CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIBRES

A PROJECT REPORT

SUBMITTED IN COMPLETE FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE

OF

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY

IN

[ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATIONS]

Submitted by:

AKSHAT GUPTAA

2K20/B11/65

ADITYA GUPTA

2K20/B11/60

Under the supervision of

Asst. Professor Deshraj Meena

ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATIONS

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering)
Bawana Road, Delhi-110042

JULY 2021
 DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering) Bawana
Road, Delhi-110042

CANDIDATE’S DECLERATION

We, (Akshat Guptaa and Aditya Gupta, 2K20/B11/65 and 2k20/B11/60) students of B. Tech.
(Electronics and communications) hereby declare that the project Dissertation titled” Construction
and Applications of Optical Fibers” which is submitted by us to the Department of Applied Physics,
Delhi Technological University, Delhi in complete fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the
degree of Bachelor of Technology, is original and not copied from any source without proper citation.
This work has not previously formed the basis for the award of any Degree, Diploma Associateship,
Fellowship or other similar title or recognition.

Place: Delhi Akshat Guptaa (2K20/B11/65)

Aditya Gupta (2K20/B11/60)
 APPLIED PHYSICS DELHI
TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering) Bawana
Road, Delhi-110042

CERTIFICATE

I hereby certify that the project Dissertation titled” Construction and Application of
Optical Fibers “ which is submitted by Akshat Guptaa, Aditya Gupta (2K20/B11/65,
2K20/B11/60) [Electronics And Communication], Delhi Technological University, Delhi
in complete fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of the Bachelor
of Technology, is a record of the project work carried out by the students under my
supervision. To the best of my knowledge this work has not been submitted in part or
full for any Degree or Diploma to this University or elsewhere.

Place: Delhi Asst. Professor

Deshraj Meena

Date: 13/07/2021 SUPERVISOR

 APPLIED PHYSICS
DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering) Bawana
Road, Delhi-110042

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In performing our major project, we had to take the help and guideline of some respected
persons, who deserve our greatest gratitude. The completion of this assignment gives us
much pleasure. We would like to show our gratitude to Professor Deshraj Meena and
Professor Mukhtiyar Singh for major project. Giving us a good guideline for report
throughout numerous consultations. We would also like extend our deepest gratitude to all
those who have directly and indirectly guided is in writing this assignment.

In addition, we would like to thank Department of Applied Physics, Delhi Technological

University for giving us the opportunity to work on this topic.
 CONTENTS

Title Page

Candidate’s Declaration
Certificate
Acknowledgement
Contents
1. History of Optical Fibre
2. Construction of Optical Fibre
Core
Cladding
Primary Layer Coating
Strength Member
Cable Jacket
3. Type of Optical Fibre
Single-mode
Multi-mode
4. Principle and Working.
5. Fabrication.
6. Advantages and Disadvantages
7. Applications of Optical Fibre
Medical
Defence
Networking
Automotive
8. Other Major Applications
9. References
 History Of Optical Fibre:

In 1854, John Tyndall, a British physicist, demonstrated an experiment in which

he found that light could travel through a curved stream of water flow, thereby
proving that a light signal could be bent. He proved this in his experiment where
he set up a tank of water and connected it with a pipe that ran out of one side.
When water started flowing through the tube, he shone a light ray directed into
the tank into the stream of water. As the water fell, an arc of light followed the
water down by bend in the zig-zag pattern. From here fiber optics concepts start,
and then it was found that if light can bend after travelling in the water, then it
will also bend in the flexible glasses.
We have a time-lapse of evolution of optical fibre:
Construction Of Fibre Optic Cable.

A fibre-optic cable is designed to transfer the light waves and to protect the inside
fibre core that carries the light signals. During the construction of a fibre- optic
cable it takes few parts to be fully functional that are the fiber core, cladding,
primary coating, strength members, and cable jacket. Now let’s understand all the
inner parts or material present inside the fibre-optic cable and their functions.

Core:
The core of the optical fibre cable is the central section of the cable which is used
to transfer the light signal received from a light source and delivers it to a device.
This core is designed by using a hair-thin strand of silica glass or plastic
material. Also, we have some different kinds of mode of optical fibre cables
which we can define using their size.

Cladding:
The cladding is a layer of glass that covers the fibre core which is helpful for light
transmission inside the cable. It creates a safe boundary around the light waves,
which causes refraction and also protects it from any light waves leak. This
makes optical fibre transmit data through the whole length of the fibre segment.

Primary Layer Coating:

This primary coating is basically a layer of plastic that does not allow
interference between the cladding or the light transmission of the core. It is
designed to provide protection against excessive cable bends, forces, tensions
and reinforce the fibre core which could cause a delay in data transfer through
light waves.

