IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. E-30, NO.
1, FEBRUARY 1987
Guided-Wave Modes in Cylindrical Optical Fibers
CHAI YEH, LIFE SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE
Abstract-This paper proposes a logical and simple approach to the
mode designations in a cylindrical optical fiber. An important approx-
imation is introduced in the mathematical analysis to simplify the char-
acteristic equation. Mode enumerations, field distributions, and prop-
agation constants for some lower order modes are discussed and
illustrated. The justification of using the linearly polarized mode des-
ignation is illustrated.
INTRODUCTION
Sa
teacher in microwave engineering, I am often
confronted with the problem of presenting the cor-
plex mode designations in cylindrical guided-wave opti
cal fibers. Although there have been many books and pa-
pers written on that subject, these materials are usually
less suitable for classroom presentation. Many are very
comprehensive, sophisticated, and theoretical, but the
physical picture is often masked by the multiplicity of
mathematical manipulations [1]-[4]. This causes a great
deal of confusion when students are exposed to this sub-
ject for the first time. It is the purpose of this paper to
present a concise and logical picture of the subject while
preserving its mathematical elegance, thus making it easy
to teach and easy to understand.
The propagation of electromagnetic waves along an
ideal dielectric circular cylinder of infinite length embed-
ded in an infinite and homogeneous dielectric medium has
been a classical problem ever since the turn of the cen-
tury. Rigorous solutions of the wave equations in cylin-
drical coordinate system applied to this problem revealed
that the field structure of this type of waveguide is much
more complex than its hollow metallic waveguide coun-
terpart [5]. In metallic waveguides, the propagating modes
can easily be classified into TE, TM, or even TEM modes.
Due to the nonconducting boundary condition of an op-
tical fiber, all electric and magnetic field components ex-
ist both within and without the boundary. The resulting
mode structure becomes extremely complex. It includes
the wanted propagating modes along the guide length and
the unwanted radiating and evanescent modes elsewhere
[6], [7]. All these modes are solutions of the general char-
acteristic equations. Worst yet, all these modes can be
coupled to each other through any irregularities and non-
symmetrics introduced along the fiber length [8], [9], [14],
[15], [22]. The study to distinguish these modes is, in-
deed, a formidable task.
Manuscript received June 24, 1986.
The author is with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Corn- ....
ptrSince Universt of Mihian An Arbr Mi 48i09.1
IEEE Log Number 8610807.
0018-9359/87/0200-0043$01.00 ©C 1987 IEEE
43
Fortunately, in practical applications of optical fibers,
the situation is not that helpless. A practical step-index
optical fiber is usually made of an optical fiber core
embedded in a cladding of slightly different refractive in-
dex. For best transmission, the refractive index difference
between these dielectric cylinders must be small [10]. Un-
der this condition, all fields within the guide become
weakly guided. Taking advantage of this practical find-
ing, Snyder [11] and Gloge [12] approached this problem
by
dex,making
An(= n, - n2), the differential refractive in-
very small. They succeeded in simplifying the so-
lution considerably, thus making the mode designation
manageable.
In this paper, we shall start by solving the wave equa-
tions for a cylindrical optical fiber to obtain the general
characteristic equation. The complexity of finding solu-
tions of this equation for mode designation is pointed out.
The simplifications resulted from introducing An 0O is
emphasized. A few simple lower order modes are used
for illustration. We first discuss the mode designation,
then the evaluation of the propagation constant, and fi-
nally the field distributions for the lower order modes.
Linearly polarized mode designation is introduced and
justified. The discussion is limited to step-index fibers.
Propagating modes, that is, modes that are guided along
the fiber are emphasized. The radiating and evanescent
modes are discussed only relating to power loss in fibers
[13], [14].
It must be mentioned that this is a closed form analyt-
ical solution which is valid only for step-index wave-
guides. However, practical multimode waveguides are a
graded index for which no analytical solution exists in
general.
MODE DESIGNATION
Before we start to analyze the wave equations of a light
waveguide, we wish to describe the mode designation of
a fiber in words in order to prepare the readers for the
complex nature of the mode's structure. It has been rec-
ognized [15] in microwave engineering that many propa-
gating modes can coexist in a hollow metallic waveguide
or cavity. It is often necessary to identify the existing
modes so that an appropriate mode for propagation or ex-
citation can be selected and all other unwanted modes be
isolated or eliminated. In a cylindrical dielectric light
waveguide, the situation is more complex due to the ex-
isting boundary condition. At a metallic boundary of a
.
microwave guide, the continuity relationships of the tan-
gential F and H fields favor the existence of only the TB
44
or TM modes along the guide. No fields can exist outside
of the guides. In the dielectric waveguide, all six field
components can exist along the guide boundary, the
boundary between the cylindrical core and its cladding.
