fiber which has length of 10 km?

Compare this BL with that of MM-SI fiber which was

investigated in example 2?
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Single Mode Step-Index Fiber

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E & H: the electric & magnetic field vectors,

D & B: the corresponding flux densities.
The constitutive relations:
D = 0 E + P,

(2.2.5)

B = m0 H + M,

(2.2.6)

0 : the vacuum permittivity,

m0 : the vacuum permeability,

P & M: the induced electric & magnetic polarizations

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Review Related Equations

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Analysis in Cylindral Coordinates

j (t z )
E E0 ( , )e

j (t z )
H H 0 ( , )e
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SMF Condition

2.405
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or

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2.405

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The single-mode condition: V < 2.405

o The smallest value of V which J0 (V )= 0 is 2.405.
A fiber designed such that V < 2.405 supports only
the fundamental HE11 mode.
o Using Eq. (2.2.35)

to estimate the core radius of single-mode fibers

used in lightwave systems.
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Example:
One SMF has n1 = 1,505 and n2 = 1,502
at = 1300 nm.

+ NA?
+ Determine core radius of the ?

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Example:

Determine core radius of the MM SI

fiber which has 1,000 modes at =1.3 mm
if n1=1.5 ; n2 = 1.48

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37.92 mm

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Kinds of Dispersion in Fiber

Total Dispersion

Mode Dispersion

Chromatic Disp.or
Group Velocity Disp

Material Dispersion

Polarisation Mode
Dispersion

Waveguide Dispersion

SMF
MMF
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Pulse Shapes versus distance

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Fiber Dispersion

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Example 2
Determine

BL of the SM fiber which has these

parameters as follows: Spectrum width of optical

pulse: f = 12.5 GHz, =1.55 mm, and D =
19ps/nm.km
Determine

Bit rate is transferred through this fiber

which has length of 50 km?

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dn
ng n
d

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 For pure silica these parameters are found to be B1 =

0.6961663, B2 = 0.4079426, B3 = 0.8974794, 1 = 0.0684043
mm,2 = 0.1162414 mm, and 3 = 9.896161 mm, where j =
2c/j with j = 13.
The group index

ng = n + (dn/d ) can be obtained by

using these parameter values

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Index n1 shape of DCF

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Two parts of Chromatic Dispersion of SMF

2 dn2 g 1 dn2 g
DM 2

d c d
(2.100)

n
2 2 g Vd 2 (Vb ) dn2 g d (Vb )
DW 2

2
d dV
n2 dV

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Polarizasion Mode Dispersion

Reality

Ideal
Cladding

Core

Fast axis

t
Slow axis

T
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t : Differential Group Delay

(DGD)

L
L

L 1x 1 y L(1 )
v gx v gy
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Attenuation versus Wavelength

Water
spike

2000s

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Attenuation versus Wavelength

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Linear and Decibel (dB) optical power units

Optical power P expressed in W, mW, dBm

P[dBm] = 10 log10 (P/1mW)

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Linear

dBm

1W
100 mW
10 mW
1 mW
100 mW
10 mW
1 mW

+30 dBm
+20 dBm
+10 dBm
0 dBm
-10 dBm
-20 dBm
-30 dBm

Typical EDFA output power

Typical output power

of a semiconductor
DFB laser
Typical sensitivity of a
10-Gbit/s receiver
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Linear

Decibel

Gain

1000
10

+30 dB
+10 dB

Gain in the small signal regime of EDFAs

Loss

Typical loss value of optical components

0.977
0.955
0.9
0.5

-0.1 dB
-0.2 dB
-0.5 dB
-3.0 dB

Splice loss between two identical fibres

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Gain with saturating input signal

Cable fiber loss per km

Loss of a 10% tap coupler
Isolator, 1480/1550 nm multiplexer
Bulk optical filter

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Problem
Calculate the transmission distance over which the
optical power will attenuate by a factor of 10 for

three fibers with losses of 0.2, 20, and 2000 dB/km.

Assuming that the optical power decreases as

exp(L), calculate (in cm 1) for the three

fibers.

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Fiber losses
The loss of fiber is about 0.2 dB/km in the wavelength
region near 1.55 mm. This value is close to the fundamental
limit ( 0.16 dB/km) for silica fibers.
The loss spectrum exhibits a strong peak near 1.39 mm
and several other smaller peaks.
A secondary minimum is found to occur near 1.3 mm,
where the fiber loss is below 0.5 dB/km.
(Fiber dispersion is minimum near 1.3 mm).
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Material Absorption
Material absorption can be divided into two kinds:
+ Intrinsic absorption losses correspond to absorption by
fused silica (material used to make fibers)
+ Extrinsic absorption is related to losses caused by
impurities within silica.
Any material absorbs at certain wavelengths
corresponding to the electronic and vibrational resonances
associated with specific molecules.
For silica (SiO2) molecules, electronic resonances occur
in the ultraviolet region (< 0.4 mm),
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 whereas vibrational resonances occur in the infrared region

(> 0.7mm).
Because of the amorphous nature of fused silica, these
resonances are in the form of absorption bands whose tails extend
into the visible region.
Extrinsic absorption results from the presence of impurities.
Metal impurities such as Fe, Cu, Co, Ni, Mn, and Cr absorb
strongly in the wavelength range 0.61.6 mm.

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Their amount should be reduced to below 1 part per billion

to obtain a loss level below 1 dB/km. Such high-purity silica
can be obtained by using modern techniques.
The main source of extrinsic absorption in state-of-the-art
silica fibers is the presence of water vapors.
A vibrational resonance of the OH ion occurs near 1.4 mm

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 Its harmonic and combination tones with silica produce

absorption at the 1.39, 1.24, and 0.95 mm wavelengths. The three
spectral peaks seen occur near these wavelengths and are due to
the presence of residual water vapor in silica.

Even a concentration of 1 part per million can cause a loss of

about 50 dB/km at 1.39 mm.
The OH ion concentration is reduced to below 10 8 in
modern fibers to lower the 1.39 mm peak below 1 dB. In a new
kind of fiber, known as the dry fiber, the OH ion concentration is
reduced to such low levels that the 1.39 mm peak almost
disappears.

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Rayleigh Scattering
Rayleigh scattering is a fundamental loss mechanism
arising from local microscopic fluctuations in density.

Silica molecules move randomly in the molten state and

freeze in place during fiber fabrication.

Density fluctuations lead to random fluctuations of the

refractive index on a scale smaller than the optical
wavelength .
Light scattering in such a medium is known as Rayleigh
scattering.
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Cable Construction

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Cross Section of a Fiber Cable

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Cable Construction

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Inside Plant Ribbon-Cable System

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Cross Section of Inside-Plant Cables

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Cross Section of Armored Outside-Plant Cables

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Lab 2- Dispersion Compensation by DCF

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Complete Compensation D1L1=D2L2, Rb=2.5 GB/s

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Complete Compensation D1L1=D2L2 Rb=5 GB/s

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Uncomplete Compensation D1L1D2L2 Rb=5 Gb/s

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End of Chapter 2

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