Optical Fibers & Modulators

Introduction to Optical Fibres:[5]

Since optical frequencies are extremely large (~ 1015 Hz) as compared to the conventional radio waves
(~ 106 Hz) and microwaves (~ 1010 Hz), a light beam acting as a carrier wave is capable of carrying far
more information than radio waves and microwaves.

In future the demand for flow of information traffic will be so high that only a light wave will be able
to cope with it.

Soon after the discovery of laser, some experiments on propagation of information carrying light
waves through open atmosphere were carried out, but it was realized that because of the vagaries of
the terrestrial atmosphere, eg. Rain, fog, etc, in order to have an efficient and dependable
communication system, one would require a guiding medium in which the information carrying light
waves could be transmitted.

This guiding medium is the optical fiber which is a hair-thin structure and guides the light beam from
one place to another.

In addition to the capability of carrying a huge amount of information, fibers fabricated with recently
developed technology are characterized by extremely low losses (~ 0.2 dB/km) as a consequence of
which the distance between two consecutive repeaters could be as large as 250 km. In comparison,
copper cables used today require repeaters every few kilometers.

In addition to long distance communications systems, optical fibers are also being extensively used for
Local area networks (LANs).

Modern Light wave communication:

1960 – Ruby Laser
1962 – Semiconductor laser (GaAlAs)
1966 – Fiber technology
1970 – First fibre produced with loss below 20dB/km
1980 – Technology advancements brought Fibre loss < 0.5dB/km
 Conditions for Reflection & Refraction:(Basics Review)
Laws of Reflection:
i.The incident ray, the normal and the reflected ray, all lie in one plane.
ii.The angle of incidence (i) and the angle of reflection (r) are equal

Laws of Refraction:
First Law:
The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.

2nd Law:(Snell’s law)

The ratio of the sine of angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of reflection for any two give media
is constant for a light of given colour.
i) µ1Sinθi = µ2Sinθr
ii) The refracted wave should move towards the normal, if the light wave is incident from
the lighter medium to a denser medium.
iii) The refracted light wave should move away from the normal, if the light wave travels
from the optically denser to optically lighter medium.

Total Internal Reflection:

A ray of light traveling in a medium of higher refractive index and directed towards one of lower
refractive index (higher  lower), passes into that medium (lower) only if the angle of incidence is not
too large.

If the angle of incidence is increased, a limit is reached when the ray does not enter the second
medium at all but is totally
reflected at the interface.

‘C’ = angle of critical incidence

This angle of incidence for

which the corresponding angle
of refraction is 90o is called
the angle of critical incidence
for the two media.

The phenomenon of total

internal reflection will take
place if the two conditions are
satisfied:
i.Light should travel from denser medium to rarer medium.
ii.The angle of incidence should be greater than the critical angle of the medium.

By Snell’s law µ1Sin’i’ = µ2Sin’r’

When i = c, then µ1 Sin’c’ = µ2 Sin ‘90’ therefore, Sin ‘c’ = µ2/µ1

where µ1 & µ2 are the refractive indices of denser and rarer medium respectively.
Advantages of Optical Fiber Transmission: [2][10]

1.Low Loss and High Bandwidth

Optical fibers have ‘flat’ transfer function. They have low transmission loss and wider bandwidth
than copper wires for signal frequencies above a few megahertz. This means that with optical
cable system more data can be sent over long distances thereby decreasing the number of wires
and reducing the number of repeaters needed.

2.Small size, small bending radius and Light weight

Small size, small bending radius (a few centimeters), and light weight of optical fiber cables are
very important where space is at a premium, such as in aircraft, on ships, crowded ducts under city
streets and in tactical military applications.

3.Immunity to Interference
An important feature of optical fibers is their dielectric nature. Optical fibers are immune to
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), such as inductive pickup from signal carrying wires &
lightning etc. It also ensures freedom from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) effects which is of
particular interest in Military applications.

4.Isolation Electrical
Since optical fibers are constructed of glass, which is an electrical insulator, there is no need to
worry about ground loops, fiber to fiber cross talk is very low. This also makes the use of fibers
attractive in electrically hazardous environments since fibers create no arcing or sparking.

5.Provides natural growth capability.