The propagating waves which are confined to the core of
the fiber sustain a variety of modes. Those with a strong
E, field compared to the magnetic Hz field along the di-
rection of propagation are designated as the EH modes.
Likewise, those with a stronger Hz field are called the HE
modes. These are the hybrid modes, consisting of all six
field components and possess no circular symmetry. Oc-
casionally, some circularly symmetric TE and TM modes
can also exist. Other existing modes which are unwanted
consist of the radiating and the evanescent modes. The
propagating modes are found to be discrete in nature while
the radiating and evanescent modes are continuous. The
propagating modes, like those that exist in metallic wave-
guides, require two indexes to identify a given mode, such
as HEim and EHim modes. Here 1, an integer, 0, 1, 2, -
*
-
is the constant introduced in the analysis to separate the
variables in the scalar wave equation and m, the other in-
teger, 1, 2, 3, * indicates the mth roots of the Bessel
functions J1 and K1 which are the Bessel function of the
first kind and the modified Bessel functions, respectively.
Thus, for each 1, there are m possible roots, m = 0, 1, 2,
* ** mmax. There is one exception. For I = 0, there exist
two linearly polarized sets of modes, the TEom and TMom
modes where either the E or H field in the direction of
propagation becomes zero. These are modes with circular
symmetry.
The lowest order of mode is not TEO, or TMo1 mode,
which has a cutoff frequency corresponding to the first
zero of the Jo(u) function at u = 2.405, where u is a pa-
rameter containing the fiber dimension "a" and the free
space wavelength X to be defined later. The lowest mode
is the HE11 mode, which is the fundamental mode of a
cylindrical light guide fiber. Its cutoff frequency is zero,
corresponding to the first zero of the J1 (u) function at u
= 0. Between 0 < u < 2.405, there exist only the HE11
modes. This is the only region in which the light guide
can be considered as a single mode guide. However, the
electric field of the HE11 mode has two polarizations or-
thogonal to each other. One rotates clockwise and the
other counterclockwise as they propagate down the guide
length. Only through carefully decoupling these polari-
zating modes can one achieve a truly single-mode single-
polarization transmission free from intermodal interfer-
ences [16], [17].
The next higher order modes consist of a group of
modes designated as the TEO,, TMo0, and HE21 modes.
All these modes have approximately the same cutoff fre-
quency (u = 2.405) and almost identical propagation
constant $0l With a twofold degeneracy of the HE21
mode, there exist six possible modes within 2.405 < u
< 3.832. At u = 3.382, the next higher order modes set
in.
The next higher order modes have a cutoff frequency of
u = 3.832. These consist of HE12, EH11, and HE31. Each
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. E-30, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 1987
of these modes can have a twofold degeneracy, raising the
total possible modes to 12 within 3.832 < u < 5.136.
Higher order mode groups have correspondingly larger
combination modes. It is therefore absolutely necessary
to limit u, or the size of the fiber to within 7-10 icm in
order to have a single mode structure.
The designation of the modes from the characteristic
equation is only possible after we made an approximation
to the general characteristic equation. Furthermore, by as-
suming An (= n- n2) very small, where n1 and n2 are
the refractive index of the core and cladding of the fiber,
respectively, Gloge [12] has shown, at least for the lower-
order modes, that the combination modes have the electric
field configuration resembling a linearly polarized pat-
tern; thus, he named these the linearly polarized LPim
modes. The fundamental HE11 mode is named the LPo1
mode, the TEO,, TMo0, and HE21 combination modes as
the LP11 mode, etc. Due to the relative simplicity of this
notation, it has been universally adopted for mode des-
ignation for the fiber guides.
THE CHARACTERISTIC EQUATION
Consider an ideal optical fiber. It consists of a long
length of a uniform cylindrical core of dielectric material
having a refractive index n, surrounded by an equally long
and uniform dielectric cladding having a refractive index
n2. The diameter of the core is small compared to its
length. The diameter of the cladding is assumed to be in-
finite although its actual dimension is finite. This assump-
tion will introduce very little error in the final result but
it does simplify the analysis considerably. We are, there-
fore, dealing with a uniform dielectric waveguide imbed-
ded in a uniform dielectric medium of infinite extent.
From a practical point of view, light waves propagating
along a good light guide undergo total reflections along
the core-cladding interface all the way. The thickness of
the cladding actually does not matter.
We shall limit our discussion to the propagating modes
only. In a later section, radiating and evanescent modes
will be mentioned. The effect of mutual couplings with
the propagating modes are discussed in terms of power
losses.
Assume a step-index profile. Let the core radius be a.
Then, the refractive index
n = n1 for 0 < r < a
and
n = n2 for r > a (1)
where
n, > n2
The actual mathematical analysis follows in the routine
manner by solving the wave equation in cylindrical co-
ordinate system. The direction of propagation is assumed
to be along the z-axis.
The vector fields H(r, 4, z) and E(r, X, z) are ex-
YEH: GUIDED WAVE MODES IN OPTICAL FIBERS 45