Strength Members:
This membrane is specifically placed to protect the core of the fiber against
excessive forces or tension during the installation meanwhile.

Cable Jacket:
The outermost layer of any cable is known as the cable jacket. The cable jacket
is the outermost line of which is used to protect optical fibre from physical
conditions like moisture, mechanical, flame, and chemical. Depending on the
application of fibre, different fibre-optic cables have different colours like
yellow, black, aqua, and other colored jackets.
Now let’s have a look at a different type of Optical fibres.
Usually, optical fiber is found in two different types that are :

1. Single Mode:
Single-mode optical fibres are used for long-distance transformation. It has a
small diameter in the glass fibre core due to which lessens the possibility of
attention, i.e the reduction in a single strength. The smaller diameter of this type
of optical fibre used to converts light into a single beam and focus it on a direct
route so that it could travel for a very long distance

2. Multi-Mode:
Multi-mode optical fibre has a larger core opening that bounced and reflects the
light rays throughout the path, transmitting it through a shorter distance in a
short time. As multimode optical fibre has a wide diameter so multiple light
beams can be transferred at a particular time and this is how data transfer
becomes faster in multimode optical fibre. Also, the signal loss or signal break
becomes difficult, so almost every lagging event is removed.
 Principle and Working of optical fiber.

Optical fiber works on the principle of total internal reflection. Now let’s
understand the total internal reflection in brief.
Let’s take a look at the critical angle in a short brief. It’s better to understand
using the figure given below.

By Snell’s law, we have,

At the start of total internal reflection, i=ic, and r=90°

When i>ic, there will be no reflected rays. All incident rays will get internally
reflected
￫

Working:
Fabrication of Optical Fibre
Advantages and Disadvantages
The advantages of optical fibre are:
1. Optical fibres have more bandwidth than other wires.
2. It can transmit the data for a very long distance with less power loss.
3. It is very resistive to the electromagnetic interference
4. The size of the fibre cable is 4.5 times better than copper wires.
5. These cables are lighter and thinner.
6. Installation is very easy as it has low weight.
7. These cables are very secure while carrying or transmitting data.
8. A fibre optic cable is very flexible and can easily be bent.

The disadvantages of optical fibre are:

1. Merging the optical fibre is very difficult.

2. The Installation of these cables is costly.
3. Fibre optic cables are compact and highly vulnerable while fitting
4. These cables are more delicate.
5. We need some other special devices to transmit data through the optical fibre.

APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIBRES

Optical fibres have numerous applications and present times, their demand is
increasing in many sectors and fields.

Few major applications of optical fibres are in the fields of:

• Medical
• Defense/Government
• Networking/Telecommunications
• Automobile Industry
Now, we discuss the applications of optical fibres in these fields and also the
properties of optical fibres useful in the corresponding fields/sectors.

MEDICAL

Introduction
When most of the people think of fibre optics, they think of cable TV and high-speed
internet. However, fibre optics have also been prevalent in the medical community for
a number of years. Today, the world’s major healthcare providers strive to find
advanced biomedical instrumentation to provide more efficient patient diagnosis,
monitoring and treatment.
 Advantageous characteristics of optical fibres in medical field:
Fibre optics display a variety of characteristics that make them useful in the medical
field. They are insensitive to electromagnetic disturbances and are commonly small in
size. Additionally, their ability to withstand high temperatures, strong electromagnetic
fields like MRIs, and ionizing radiation make fibre optics the perfect medical tool.
Lastly, optical fibres are nontoxic, chemically inert, and intrinsically safe and thus, are
an ideal material to use in and near the human body.

These unique properties allow for the development of complex biomedical

instrumentation, which corresponds to an increased ability to perform surgical
procedures and diagnostic examinations. Overall, this important technology continues
to open doors in areas including neurology, gastroenterology, cardiology, and many
more. As the global community continues to grow and live longer, advanced
biomedical equipment becomes increasingly crucial.
Moreover, physical characteristics of fibre, such as its flexibility and light weight,
make it ideal for many different medical applications. However, minimally invasive
surgery is one of the main driving factors behind the success of fibre optics.

Applications
The rise in incidences of diseases like kidney stones, cancer, and arthritis globally has
resulted in a larger population seeking minimally invasive procedures. Whereas
traditional surgery exposes tissues and organs through large incisions, minimally
invasive surgery allows for less pain during operations, faster recovery time and lower
risk of infection for the patient.

Thus, the main applications for fibre optics in the medical field are in small, compact
instruments that assist physicians in performing surgeries or diagnosing patients.
These tools continue to develop in both the hospital setting and in the emerging
research studies.

