Garth Naar - Fiber optics and its applications

INTRODUCTION

Nothing in the world gives us more power and confidence than having information. The
ability to communicate information is essential to achieve the successful advancement of
humankind. Transmission of information is imperative to the expansion of our horizons.

What does this all have to do with fiber optics? This research paper will cover the basis of
fiber optics in terms of its transmission, communication, origin, uses and applications.

Fiber optics transports light in a very directional way. Light is focused into and guided
through a cylindrical glass fiber. Inside the core of the fiber light bounces back and forth at
angles to the side walls, making its way to the end of the fiber where it eventually escapes.
The light does not escape through the side walls because of total internal reflection.

Why is fiber optics so important? Besides being a flexible conduit that is used to illuminate
microscopic objects, fiber optics can also transmit information similarly to the way a copper
wire can transmit electricity. However, copper transmits only a few million electrical pulses
per second, compared to an optical fiber that carries up to a 20 billion light pulses per
second. This means telephone, cable and computer companies can handle huge amounts of
data transfers at once, much more than conventional wires can carry. Fiber optic cable was
developed because of the incredible increase in the quantity of data over the past 20 years.
Without fiber optic cable, the modern Internet and World Wide Web would not be possible.

WHAT IS FIBER OPTICS?

Fiber optics is extremely thin strands of purified glass that carry information from one point
to another in the form of light. Unlike copper wire, fiber optics does not use electricity
during transmission. Optical fibers can be either glass or plastic tubing capable of
transmitting light, which is then converted into sound, speech or information. Fiber optic
cables transmit a digital signal via pulses of light through the very thin strands of glass.

A basic fiber optic system consists of:

a transmitting device, which generates the light signal,

an optical fiber cable, which carries the light, and

a receiver, which accepts the light signal that was transmitted.

A fiber optic strand is about the thickness of a human hair, about 120 micrometers in
diameter and can carry as many as 20 billion light pulses per second. The fibers are bundled
together to form optical bundles, which transmit the light signals over long distances up to
50 km without the need for repeaters.
Each optic fiber is made up of three main parts:

The core or the centre of the optical fiber is a very thin strand of glass that carries the light
signal.

The cladding is the optical material which reflects the light signals back into the core. This
prevents the light from escaping and allows it to travel through the fiber.

The outside jacket or buffer coating is made of a plastic material that protects the optical
fiber from any moisture, corrosion and external damage.

There are only two types of fiber optic cable:

Glass fibers, which are more common, because they allow longer distance transmission and
they are more efficient.

Plastic optical fibbers are used in less technical applications and are normally used in very
short-length transmissions.

HOW ARE OPTICAL FIBERS MADE?

Optical fibers are made of very pure glass. The glass core or centre is made of silica and is
purified to minimise the loss of signal. It then gets coated to protect the fibers and to
contain the light signals. The light signals carried by the optical cable consist of electrical
signals that have been converted or changed into light energy.
The following process is followed to manufacture the optical fibers:

The Manufacturing of the Preform Blank

The silica must first be purified before it can be spun into glass fibers. This process takes a
long time and the silica is heated to very high temperatures and then distilled to
purification. The sand is heated to a temperature that will change the silica into a gaseous
state. The silica will then be combined with other materials called dopants, which will react
with the silica (in its gaseous state) to form the fibers. All the solid impurities are removed
and the gas is cooled to form the fiber material.

A process called modified chemical vapour deposition (MCVD) is used to change the glass
into the preform blank. During this process oxygen is bubbled through solutions of silicon
chloride (SiCl4), germanium chloride (GeCl4) and other chemicals. The gas vapours are
channelled to the inside of a synthetic silica quartz tube in a special lathe to form the
cladding. While the lathe rotates a burning flame is moved back and forth on the outside of
the tube.

The extreme heat from the burner causes the following:

The silicon and the germanium react with oxygen to form silicon dioxide (SiO2) and
germanium dioxide (GeO2).

The silicon dioxide and the germanium dioxide settles on the inside of the tube and it fuses
together to form glass.

The lathe turns continuously to allow the preform blank to be coated evenly. To maintain
the purity of the glass a corrosion resistant plastic is used to accurately control the flow and
the structure of the mixture. This process of manufacturing the preform blank takes a
couple of hours. The preform blank is cooled and is inspected for quality through an
inspection and control process.