pressed as and
E, H = E(r, 0), H(r, y) exp [i(t
- 3z)] (2) i(a)
a= ilf 1
where co is the signal frequency of propagation and j3 is w r Kl(w) a
the propagation constant. w 1 /wr\1
Following the classical routine for solving the wave -B@o - K -)I e'l for r > a,
equation, we first obtain the solution of the z-components (8b)
of the field as
urX where Jl' and Kl are the spatial derivatives of J1 and K1,
a9 J respectively. Similar relations can be found with the H's.
E= A J (u) exp [il] for 0 c r c a (3a) These are

Kl(wr) Ho= -i~~~~(a)2 Bi43 1 t(urN

/ur\~
~
~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~au

and (9a)

wr ar) and
exp[i Pr> (4) Ho = (-)2LB-K () I
Kl for a
and

- B exp [ik/] for r > a (4b) ± Awc0n2- K (-)1 e'1 for r> a.
where A and B are arbitrary constants to be determined, (9b)
and u and w are parameters defined as follows. The continuity relation requires that from (8a) and (8b)

u k- /(6) A- K 1u wK1w(w)
and ko = 2Tr/X, where X is the free space wavelength (10)
\U~~~ io J1u) w1(wIWOI Ku±w22
corresponding to the angular frequency A. Je and Kfare l
the Bessel function of the first kind and the modified Bes- and from (9a) and (9b)
sel function, respectively; l is the constant used to Ami sepa- (ne ,J (u) + B - -09
and the
corresodnvariables
tl in solving the
o thatoe cangua frqefnecacylindrical
nw nralizd
J wave equa-
Kf re- tya +
Kelatoew ies(wj\ B a
lfr i8b=
tions and it iS an integer having values ranging from 0 to
la(0, 1, 2, 3 2Imx1/2 2ira ~ ~ ~~~~~~2 (11)
dhefirst kine anewnrmlzddr
othe alsoel thattione cn Nontrivial solutions exist only if the determinant of A and
quency parameter V such that ~B
vanishes and one obtains, after some manipulations, the
V = (U2 + W2 ) l 2= 2T (NA) ( 7) characteristic equation as