Fibre Optics in Medical Instrumentation

One of the most prevalent applications of fibre optics in medicine are in the imaging
and in the illumination components of endoscopes. The flexible, yet rigid multifibers
enable visualization of internal organs and tissue via bodily orifices. Doctors use
endoscopes to investigate symptoms such as nausea and abdominal pain, confirm
diagnoses by performing biopsies, or give medical treatment.

Fibre optic biomedical sensors are another huge application of fibre optic technology.
Body temperature, blood temperature, muscle displacement, and heart rate are just of a
few of the many characteristics that fibre optic sensors can measure.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a type of biomedical sensor, is a medical

imaging technique that utilizes imaging sensors to capture micron-scale, 3-D images
from within an optical scattering media, like biological tissue. OCT is analogous to
ultrasound imaging, but it operates using light instead of sound. Furthermore, in
combination with catheters and endoscopes, it also provides high-resolution images of
organ systems. It has advanced significantly in recent years, becoming the standard for
diagnosis for the things like coronary artery disease. This is possible due to the
flexible and smalls-scale nature of fibre optics.

Conclusion
The integration of optical fibres into the medical community has enabled safer
procedures, more efficient surgeries and faster recovery time. However, designing
biomedical instrumentation continues to pose challenges. Medical devices must
typically be reliable, highly stable, safe, and biocompatible among many other
components. Although these requirements have created obstacles within the research
community, the demand for sophisticated biomedical instrumentation continues to
persist.

DEFENSE/GOVERNMENT
 Fibre optic products have also come to play an integral role in military operations
across the world. And that role is only set to grow larger in the years and decades to
come. According to a report , “the global fibre optic cable market was estimated to
reach a market value of US$ 6,783million by 2019 and is forecast to reach US$
10,140 million by 2027” representing a compound annual growth rate of more than
five percent. And that same report listed the military and aerospace sectors as being
among the most key market segments of the fibre optic cable market. Fibre optic has
come in leaps and bounds over the years and can be used in various ways for
technology, from fiber optic video to fibre optic broadband, it has a multitude of uses.
Over the past few years, the use of fibre optic cable technology in the Australian
military, specifically, has grown at an expansive rate.

Given that fibre optic technologies are now regularly used for utilities such as
telephone and internet communications, it goes without saying that the military uses
fibre optic products throughout their land-based facilities. However, perhaps even
more importantly, there are many military-specific purposes for which fibre optic
cables and products are ideally suited with their fiber optic cable internet.

For instance, some applications for which fibre optic products can provide unrivalled
security and stability include shipboard communications, ship to shore
communications, and deployable tactical communications. The increase in speed of
data transmissions allowed by fibre optic products, for example, can be a very major
factor contributing to the use of military purposes. When every second counts, and
every piece of data is invaluable, it’s important to use the product which provides the
highest and most consistent level of performance and when it comes to data
transmission, that level can only be provided by fibre optic.

Additionally, fibre optic cables have been found in many cases to be physically
stronger than most alternatives, and more resistant to the kinds of hazards and traffic
which might be present in a military space. It’s just one more reason, among many
others, that the defence sector was an early adopter of fibre optic technologies, with its
usage only becoming more integral in the years since.

Government functions extend beyond this, of course. Departments that monitor

seismic activity rely on hydrophones and SONAR, which both make use of fiber optic
transmission lines to send the data in real-time. This allows for faster analysis of the
data and warnings in the event of an earthquake, giving emergency services that much
more time to prepare. They are also used in creating wirings in aeroplane.
EXAMPLES OF OPTIC FIBRES USED IN MILITARY PURPOSES

Since many of the benefits they offer are ideal for military purposes, it stands to reason
that fibre optic products would be made specifically for use in those sectors. One
example is that of MIL-PRF-28876 shipboard connector, an interconnect that has
become truly standard for Navy shipboard applications.Offering precise optical
alignment for ideal performance, corrosion resistance to ensure that functionality
remains constant in the long term and environmental protection that ensures connectivity
no matter the circumstances, the MIL-PRF-28876 has been proven to provide high
performance without ever faltering.

