AIM:

To determine the mode field diameter of the fundamental mode in a given

single mode fiber by measurement of its far field.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:
 Laser diode
 Laser diode aligner
 Microscopic objective
 Microscopic objective holder
 XYZ translator stage
 Pin-hole mask photodetector connected to a multimeter
 Photodetector holder
 Rotation stage
 Two fiber chucks
 2 m length of single mode fiber
 Razor blade
 Fiber cutter

THEORY:
A single-mode fiber supports only one mode that propagates through the fiber;
this is also referred to as the fundamental mode of the fiber. The transverse
field distribution associated with the fundamental mode of a single-mode fiber
is an extremely important quantity, and it determines various important
parameters such as splice loss at joints, launching efficiencies, and bending
loss. For a step index fiber one has an analytical expression for the
fundamental field distribution in terms of Bessel functions. For most single-
mode fibers, the fundamental mode field distributions can be well
approximated by a Gaussian function, which may be written in the form:
2 2 2
−(x + y ) −r
2 2
wo wo
ψ ( x , y )= A e =A e

where wo is referred to as the spot size of the mode field pattern and 2w o is
called the mode field diameter (MFD). MFD is a very important characteristic
of a single-mode optical fiber. For a step index fiber one has the following
empirical expression for wo

wo 1.619 2.879
≈ 0.65+ 3 + 6 ; 0.8<V < 2.5
a V
V2

where a is the core radius. Since the far field of the diffracting field is
Fraunhoffer diffraction pattern, is Fourier transform of its near field, it can
be analytically shown that the far field pattern of a Gaussian distribution given
by above equation is again a Gaussian distribution and the corresponding
intensity pattern is given by :
2 2 2 2 2
−2 π r w o −2 π w o 2
2 2 2
tan Ɵ
λ z λ
I ( r )=B e =B e

where B is a constant independent of r and tan Ɵ = r/z, Ɵ being the far field
diffraction angle. The angle Ɵe at which the intensity drops down by a factor of
e2 from its maximum value at Ɵ = 0 would then be given by,

λ
tanƟ e =
π wo
λ
w o=
π tan Ɵe

Now, from here we can calculate the Gaussian mode field diameter (2w o).
OBSERVATIONS:
Least count of rotational stage = 2o

Sl. No. Reading on the rotation stage in angle Multimeter reading in

(degree) current
(µA)
1. 35 1.1
2. 36 2.2
3. 37 5.5
4. 38 8.8
5. 39 13.2
6. 40 21.1
7. 41 42.1
8. 42 81.4
9. 43 111.1
10. 44 128.7
11. 45 145.2
12. 46 155.1
13. 47 146.3
14. 48 127.6
15. 49 111.1
16. 50 82.5
17. 51 41.2
18. 52 20.6
19. 53 14.3
20. 54 7.7
21. 55 4.4
22. 56 2.2

RESULT:
 Intensity distributi on of the single mode fi ber
160

150

140

130

120
Multimeter reading (µA)

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
30 35 40 45 50 55 60

Angular position (deg)

IO/e2 = 21 µA
Ɵ1=40o Ɵ2=52o

2λ
MFD 2 ωo=
Ɵ 2−Ɵ 1
π tan( ¿)¿
2

2(633 ×10−9 )
MFD 2 ωO= =3.84 µm
3.14 × tan 6o

Mode field diameter of the given single mode fiber is 3.84 µm

¿
Relative error associated with the measurement = ¿ 3.9−3.8∨ 3.9 ×100 ¿ = 2.56%
CONCLUSION:
The mode field diameter of the given single mode fiber is observed from far
field measurement to be 3.84 µm with relative error of 2.56 %.

Here we found that a single mode fiber allows only the fundamental or lowest
order mode to propagate along the fiber, while all other higher modes are
restricted to propagate through the fiber or they are lost through cladding
region of fiber. It was also very evident from the output intensity distribution
that it showed a very uniform Gaussian distribution of power on the screen
unlike multimode fibers there is no interference with any other mode. The
basic structural difference between the single and multimode fiber is core
size; which is very small in case of single mode fibers, thus for a fiber
supporting lowest mode, then from its mode field diameter analysis, one can
also estimate the core radius. Single mode fibers have a lower signal loss and a
higher information capacity (bandwidth) than multimode fibers. Single mode
fibers are capable of transferring higher amounts of data due to low fiber
dispersion or low intermodal dispersion.

In general, there is a normalized frequency or V parameter term associated

with each fiber that depends on core radius thereby it decides how many
number of modes the fiber can allow to pass through it. So, for single mode
fiber this corresponds to a particular small value of core radius or also from
the Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory, this intrinsic subtle feature can be
obtained from a particular value of step index characteristic of the fiber
where it will only yield one value of propagation constant which will correspond
to only a single mode. Moreover, here we can make a very striking and an
intriguing analogy with the case of a quantum mechanical system in which a
particle when confined within a finite potential well, there exist a particular
value of potential for which only one bound state is possible, i.e., the ground
state, and rest all other excited states are restricted. This way we can assure
the accountability of classical wave mechanics.
PRECAUTIONS:
 It is necessary that far field intensity pattern be detected at a
sufficiently large distance from the center of fiber output end such that
good angular resolution is achieved during detection.
 The output end of fiber must be positioned in such a way that the axis of
the rotation of rotation stage passes through it.
 The angular sector scanned in front of the fiber must be sufficiently wide
(between ±20o) to include the main lobe of the radiation pattern.