(fn
where NA nn=
-s_
2)t12 is the numerical aperture used
in optics to express the ability of a system to gather light.
V, the normalized frequency parameter, will be frequently
~~~~~Fus2w2jV2j2 - 1 J;(u)2nw(K1K;(w)]
X~
L
u
J1 (u)

Ju
(12)+
(wu ) I
1 K;w)
2

referred to in later discussionsg. Wn 2 U Kt ( w) j

The transverse field components crSEo Hr and Ho can Equation (12) is the exact characteristic equation for the
be expressed in terms of Ez and Hz by using Maxwell s cylindrical fiber under consideration. Notice thait t can be
equations. arranged in a form such that further simplification can be
ta2 r A ____ (ur\ achieved by applying the appropriate approximation to be
+ tu J rJI()1i-a introduced.
1 Ji(!~~~~~)1e ~~Theoretically, for given values of n1, n2, a, and ci, one
- Bwpll -- 2 u for 0 < r < a can derive from this characteristic equation much mean-
a J1(u) 1 a 2ingful information about the transmission properties of the
(8a) fiber. 1) Various propagating modes that can be supported
46 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. E-30, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 1987

by the fiber can be determined and designated. 2) To-
gether with (7), V2 = (U2 + w2), one can solve u or w
as a function of V and determine the propagation constant
flm for each mode of interest. As 1 and m are integers, the
obtained values of Olm are discrete. 3) A w-f diagram can
be drawn for each propagating mode from which other
properties, such as the group velocity, the transmission
delay and the dispersion relations can be derived; and 4)
the field components can be constructed and power trans-
mitted and power lost can be calculated. However, one
can immediately anticipate the complication involved in
using (12). First, one expects that for each I value there
are m solutions, one for each m value. Two subscripts are
required for each mode numbering, such as [mode]lm.
Second, the solution of (12) is so involved that it is almost
impossible to compute all the solutions that satisfy this
identity. Exact solution for this equation is not attempted.
A USEFUL APPROXIMATION
Snyder and Gloge recognized the fact that the practical
fabrication methods such as MCVD or VAD give a small
change in index. Also, to keep the pulse dispersion small,
the index difference must be very small. In practice, if n,
is in the vicinity of 1.5, n2 must be chosen such that the
difference nI - n2 is on the order of 0.001-0.02. In other
words, let An = nI - n2 be small.
If the approximation An -+ 0 or n1 n2 is used, (12)
-
can immediately be simplified. Notice that the left-hand-
side of (12) becomes zero as V2 = a2k2 (n2 - n) 0 5.52. For 1 = 0, the circular symmetrical modes TEOm and
and the right-hand side of (12) becomes identical, thus
making
E1 lj(u) 1 K' (w)l2
|u Jl (u)+ - K(w)| = 0.
u J1 (u)K1(w)j
w ~~cutofffrequency at V = 2.405.
If the Bessel function identities
Jl (u) = +JIT I(u) + - J/(u),
u quency, variation of V implies also a variation of the fiber
Kl (w) = - K1(w) - K+T1 (w)
w the same cutoff frequency and propagation constants al-
and
useful information of the transmission properties of the
fiber as we will develop in the following sections.
IDENTIFICATION OF MODES
We notice that the characteristic equation carries +
signs. These signs are used to catalog the hybrid modes.
The upper sign associates with the HEim modes and the
lower sign with the EHim. We use double subscripts 1, m
for mode designation because for each 1 value, there are
m possible solutions due to the periodic nature of the Bes-
sel functions. To catalog the HEim modes, we choose the
J, - l m, K1 - m as functions; for EHim modes we choose
J + 1, m, and Kl+ 1 m.
For example, if 1 = 1, the characteristic equation (14)
for the HEim modes is
uJ1(u)/Jo(u) = wKj(w)/Ko(w). (16)
We can find the cutoff frequency of these modes by letting
w = 0, u = V. The first zero of J1 (V) occurs at zero for
m = 1. This is the HE 11 mode. It has no cutoff frequency.
Similarly, for m = 2, the HE12 mode is cut off at V =
3.832, etc. For 1 = 2, the characteristic equation for the
HE2m mode becomes, using (15),
Jo(u) Ko(w)
U j1 (u) = w
K.(w) (17)
The first zero of J0( V) is at V = 2.405 for the HE21 mode.
For m = 2, i.e., for the HE22 mode, the cutoff is at V =
TMom exist. The cutoff frequencies of these modes cor-
respond to the zeros of JO(V) at V = 2.405, 5.52, etc.
Thus, for 2.405 < V < 5.52, there exist three modes.
(13) The TEO,, TMO1, and the HE21 modes, all have the same
Table I shows the order of appearance of the modes
within the frequency ranges appearing at the left. Since V
is proportional to the radius of the fiber, for a fixed fre-
radius as well. The group of modes shown within a certain
range of V indicate that those modes have approximately
though they may have entirely different field distribu-

J-T1(u) = 2U1 (u) _ J

21J, (u)
(u),
~~~~~~tions.
The total number of modes shown on the right side of
u this table comes about because each hybrid mode has a
_21K1(w) twofold degeneracy with clockwise and counterclock-
Ki 1(w) = + + Kl (w) wise polarizations, thus doubling the combinations and
increasing the total propagating modes. As V increases,
are used, (13) reduces to the total number of modes increases rapidly.
(~1
J1(u) ~')
u (U) A w
Kl (w)
for n1 n2 (14)
Using the small-index differences approximation, Sny-
der and Gloge have developed another simplified charac-
J1+, ( a)J K, + (w) teristic equation for designating the linearly polarized LPim
or, alternatively, to modes.
JIT2(u) =_T KIT2(w) Jl-11(a) _ Kl_11(w)
J+l() +K,IT
(w) forn1 n2. (15) uJ1(U) = WK1(w) (18)
Thus, (12) has been reduced to a simple form. The solu- The LPim modes count the group of modes appearing to-
tions to their characteristic equations, (14) or (15), yield gether as a single mode. The HE11 modes appear as LP01
YEH: GUIDED WAVE MODES IN OPTICAL FIBERS 47

