11.

9 Total internal reflection

OCR Physics A Stretch and challenge

Optical fibres: path differences

Specification references
 4.4.2 d) e)
 M0.2, M1.4, M2.2, M2.3, M4.5

Introduction
In this task you will consider how a signal can be transmitted along an optical fibre
and how, due to different paths that rays take as they travel along the fibre, this
signal could become impossible to decode.

Learning outcomes
After completing the worksheet you should be able to:
 calculate the critical angle at a boundary
 explain path differences in a simple step-index optical fibre
 use the idea of path differences to explain why a series of pulses may
become impossible to decode after they have travelled along a fibre.

Background or reference content

Optical fibres have many uses, including high-speed digital communications over
very long distances.
At a simple level we can say that data is represented as a series of on or off light
pulses, with on representing the binary digit 1 and off representing the binary digit 0.
Figure 1 shows a series of on and off pulses. Each pulse lasts only 1 µs and so one
million pulses (or lack of pulses) are sent each second. In an optical fibre, the pulse
duration may be substantially less than 1 µs, and so millions or even billions
of these bits of information may be transmitted each second.

Figure 1 A series of pulses

The pulses may be produced by a light-emitting diode (LED) or rapidly switching
laser. They then travel through the fibre and are detected at the far end by a light-
sensitive device, such as a photodiode.
Optical fibres used for digital communications are very narrow, often less than 10 
µm in diameter, and are designed to transmit near infrared light, which is absorbed
much less than visible light as it passes along the fibre.
If the fibre has a diameter significantly greater than the wavelength of the
transmitted light (more than 10 times greater), there are a range of paths the light
rays can travel along. Two ray paths are shown in Figure 2.

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 11.9 Total internal reflection
OCR Physics A Stretch and challenge

Figure 2 Two ray paths in a simple optical fibre

The ray that travels directly along the centre of the core clearly travels a shorter
distance than the ray reflecting at the boundary of the fibre. The difference in
distance travelled causes the pulse of light to spread. The light that travels the
greatest distance will arrive after the light that travels the shortest distance. As a
result of this spreading, the clean, sharp and easy-to-interpret signal shown in
Figure 1 becomes more like the signal shown in Figure 3 below.
The spreading of the signal pulses becomes more significant the longer the fibre
and the greater its diameter.

Figure 3 Pulses after signal spreading

Questions
Figure 4 shows a section of an optical fibre consisting of a core with a refractive
index of 1.62, and a cladding layer with refractive index of 1.60. The diameter of
the core is 20.0 μm.
Two ray paths are shown. Ray A travels directly through the centre of the fibre.
Ray B is totally internally reflected at the critical angle for the boundary.
The figure is not shown to scale.

Figure 4 A section of an optical fibre showing two rays

1 a Calculate the speed of light in the core. (1 mark)

b Calculate the critical angle of the core cladding boundary. (2 marks)
c Calculate the length of the fibre section marked S. (2 marks)

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 11.9 Total internal reflection
OCR Physics A Stretch and challenge

d Calculate the ray length l. (1 mark)

e Using your values for S and l, calculate the path difference of the two rays
marked A and B. (1 mark)
f Calculate the additional time ray B will take to travel along the length of fibre
S compared with ray A. (1 mark)

2 The total length of the fibre is 10.0 km

Calculate the additional time it will take for ray B to travel the fibre compared to
ray A. (2 marks)

3 A single pulse of duration 1.00 μs is sent along the fibre as shown in Figure 5.
Sketch the shape of the pulse that would reach the end of the fibre (assuming no
absorption of energy).

Figure 5 A single pulse (2 marks)

4 To represent a digital signal of 101010, a series of pulses are sent as shown in

Figure 6.
a Sketch the shape of the received signal. (2 marks)
b Explain why this signal may be difficult to decode at the end of the fibre.
(1 mark)
c Why would the signal be even more difficult to interpret if the fibre length
were 20 km? (1 mark)

Figure 6 A series of pulses

5 Explain why using a core and cladding material with a more similar refractive
index would reduce the spreading of the individual pulses as they travel along the
fibre, making the signal easier to interpret. (2 marks)

6 The fibre described in Figure 4 is unsuitable for high-speed communications over

long distances, and is generally employed for communications over much shorter
distances with much higher communications rates.
Using the information provided, discuss whether the fibre could be used to send
data with pulse widths of 1 nm over distances of 10 m and 100 m.
You should support your explanation with appropriate calculations. (8 marks)

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