The design engineer has a great deal of flexibility. He can install an optical fiber and use it initially
in a low capacity (low bit rate system). As the system needs grow, due to the broad band capability
of the optical fibers the system can be converted to high capacity ( high bit rate) system by
simply changing the terminal electronics. Where as, the loss of the metallic transmission lines,
increases with increasing transmission rates thus limiting their use at higher bit rates. (refer Fig.
Attenuation). The optical fiber system could be used at all bit rates and can grow naturally to
satisfy the system needs.

6.Signal Security
By using optical fibers a high degree of data security is afforded, since the optical signal is well
confined with in the wave guide (any emanations absorbed by an opaque jacketing around the
fiber). This makes fibers attractive in applications where information security is important, such
as banking, computer networks and military systems.

7.Abundant Raw-material
Silica is the principal material of which optical fibers are made. This raw material is abundant and
inexpensive since it is found in ordinary sand. The expense in making the actual fiber arises in the
process required to make ultra-pure glass from the raw material.
(Reference: “Optical Fibre Systems: Technology, Design and Applications”.. Charles K.Kao)
Characteristics of Optical Fibre Systems:[4]
The basic optical fibre system is illustrated in Fig. It consists of a transmitter which transforms an
electrical signal to be transmitted into an optical signal, a receiver which converts the optical signal
back to the original electrical form, and a fibre transmission line which conducts the optical signal
from the transmitter to the receiver.

Three components are involved: the light source, the photodetector, and the optical fibre transmission
line.

The optical light source generates the optical energy which serves as the information carrier, similar
to a radio-wave source supplying electromagnetic energy at radio-wave lengths. The optical photo
detector detects the optical energy and converts it into an electrical form. The optical fiber
transmission line is the equivalent of a pair of copper wires and functions as the conductor of optical
energy.

The major characteristics of optical fibre wave guides that distinguish optical fibre from other
systems can be separated into three categories: physical, optical and special characteristics.

a) characteristics of Optical Fibre Wave guides:

•Optical fiber wave guides are thread like structures made from dielectric materials in a glassy
form. A typical fiber has a diameter of 125µm (about the thickness of human hair). Lengths of
several kilometers are common, and much longer lengths are possible.

•Optical fiber wave guides for operation in the 0.5 to 1.6µm wave length region are generally made
with inorganic oxide glasses with a high silica content. Such wave guides have a specific gravity of
about 2.3. (The volume of a 125µm diameter fiber 1km in length is about 12cm2 and weighs about
28g. It is very small in size and light in weight).

•Since glass is a very strong and durable material, properly made and protected fiber is strong and
durable. It is also highly flexible and can negotiate bends as small as a few millimeters.

b) Optical Characteristics of Optical Fibers:

The optical transmission characteristics of optical fibers are expressed in terms of attenuation and
bandwidth.
 •Attenuation: The attenuation causes optical energy to be dissipated along the length of the
waveguide during transmission and reduces the available energy at the destination. Since the
transmitter power output and the detector sensitivity are fixed for a given signal, the fibre
attenuation sets the limit to the maximum distance that can be covered by the fiber guide.

•Bandwidth or pulse dispersion: The bandwidth sets limit to the top frequency response in analog
transmission, while the pulse dispersion sets the limit to the maximum pulse rate in digital
transmission.

Fiber cables offer constant attenuation for any operating bandwidth, in contrast with copper cables,
where the attenuation of the cable increases as (bandwidth) 1/2. It is a factor which simplifies the
system design.

c) Special Features of Optical Waveguides:

•The optical fiber has wide temperature range of working (-55 to 125oC).
•Optical fibers are not affected by electromagnetic interference. (fiber dimension is far less than the
wavelength of electromagnetic waves even in microwave range. Therefore it will not pickup the
electromagnetic radiation).
•As radiation from the fibre is at optical wavelengths, it will not cause noise by their presence in the
electronic circuits.
Propagation of light waves in an Optical Fibre:
a)Mechanism: If light enters at one end of a fibre in proper conditions, most of it is propagated down
the length of the fibre and comes out from the other end of the fibre. There may be some loss due to
a small fraction leakage through the side-walls of the fibre. This type of a fibre is called light-guide
or sometimes light-pipe.