TABLE I dur J____ 1. (24)

ORDER OF APPEARANCE OF VARIOUS MODES -Lu + V

Range of V Additional Modes Propagating Modes But from (23), J1 (u) /JO ( u) = V/ u. Eliminating
J1(u) /JO (u), we have
0-2.4048 HE11 2
2.4048-3.83 17 TEO,, TM01, HE21 6 du [2 + V21 v
3.8317-5.1356 HE12, EH 1, HE31 12 u + 2 dV. (25)
5.1356-5.5201 EH21, HE41 16
5.5201-6.3802
6.3802-7.0156
TE02, TM02, HE22
EH31, HE51
20
24
Since u <<
.
V, we can neglect the u term against V and
7.0156-7.5883 HE13, EH12, HE32 30 obtain
7.5883-8.4172 EH41, HE61 34 du dV
(26)
mode followed by the LP11 mode which contains the group Integrating yields
of modes designated as TEOB, TMo0, and HE21. The LP02 1
mode is actually the sum of the TE02 TM02 and the HE22 ln u = -V + ln C
modes, and the LP21 mode is the sum of the HE31 and V
EH11 modes, etc. The modes are so grouped because or
within this designated mode, the field distribution can be u = C e-l/. (27)
shown to be linearly polarized. This is possible since the Om
fields in the longitudinal direction have been neglected as To find C, the integration constant, we let V oo, there-
the result of the small index-difference approximation. fore, C = u '. Then,
EVALUATION OF THE PROPAGATION CONSTANTS U = UX e/V (28)
The information of 3, the propagation constant of the u om is the root of J0 ( u ) for V values far from cutoff. For
propagating modes, is contained in the parameters u and I-=0, the root of Jo(u) is 2.405.
w. By solving the characteristic equation of a certain mode In general, for Im modes, in the limiting case w -+ oo,
together with the equation u2 + W2 = V2, the information we find

