Copyright © 1972 American Telephone and Telegraph Company

THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOUENAL

Vol. 51, No. 8, October, 1972
PriKtcä in U.S.A.

Optical Power Flow in Multimode Fibers

By D . G L O G E
(Manuscript received May 8, 1972)

Loss, coupling, and delay differences among the modes of multimode fibers
influence their transmission characteristic in a complicated way. An
approximation of the modes by a continuum leads to a comprehensive
description of these interrelations. We relate the mode poioer distribution
to the far-field output and calcúlale these distributions as functions of the
fiber length and the input. We report measurements of the far-field dis­
tributions at various lengths of a dadded low-loss multimode fiber. A
comparison of theory and experiment yields a quantitative estimate of the
mode coupling involved. We associtüe this coupling wüh random irreg­
ularities of the fiber configuration and straightness, and construct a quanti­
tative model of such irregularities.

I. INTRODUCTION

Some sources considered for use in optical communication systems

have a spatially incoherent or multimode o u t p u t and require overmoded
fibers for efficient transmission. T h e fibers consist of a highly t r a n s ­
parent core surrounded by a cladding of lower refractive index. Liquid
core prototypes with losses as low as 20 d B / k m have been built.' Solid
mutimode fibers have slightly higher losses.' A recent s t u d y of their
propagation and dispersion characteristics* showed a r a t h e r intricate
behavior compUcated by the fact t h a t hundreds of modes could propa­
gate simultaneously. These modes underwent a perpetual mixing process.
T h e attenuation coefficient appeared to vary from mode t o mode causing
a relatively fast loss of the high-order modes.* An increase of delay with
mode number (and fiber length) was observed as expected, b u t mixing
and a t t e n u a t i o n seemed to influence this relationship in a complex way.
An exact knowledge of the processes involved is of considerable
interest not only to understand the sources of loss in the fiber, b u t in
order t o determine t h e signal distortion in long fibers. I t has been
predicted' t h a t under certain cmiumstances increased mixing reduces
the signal distortion (ultimately forcing all energy t o propagate a t a n
1767
1768 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL, OCTOBER 1972

average velocity). B u t it remains t o be determined w h a t actual signal

improvements can be gained in practice from this effect. Previous
investigations of these problems,''* although suited t o show t h e concepts
involved, were limited t o model studies involving relatively few modes.
I n this work, we replace t h e modes b y a continuum. T h i s results in
a relatively simple differential equation which describes t h e power
distribution as a function of time, fiber length, and t h e continuous mode
parameter. T h e differential equation can be solved rigorously for certain
conditions which satisfactorily m a t c h experimental results. Explicit
relations result which describe t h e propagation characteristics as a
function of the modal coupling, attenuation, a n d delay coefficients.
T h e coupling is t h e n related t o specific imperfections of the configuration
or straightness of t h e fiber.
T h i s paper is primarily devoted t o t h e time-independent solution of
t h e problem. Signal distortion and, specifically, t h e (baseband) impulse
response of long fibers can be derived from a slight modification of
t h e above equations and this will be done in a subsequent paper. T h e
concept underlying our results developed from experiments with solid-
core fibers' b u t , in the meantime, measurements of long liquid-core
fibers' h a v e proven t h a t these fibers follow t h e same concept.

II. TRANSITION TO MODAL CONTINUUM

F o r large mode numbers, t h e characteristic mode parameters change

so little between neighboring modes t h a t their discrete values can be
replaced b y one continuous variable. Consider t h e two-dimensional
dielectric g u i d e - a t h i n film, for examplenaketched in Fig. 1. W e assume
t h a t t h e relative index difference

Δ = 1 - J (1)

between core index η a n d cladding index n . is small compared t o unity.

I n t h a t case, the critical angle* for t o t a l internal reflection

9. = ^ 1 - (j)' « Λ/2Δ (2)

is small as well, a n d we can use small-angle approximations in t h e

following relations.
W i t h i n t h e high-index material, t h e field distribution of t h e m t h
mode is essentially sinusoidal (see Fig. 1) with transverse wave n u m b e r
• Defined here as the angle measured from the reflecting surface (see Fig. 1).
 POWER FLOW IN FIBERS 1769

MODAL
^'FIELD

J
FAR-FIELD
^βoüτ DISTRIBUTION
2»

f. FOCAL ,
LENGTH

FIBER LENS SCREEN

Fig. 1—Sketch to illustrate the wave nature of the modes in the dielectric slab and
in the fiber.