The reason of the light beam confining inside the fibre is the Total internal reflection. The light
which enters at one end of a fibre at a slight angle to the axis of the fibre, follows a zig-zag path
due to series of reflections down the length of the fibre.

b)Conditons: Total internal reflection in the walls of the fibre can occur if and only if, the following
two conditions are satisfied:
i)The glass at around the centre of the fibre should have higher refractive index (µ1) than that of the
material (cladding) surrounding the fibre (µ2).
ii)The light should be incident at an angle of θ (between the path of the ray and normal to the fibre
wall) which will be greater than the critical angle θC.
SinθC = µ2 /µ1

Basic structure of an Optical Fibre:

The central core of an optical fibre consists of a glass core with a certain refractive index µ1 and
totally enclosed by a glass cladding, having refractive index µ2, (µ1 > µ2).

The longitudinal cross-section of the fibre is as shown in the

figure. Any light wave, which travels along the core and meets
the cladding at the critical angle of incidence θC will be totally
reflected. This reflected ray will then meet the opposite
surface of the cladding, again at the critical angle θC and so is
again totally reflected. Therefore, the light wave is propagated
along the fibre core by a series of total internal reflections
from the core-cladding interface. This is a sort of step index
fibre, as there is clearly a sudden change of refractive index at
the junction of the core and the cladding.

Different Types of Fibers:

Based on refractive index profile, we have two types of fibers:
(i) Step index fiber, (ii) Graded index fiber.

Fiber Modes:
Based on the number of modes propagating through the fiber, there are multimode fiber and single
mode fiber.

Mode is the mathematical concept of describing the nature of propagation of electromagnetic waves in
a wave guide. Mode means the nature of electromagnetic field pattern (or) configuration along the
light path inside the fiber.

Step-Index Multi-mode:
Light energy emanating from any practical point source, will
have several paths with different angles of incidence at the boundary-layer. It may also contain
different colours with different wavelengths. Then it is called Step-index Multimode propagation.

As shown in the figure, any light wave which is meeting the core-cladding interface at or above the
critical value of θC will also be totally reflected and hence will propagate along the core. However, the
light wave with angle below θC will pass into and be absorbed by the cladding.

Transit-time dispersion:
Various light waves traveling along the core, will have propagation paths of different lengths. Hence
they will take different times to reach a given destination . This results in a distortion called Transit-
time dispersion. As a result of this distortion, the variations of successive pulses of light may overlap
into each other, and thereby cause distortion of the information being carried.

Stepped index Monomode Fiber:

The transit time dispersion problems can be solved by making the
core very thin, so that the core diameter is of the same order as the
wave length of the light wave to be propagated. The resultant
propagation is a single light wave as shown in the figure below. This
type of fibre is called a Stepped-index Monomode fibre. This has a
very high capacity and very large bandwidth.

In order to get single mode the diameter of the core must satisfy the
relation d < 0.766 λ/NA

Chief characteristics of Stepped index monomode fiber are:

1.Very small core diameter
2.Low numerical aperture
3.Low attenuation
4.Very high bandwidth

Disadvantage of monomode fibre: The use of very thin fibre creates mechanical difficulties in the
manufacture, handling and splicing the fibres. Hence this type of fibre is very expensive. This type of
fibre is used as under-sea cables where the expense is justified by the high return of earned income.
Graded Index multimode propagation:
As shown in the figure below, the individual waves are gradually refracted in the graded-index core,
instead of being reflected by the cladding. Thus waves traveling at different incident angles will travel
different distances from the horizontal central axis. It is obvious that light waves with large angle of
incidence travel more paths than those with smaller angles. But decrease in refractive index allows a
higher velocity of propagation. Thus
all waves will reach a given point along
the fibre at virtually the same time.
As a result transit time dispersion is
greatly reduced. This type of wave
propagation is referred to as graded
index multimode propagation.

Graded index fibers have intermediate bandwidth and capacity. It is a less expensive method of
overcoming transit time dispersion. This fibre has a property of gradually changing refractive index
(increasing from the outside of the fibre core to the centre of it).

The variation of refractive index of the core of the graded index fibre with radius measured from the
centre of the core, is given by µ(x) = µ1 [1 - 2∆ (x/a)p ]2
where µ1 = refractive index at the centre of the core. p = index profile.