weslvfqutorsuth fudm2=Va
Lof (HE(V)is oband.Freape, l =U [I (9
and u J1 (u)/Jo(u) = w K1 (w)/Ko(w) to obtain, say, uV
as a function V. We do this by two limiting approaches, where ul m is the mth root of Jj(u). Some of these values
the approximation near cutoff and that far from cutoff. At of u 1 for the corresponding modes are
cutoff, ( = kon2 or w -* 0, u = V, and 00
u lm = the root of JI
KO(w) = w 7n
K,(w)
2
1.782w
forw << 1. (19) = 2.405 HE11 LP0I
= 3.832 TM01, TE01, HE21 LP11
Therefore,
Jo (V) 1.782w
= 5.135
EH11, HE31 LP21
VJl (V) In 2 (20) = 5.520 HE12 LP02
or
= 6.370 EH21, HE41 LP31
= 7.016 TMO2, TE02, HE22 LP12, etc.
w =1.122 exp VJ0(V) (21) An explicit functional relationship between u and V for
the limiting case w -- oo can be derived by taking the
For the limiting case far from cutoff, we let w - oo, w derivative of the general characteristic equation (18) and
- Vand replacing w2 by V2 - u 2, where u, is the cutoff value.
The following is then obtained [18].

lmK°(w) 1. (22) u(V) = - expjLarc

sin--arcssin () (30)
Therefore, where
VJo(u) = uJ1(u). (23) s = (u - 12 - 1)1/2. (31)
Differentiating (23) with respect to V and using the Bessel Equation (30) is good for all LP modes except the LP01
function identities, we obtain mode. In this case Gloge [12] has found
48 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. E-30, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 1987