Drawing fibers from the Preform Blank

After testing the preform, it is placed into a fiber “drawing tower.” The preform blank gets
lowered into a furnace and is heated between 1,900°C to 2,200°C until the tip starts to melt
an a molten blob starts to fall down. As it drops down, it cools and forms a strand. This
strand is pulled through a sequence of coating cups (buffer applicators) and curing ovens
using ultraviolet light, and then coiled onto a tractor-controlled reel. This process is
accurately controlled using a laser micrometer to measure the thickness of the fiber. This
information is then sent back to the tractor mechanism. The tractor mechanism pulls the
fibers at a rate of 10 to 20m/sec and the finished product is wound onto a spool. A spool can
contain more than 2,2km of optical fiber.
Testing the Finished Optical Fiber

Once the optical fiber is manufactured it goes through a process of testing. The following
tests are done:

Tensile strength – The fibers must withstand 100,000 lb/in2 or more

Refractive index profile – Determine that the core diameter, cladding dimensions and
coating diameter are uniform. Screen also for optical defects.

Attenuation – Determine the extent that light signals of various wavelengths degrade or
reduce over certain distances.

Information carrying capacity (bandwidth) – the number of signals that can be carried at
one time (multi-mode fibers)

Chromatic dispersion – Spread of various wavelengths of light through the core, this is very
important for bandwidth.

Operating temperature/humidity range – Determines the temperature and humidity that

the fiber can withstand.

Ability to conduct light underwater – Important for undersea cables

Once t-he fibers have passed the quality control process, they are sold to telephone
companies, cable companies and network providers. Currently many companies are
replacing their old copper-wire-based systems with new fiber-optic-based systems to
improve speed, capacity and clarity.

TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBERS

There are two types of optical fibers:

Single Mode Fiber

Single mode fibers transmit a single data stream. The core of the glass fiber is much finer
than in multi-mode fibers. Light thus travels parallel to the axis, creating little pulse
dispersion. Data transmission modes are higher, and the distances that single mode fiber
can cover can be over 50 times longer than multi-mode fibers. Telephone and cable
television networks install millions of kilometers of this fiber every year.

Multi-Mode Fiber

Multi-mode fibers allow different data streams to be sent simultaneously over a particular
fiber. The glass fiber has a slightly larger diameter to allow light to be sent through the fiber
at different angles. “An LED or laser light source is used in the 50 micron and 62.5 micron
fiber optic cables. They are also used in the same networking applications. The main
difference between the two is that 50 micron fiber can support 3 times the bandwidth of
62.5 micron fiber. The 50 micron fiber also supports longer cable runs than 62.5 micron
cable.

Simplex cable consists of only one single fiber optic strand. The data can only be transmitted
in one direction. The duplex cable is made up of two fiber optic strands that run side-by-
side. One strand runs from transmit to receive and the other strand joins receive to
transmit. This allows communication in both directions (bi-directional) between devices.

Some optical fibers can be made from plastic. These fibers have a large core (0.04 inches or
1 mm diameter) and transmit visible red light (wavelength = 650 nm) from LEDs. Due to
their inferior optical properties, plastic fiber optic (POF) strands and cables are not suitable
for extended data transmission.

HOW DOES A FIBER OPTIC CABLE WORK?

Traditionally when we sent data transmissions over copper cables we transmit electrons
over a copper conductor. “Fiber optic cables transmit a digital signal via pulses of light
through a very thin strand of glass.” The fiber strands are extremely thin, not much thicker
than a human hair.

The basic fiber optic transmission system consists of three basic components:
Transmitter

fiber optic cable

receiver

A transmitter is connected to the one end of the fiber cable. Electronic pulses are converted
by the transmitter into light pulses and the optical signal gets sent through the fiber cable. A
receiver on the other end decodes the optical signal into digital pulses.

The core of the cable is surrounded by a cladding which reflects the light back into the core
and eliminates light from escaping the cable. This is called total internal reflection.

When light is sent through the core of a fiber optic cable, the light constantly bounces off
the cladding, which is highly reflective, like a mirror-lined wall. The cladding does not absorb
any light allowing complete internal reflection and allowing the light to travel far distances
without losing its intensity.

The discovery of lasers influenced the development of fiber optics. Lasers and LED’s can
generate an enormous amount of light in a very small area, which can successfully used in
fiber optics.

Laser diodes are complex semiconductors that convert an electrical current into light. The
process of converting the electrical signal into light is far more efficient because it generates
less heat than an ordinary light bulb.

Reasons for using laser diodes in fiber optics:

laser diodes are very small

laser diodes are highly reliable and have a long life

laser diodes have high radiance

laser diodes emit light into a very small area

laser diodes can be turned on and off at very high speeds