Plastic Fibres:
Other than glass cored fibers Plastic fibers (plastic core) have been manufactured from a polymer
preform drawing into a fibre. The losses associated with these fibers are usually in the hundreds of
decibels. They operate at low temperature. We can use plastic fibers up to a maximum of 125oC, while
glass fibers can be used right up to a maximum temperature of 1000oC.

However, plastic fibre cables have an inherent potential for many present and future applications. It is
an ideal medium for sensor, process control, and short distance communications.

PCS-Fibre:
A fibre, having glass core and plastic cladding, is called “plastic clad silica” or PCS fibre. The
characteristics of such a fibre are the following:
1.It has high NA
2.Large core diameter
3.High attenuation
4.Low bandwidth
The advantage of larger core is the greater coupled power. The high value of NA permits the use of
less expensive surface emitting LEDs.

Other than high attenuation and low band width, there are some major problems with Plastic fibers:
•Plastic fibers have very poor mechanical strength
•They have low maximum operating temperature.
S.No Step Index Fiber
1 The refractive index of the core is
uniform throughout and undergoes an
abrupt (or) step change at the cladding
boundary
2 The diameter of the core is about 50 ~
200µm in the case of multimode fiber and
10 µm in the case of single mode fiber.
3 The light rays propagating through it are
in the form of meridional rays which will
cross the fiber axis during every
reflection at the core-cladding boundary
and are propagating in a zig-zag manner.
4 Signal distortion is more in multimode
step index fiber since the rays reflected
at high angles or the higher order modes
travel a greater distance than the rays
reflected at low angles or the lower order
modes, to reach the exit end of the fiber.
So high angle rays arrive later than the
low angle rays.
Hence the signal pulses are broadened out
(dispersion) and distortion takes place.
But this distortion does not take place in
single mode step index fiber.
Graded Index Fiber
The refractive index of the core is made to
vary in the parabolic manner such that the
maximum refractive index is present at the
centre of the core.
The diameter of the core is about 50 µm in
the case of multimode fiber.
The light rays propagating through it are in
the form of skew rays (or) helical rays
which will not cross the fiber axis at any
time and are propagating around the fiber
axis in a helical (or) spiral manner.
Signal distortion is very low because of self
focusing effect. Here the light rays travel
at different speeds in different paths of the
fiber because the refractive index varies
throughout the fiber. As a result light rays
near the outer edge travel faster than the
light rays near the centre of the core.
In effect, light rays are continuously
refocused as they travel down the fiber and
almost all the rays reach the exit end of the
fiber at the same time due to the helical
path of the light propogation.
S.No Single Mode Fiber Multimode Fiber
1 In single mode fiber only one mode (HE11 Multimode fiber allows a large number of
mode) can propagate through the fiber. paths or modes for the light rays traveling
through it.

2 The single mode fiber has smaller core Generally in multimode fiber the core
diameter and the difference between the diameter and the relative refractive index
refractive indices of the core and the difference is larger than the single mode
cladding is very small. fiber.

3 In practice there is no dispersion (i.e. no Even though there is self focusing effect
degradation of signal during traveling there is signal degradation due to multimode
through the fiber.) dispersion and material dispersion.

4 Since the information transmission Due to large dispersion and attenuation of

capacity in optical fiber is inversely the signal the multimode fibers are less
proportional to dispersion, the single suitable for long distance communication.
mode fibers are more suitable for long
distance communication.

5 Launching of light into single mode fibers Launching of light into fiber and jointing of
and jointing of two fibers are very two fibers are easy in these fibers.
difficult.

6 Fabrication is very difficult and so the Fabrication is less difficult and so the fiber
fiber is so costly. is not costly.
Acceptance Angle and Acceptance Cone of a Fibre:
In a stepped index multimode fibre any light wave which travels along the core and meets the cladding
at the critical angle of incidence θC will be totally reflected. The reflected ray will then meet the
opposite surface of the cladding, again at the critical angle θC and so it will again totally reflected.

Any other light wave, which is meeting the core cladding interface at or above the critical value θC will
also be totally reflected and hence will propagate along the core. However, any light wave entering the
core-cladding interface at an angle below θC will pass into and be absorbed by the cladding.

If the external incident angle is θO corresponding to the critical angle θC at the core-cladding
interface of the fibre, as shown in the figure, the light will stay in the fibre.