HE5 EH F (ur\
~~~6.38 - T E02' T M02? H E22
'E12 Ji+I1
6
4[I
Ez sin (1 + 1)0

4- 2w
H
12 2k0an, J1(u)
3.832 "HE3 E Ht-
31, I 1JIl() )] <a
uV
405=°' m-I : TEolX TMolt HE21 + sin (1 - 1)0 for r < a, (35a)
O 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 /wr\
V
Fig. 1. Parameter u as a function of V for various groups of modes [24]. Ez= _
iE1w L
K +lIa1(~
K() sin (1 + 1)0

u(V) = (+V)V(32)K11
1 + (4+ V4)1/4 - sin (1 - for r > a, (35b)
A plot of u versus V for various group of modes is shown K,(w)
in Fig. 1. F (ur
FIELD DISTRIBUTION iE u
Once u and w are obtained, we shall turn our attention 2k0z0a J1(u)
to calculate the field distributions in the fiber. For the ap- -ur-
proximation that An = n, - n2 is small, Gloge recognized Ji- I
that the field expressions are considerably simpler in ap- - \a/ cos (1- for r <a (36a)
pearance if they are expressed in Cartesian coordinates J1 (u)
rather than in cylindrical coordinates [12]. Assume that
the transverse field components are essentially linearly wr
polarized for the LP modes, these field components can HKw + a)
be expressed as z Lcos (l + 1)0
2K0z0a K1 (w) cs( )
Ey El J/ (-) cos 10 for r < a (33a) wr
MU1) \a/ K11I~ )] >a
and + K1(w) cos (1 -I)0 forr > a. (36b)

K()Cos
K(w) \a/ 10
for r > a (33b) If one wishes
=
to find E, and Ho and use boundary condi-
tions at r a to find the characteristic equation, one finds
where El is the electric field strength at the core-cladding that the same form persists.
boundary. In the following, we shall investigate the field distri-
The choice of using cos 10 instead of sin 10 is entirely butions of several lower order modes.
arbitrary. Again, using Maxwell's equations, we obtain 1) The lowest mode is designated as the HE,1 or LPo0
the following equations by letting f = k0n, = k0n2 mode, which is the fundamental mode. It is the dominant
mode within the range
- n,Ey forr< a (34a) 0< Vc 2.405.
Hx= The fields of the HE,1
mode, from (33) are given by
_ 2 Ey for r > a (34b) E =ZH = EoX
yO Ey x,y =E

where (

°0ko 1 Jo(u) c r <Ja,

O. (37a)
z0 is the plane-wave impedance in a vacuum.
In this approximation, the Ex and Hy components are K0tr
very small compared to Ey and Hx.| ° a
The z-components of the field can be obtained by ap- K0(w) ,a-.a, (37b)
plying Maxwell's equation again.
YEH: GUIDED WAVE MODES IN OPTICAL FIBERS 49

{fta - -* / _ X
E HE TE 0 TM 0

t -0-
t LP (
t ~~0
1
(HE ) HE21 HE21 HE12

Fig.nd
magnetic field distributions (E. and H) for an LPO Fig. 3. The electric field vector of the component modes, the TEO,, TM01,
Fig.H2.EElectric,an
filde
distributions(Eanand
magnetic
(HE,,) mode. the two polarizations of the HE21 modes of the LP,, mode.

Ez= (sin cos )

Kan2 ,

(uJI(urla) IJo (u), O r <a, (38a) TE

0+HE21 TE
o-HE21 TM0 +HE TM -HE

wKi Fig. 4. The electric field vector of four independent linear contributions
twK1 (wrla)
(wr/a)/Ko (w),
IKO (w), r
> a,
r > a, (38b
(38b) of the TEO1, TMO1, and HE21 modes. (TEO1 + HE21, TEOI - HE21, TMO1
+ HE21, and TMo1 - HE21).
and
Hz = (cos q, sin ) and
Kan2
z2 + w2 =V2.
uJl (ur/a)/JO(u), 0 c r < a, (39a) The amplitude El can again be calculated by normalized
wK1(wr/a)/KO(w), r > a. (39b) E 2zo 1 ul Ka(Wn)
Either E., or Ey can be taken as zero, i.e., sin o is for Ez = (2) 1[K/2K(w) (42)
and cos 0 is for Hz if E, = 0; and cos 1is for Ez and sin
4 is for Hz for Ey = 0. zo is the vacuum impedance. Eo is The individual field distribution is sketched in Fig. 3.
the amplitude which can be determined from the power The HE21 mode is a hybrid mode with a twofold degen-
relations to be discussed later [23]. eracy. There are two possible field configurations as is

= - KO(w) 1 2zo2 )
u ( 1/2 w JO (u) ( 2zo 1/2 shown in this figure. All these modes have nearly the same
V K, (w)\ ra n2 / V J(u )~ -ra2n2 / fl-values and cutoff characteristics; they usually occur
simultaneously.
(40) There are four independent
linear combinations of these
three modes, namely the TEO, + HE21, TE01 - HE21,
The corresponding Ey and H, fields are distributed in the TM21 + HE21 and TM1 - HE21 mode. The field distri-
plane of a circular cross section as is shown in Fig. 2. butions are shown in Fig. 4 with their respective com-
2) Second-order mode: When the frequency range is bined field distributions. Notice how these distributions
within 2.405 s V s 3.832, the field structure becomes constitute the linearly polarized modes as a single linear
complicated. As we have indicated earlier, besides the electric field vector.
TEO, and TMo1 modes there exists an HE21. The set is Together with the TEO, and TMo1 modes, there are six
called the LP11 mode. We have different modes that can appear in the propagating fiber
J1(u1r/a) , within this frequency range.
Eyx = El(cos 4, sin 4)) 0 c r c a 3) The third-order modes consist of HE12, EH11, and
J1(u1) HE31 modes which appear within the frequency range
(41a) 3.832 c V c 5.52. The amplitude of the third-order
modes can be evaluated in a similar manner and their fields
Ey, El
= (cos 4, sin 4) K( r/a) r - a (41b) sketched likewise. A total of 12 combinations of fields are
K1(w1) possible.
where u, and w, are the value of u and w within this fre- As V increases, or for a fixed frequency, as the diameter