The MIL-DTL-3899 is another excellent example of the fibre optic products available
for military usage because, like so many others within that category, it has been made
available with an extremely wide range of customisable options. It is currently available
in many forms, with various options available for both materials (such as aluminium
alloy, composite, and stainless steel) and finishes (including electroless nickel,
cadmium, and passivated, among many others).
NETWORKING

Fibre optic communication has revolutionised the telecommunications industry in a

huge way. It has also made its presence felt largely within the data networking
community as well. Using fibre optic cable, optical communications have enabled
telecommunications links to be made over much greater distances and with much lower
levels of loss in the transmission medium and possibly most important of all, fibre
optical communications have enabled much higher data rates to be accommodated.
As a result of these advantages, fibre optic communications systems are widely
employed for applications ranging from major telecommunications backbone
infrastructure to Ethernet systems, broadband distribution, and general data networking.
Advantageous characteristics of optical fibres in telecommunications field:

There are a number of compelling reasons that lead to the widespread adoption of
fibre optic cabling for telecommunications applications. These reasons are as follows:

Much lower levels of signal attenuation

Fibre optic cabling provide a much higher bandwidth allowing more data to be
delivered

Fibre optic cables are much lighter than the coaxial cables that might otherwise be
used.Fibre optics do not suffer from stray interference pickup that occurs with coaxial
cabling

Development of fibre optics

Since the earliest days of telecommunications there has been an ever increasing need
to transmit more data even faster. Earlier single line wires were used. These, were
then replaced by coaxial cables that enabled several channels to transmit over the
same cable. However these systems were limited in bandwidth and optical systems
were required.

Optical communications became a possibility after the first lasers were developed in
the 1960s. Then, during the late 1970s a considerable amount of research was
undertaken. This resulted in the installation of the first optical fibre
telecommunications system. It ran over a distance of 45 km and used a wavelength of
mm and had a data rate of just 45 Mbps - a fraction of what is possible today.
Since then, considerable improvements have been made in the technology. Data rates
have been minimised and in addition to this the performance of the optical fibre has
improved drastically to enable much greater distances to be achieved between
repeaters. As an indication of this the speeds that can now be achieved along through a
fibre optic system exceed 10 Tbps.
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Most innovations in the car or truck industry today are made in the electronics area.
This is true in relation to the systems for communicating information around the car,
including the heavy data loads produced by digital infotainment devices. As a result,
both the number of nodes in a car's network, as well as the complexity of these nodes,
is on a rise, and thus the total bit rate carried over digital communication channels are
growing exponentially.

Fibre optic cabling would appear to be the answer to the car designer's wish: it is light
and compact, and it also offers various benefits like supporting very high data rates
and immunity from Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI). In reality, however, the
adoption of fibre optic communications in vehicles has been limited till date.
A digital optical link can be divided into three components: transmitter, cable and
receiver. In regard to the cable, Polymer Optical Fibre (POF) is preferred in
automotive applications. Although it suffers from much higher losses than glass fibre,
it is cheaper and can hence, withstand a tighter bend radius than glass. In high-
bandwidth applications, where POF cannot provide an adequate data rate, plastic-clad
silica fibres and multi-mode glass fibre bundles are now used.

Car manufacturers use fiber to lighten applications for many reasons. First and
foremost, fiber transmits 'cold' light, making it a safe alternative to traditional closed
or halogen light. Aside from the safety advantage, the light source is easily accessible
and offers a lot of freedom to design the building. Fiber also allows for the separation
of source and output area, creating high performance lighting options with reduced
body space requirements for hard and limited access points.

Communication and hearing aids in vehicles are critical to the ever-increasing number
of devices and security systems. With each subsequent model year, more airbags, tow
control devices, and safety systems are integrated into passenger safety vehicles. Since
most of these programs are focused on emergency or pre-emergency response, rapid
communication and return to the monitoring system or audible module is essential for
effective operation. With greater bandwidth, EMI and RFI (Radio frequency
interference) security, and relatively low costs, more and more manufacturers are
increasingly using fibre as the preferred communication method for these critical
applications.
OTHER MAJOR APPLICATIONS

There are many important uses for fiber optics. Some of the most important
things are:
• Optical fiber connections use visible fibers mainly for transmitting data over
long distances, but sometimes even for short distances. A large amount of data can be
transmitted instantly via a single fiber, which is also protected from external
influences such as electric and electric fields.
• Active fiber-optic devices contain some unusual ground fibers. Fiber lasers can
generate laser light at various wavelengths, and fiber amplifiers can be used e.g.
amplifying optical power or amplifying weak telecom signals.
• Fiber-optic sensors can be used e.g. at distributed temperatures and difficulties in
buildings, oil pipelines, and aircraft wings.
• Passive optical fibers help to transfer light from one source to another point, e.g.
for purposes such as lighting, diode pulls for lasers and power over fiber. Also, they
are used to connect components to fiber-optic devices, such as interferometers and
fiber lasers. Then they play the same role as electrical wiring on electrical devices.

Therefore, fiber optics has become a very important area in photonics technology.
References:

1. Advanced Physics by A.K. JHA

2. Google.com

3. Wikipedia.com