ΘO is the maximum external incident angle. Any light wave impinging on the core within this maximum
external incident angle θO is coupled into the fibre and will propagate. This angle is called the
Acceptance angle.

Mathematical expression for Half-Acceptance angle θO:

From the above figures a & b, applying law of reflection at A and B, we get

µOSinθO = µ1Sin(90-θC) ------ (1)

µOSinθO = µ1CosθC

µ1SinθC = µ2Sin(90) ---------- (2)

SinθC = µ2/µ1

µOSinθO = µ1 √(1-sin2θC) = µ1 √(1-µ22/µ12)= √(µ12-µ22)

SinθO = √(µ12-µ22)/µO

Half Acceptance angle θO = Sin-1√(µ12-µ22)/µO

If the surrounding fibre medium is air i.e. µO = 1, then

Half Acceptance angle θO = Sin-1√(µ12-µ22)

Thus the light which travels within a cone defined by the acceptance angle is trapped and guided. This
cone is referred as Acceptance cone.
Numerical Aperture:
An important term associated with a fibre is the Numerical Aperture – also called the Figure of merit
for optical cables.
NA = SinθO (max) = √(µ12-µ22)/µO

If the fibre is surrounded by air (µO = 1) then

NA = SinθO = √(µ12-µ22)

Generally µ1 is only a small percentage greater than µ2.

NA = √(µ1+ µ2)( µ1 - µ2) ~ √2µ1(µ1 - µ2)

NA = √2µ12(µ1 - µ2)/µ1

NA = µ1 √2∆
where µ1 + µ2 ~ 2µ1 and ∆ = (µ1 - µ2)/µ1
∆ = Fractional difference between the core and cladding refractive indexes.

The figure shows the variation of NA with Acceptance angle.

It is observed that numerical apertures for the fibers used in short distance communication are in
the range of 0.4 to 0.5, whereas for long distance communications numerical apertures are in the range
of 0.1 to 0.3.

Though small numerical aperture is applied for long distance communications, the disadvantage of small
‘NA’ is it makes harder to launch power (signal) into the fiber.

Example 3.1:
Compute the NA and the Acceptance angle of an optical fibre from the following data.
µ1 (core) = 1.55 and µ2 (cladding) = 1.50.

Soln:
NA = µ1 √2∆ where ∆ = (µ1 - µ2)/µ1 = (1.55-1.5)/1.55 = 0.03226
= 1.55√2x0.03226 = 0.394
Acceptance angle θO = Sin-1(NA) = 23.2o

Example 3.2:
Compute the NA, acceptance angle, and the critical angle of the fibre having µ1 (core refractive index)
= 1.50 and the refractive index of the cladding = 1.45.

Soln:
∆ = (µ1 - µ2)/µ1 = (1.5-1.45)/1.5 = 0.033
NA = µ1√2∆ = 1.5√2x0.33 = 0.387

Acceptance angle θO = Sin-1(NA) = 22.78o.

Critical angle θC = Sin-1(µ2/µ1) = Sin-1(1.45/1.5) = 75.2o

Example 3.3:
Calculate the refractive indices of the core and cladding material of a fibre from the following data:
NA = 0.22; ∆ = 0.012

Soln:
∆ = (µ1 - µ2)/µ1 = 0.012
NA = µ1 √2∆ ; or µ1 = NA/√2∆ = 1.42

0.012 = (1.42 - µ2)/1.42 or µ2 = 1.40

Other Latest types of Optical Fibers:

•High Purity Silica Fibre (HPSUV) –> Core: high purity silica; Cladding: Doped silica;
•High Purity Silica (HPSIR) -> same as above – but slightly different doping
•Chalcogenide Fibre -> Core: As2S3; Cladding: AsxS1-x ,
•Halide Fibre -> Core: Silver halide
•Tapered Optical Fibres -> for getting max amount of power from poor quality laser spot.

Applications of Optical Fibers:

1.When the transmission bandwidth requirement is very large a single mode fibre is used. Eg:
Undersea cable system

2.When the bandwidth requirements are between 200MHz and 2 GHz km; a graded index multimode
fibre would be the best choice. Eg: In intra-city trunks between telephone central offices.

3.When the system bandwidth requirements are lower, a step-index multimode fibre would be better.
Eg: Data links.