quency range. There are four possible combinations of of the core increases, the number of propagating modes
E(x, y) and E1 (cos 4), sin 4)) and u1 and W1, all satisfying increases rapidly.
these equations. It is very interesting to note that if the guided wave
intensity is plotted as a function of r/a for a fixed fre-
UJ2 (u1) =WK2 (W1) quency (the normalized frequency V), a curve resembling
Ul J1(fu.) K1 (.{W1)4 a Gaussian curve is obtained, at least for the lower order
50 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. E-30, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 1987

I I, LPo
1.0
0l LPI "02 LP212 LP3
"II LP2 LP13
0O3 LP 0
1.0 1.0
V 2.4 V = .8 0.8 -0.2
0.5 05- 06 0.4

ci'0.4 --0.6 a-L'

O 2 3 r/a 0 2 3 r/a
Fig. 5. Shape of the guided wave intensity (I(r)) as a function of the 02 0.8
radius of the fiber for several values of V. I(r) is the power density of
the guiding mode for constant total guiding power. 0 2 4 6 8 10
V

modes. Fig. 5 shows such a plot. Therefore, it is some-
times useful to approximate the field distribution of the
LPO mode by an exponential expression and make the
calculation of the power relations much simpler.
POWER DISTRIBUTION
The total power carried by a particular fiber mode along
the z-direction is given by the following integral [14].
X 2r
Pt= 2, 3 Re [E x H*] 1,rdr do (43)
0 Further power loss in fibers can be introduced by fiber
where Re indicates the real part, x indicates the vector
product,
product, * denotes the scalarprduct denoesthescaar , *
* ndicatesu the
complex conjugate and I z is a unity vector in the z direc-
tion. Using the values of E and H for the particular mode
from (33)-(36), one can integrate (43) to obtain the total
power, including the power transmitted into the core and
the power lost in the cladding. The amplitude form El in
(33)-(36) is evaluated by normalizing Pt to unity at the
core-cladding interface for that mode. For example, (40)
for Eo and (42) for El are the result of the normalization
process.
The fractional power carried by the fiber core and that
carried by the cladding can be obtained by changing the
limit of the first integral of (43) from I' to I' and 1',
respectively, and then to divide it by Pt. For the LPOI
mode, we obtain
p_ (a \) 2 L YK1(w)
Ko (w 21j
Pcore (44)
Fig. 6. Plot of the normalized optical power in the case and cladding as a
function of V for lower order LP modes.
in the cladding. For example, for the LPOI mode, if V <
2, 80 percent of the power is lost in the cladding. To keep
90 percent of the power in the core, V must be chosen
about five. This could set a limit to how small the core
radius can be designed for single-mode fiber. For the LPoI
mode, about 30-50 percent of the fundamental power is
-
carried by the cladding.
irregularities. In fact, any dielectric waveguide will ra-
idiate if it is not absolutelyy straight. For a bend, for ex-
ample, the radius of curvature of the bend can affect the
radiation loss [19]-[21], [23]. For the radius of curvature
R > a, fundamental power is lost through coupling to
higher order modes and/or radiation modes.
CONCLUSION
We have presented a logical and simplified description
of the mode structure of a cylindrical optical fiber. Lin-
early polarized mode designation is emphasized. Exam-
ples of some lower order modes are illustrated in mode
designations, calculation of the propagation constants, the
u-V diagram, the field configurations, and the power re-
lations. Formulas are introduced when necessary without
lengthy derivations as these can be found elsewhere in the
references. This helps to concentrate our attention on the
physical description of the problem.

and REFERENCES
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Chal Yeh (A'48-SM'51-LS'81) received the
B.S.E.E. degree from Zhejiang University,
Hangzhou, China, in 1931, the Master degree in
electrical engineering, and the Ph.D. degree in
applied physics, both from Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, in 1934 and 1936, respectively.
He joined Peiyang University in Tientsin,
China as a Professor of Electrical Engineering in
1936. In 1937 he joined the Tsinghau University
in Peking, China, as a Professor of Electrical En-
gineering. During the Sino-Japanese war (1937-
1945), Tsinghau University was moved to Kumming and merged with the
Nankai and Peking Universities to form the Associated South-Western Uni-
versity, At the end of the War, Tsinghau University was moved back to
Peking in 1946. He continued as Chairman of the Department of Electrical
Engineering until 1947 when he was granted a sabbatical leave to visit
Harvard University. From 1948 to 1956 he was a Visiting Professor at the
University of Kansas, Lawrence. He joined the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, first as a Research Engineer at Willow Run Laboratories and
as a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University.
In 1961 he was transferred to the Department of Electrical Engineering as
an Associate Professor and promoted to full Professor in 1964. He re-
mained at the University of Michigan until his retirement and became a
Professor Emeritus of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Com-
puter Science in 1981.