U = (3)
2a
where 2a is t h e guide width. If fc = 2τ/\ is t h e free-space wave number,
the propagation direction of a mode (i.e., its representative plane wave)
follows from

(4)
nk 4an
Because of Snell's law, this angle becomes

^out — (5)
4a
outside of t h e guide. I n t h e far fíeld (or t h e focal plane of a lens), t h e
plane waves are concentrated about t h e directions -f flout a n d — β.„,.
T h e aperture of t h e guide determines t h e angular concentration of t h e
two far-field " s p o t s . " If t h e guide width is 2a, t h e spot width is of t h e
order of λ / α .
As wo learn from (4), t h e propagation directions of neighboring
modes differ b y

Δ0 (6)
4an
and hence b y λ/4α outside t h e guide. T h e modes t h u s form a partly
1770 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOUBNAL, OCTOBEB 1972

overlapping sequence of spots in t h e far field, ordered according t o

m o d e number. Consequently t h e far-field distribution represents a
direct image of t h e modal power distribution.
T h e transition t o t h e modal continuum uses a continuous angle θ
instead of t h e discrete values (4). I n this way, we arrive a t a continuum
of plane waves which, in t h e following, will be represented b y rays.
T h e power distribution Ρ (β), in this continuum, is obtained b y replacing
ββαΐ b y β in t h e (average) far-field power distribution.
T h e cylindrical configuration lacks p a r t of t h e conceptual clarity
associated with t h e plane-wave representation, b u t a formal similarity
permits u s t o arrive a t a n equivalent r a y model which is satisfactory for
almost all problems related t o multimode fibers. W e refer again t o
Fig. 1, considering now a cylindrical core of radius a imbedded in
cladding material. T h e modal field distributions a r e given b y Bassel
functions. I n t h e case of a small index difference, there are degenerate
mode pairs (HEi+i,, a n d S i ? , _ , , , ) whose transverse mode n u m b e r u is
determined by t h e gth root of t h e Bessel function*
7,(«o) = 0. (7)
Here I is t h e azimuthal order number. Fig. 2, which lists a few low-order

TRANSVERSE WAVE NUMBER υ TIMES CORE RADIUS ·

0 6 10 16 20 26

(ίΓ)="^'-·'
S6l

' ^ w ^
COMPOUND ORDER NUMBER m

Fig. 2—The order numbers of degenerate fiber modes plotted versus ua and the
effective group number m = 2au/r.
 POWER FLOW IN FIBERS 1771

roots, has t h e purpose of indicating how much the exact roots deviate
from t h e approximation

which is to be used in the following. T h e group with q + 1/2 = 7 , for

example, which has ua = 22 according to (8), is marked b y vertical
lines in Fig. 2.
M o s t problems of interest in multimode fibers (coupUng, scattering
loss, delay) require only the transverse wave number u for a satisfactory
description of each mode. Furthermore, u can be related t o a propagation
angle θ a n d a far-field angle exact formal agreement with ( 4 )
a n d (5)—through a n Hankel transformation of t h e mode field a t t h e
fiber end. This transformation shows t h a t a mode of azimuthal order I
produces I far-field spots located on a circle which is defined b y t h e
angle Oout of (5). Figure 1 illustrates t h e situation if viewed as a meri­
dional cross section through a cylindrical configuration.
These facts suggest a description of the cylindrical modes b y a single
mode n u m b e r
m = 2q + l. (9)

E q u a t i o n s ( 1 ) through ( 6 ) t h e n obtain for t h e cylindrical guide as t h e y

do for the slab. T h e important difference is hidden in the fact t h a t
m of ( 9 ) comprises a group of modes with different q and I. As can be
seen from Fig. 2, the number of possible combinations for a given m is
the nearest integer below m/2. As mentioned earlier, every combination
of q and / represents two (degenerate) modes. Consequently, each m
describes a group of (approximately) m modes. I n t h e far-field pattern,
this mode group covers an annular area of " r a d i u s " β„„, and approxi­
m a t e " w i d t h " λ/α.
T h e transition t o t h e continuum again converts β to a continuous
parameter. B u t θ is now considered as a radial variable which covers
the solid angle vtíl . W e have a conceptual model which consists of a
continuum of rays within t h e cone τθ], whereby t h e modal power
distribution Ρ{θ) is obtained b y replacing β„„, in the (average) far-field
power distribution b y θ of ( 4 ) .
T o compute the t o t a l number of modes, we determine the highest
possible group n u m b e r m, = 4αηθ,/λ by insertmg β. into ( 4 ) . If we
consider also t h a t each group has m modes; and each mode has two
possible states of polarization, we h a v e for the mode volume

t2m^ {Ψ)\α. (10)

1772 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOUBNAL, OCTOBEB 1972

A comparison with t h e more accurate n u m b e r (2ταη/λ)*Δ from Ref. 8

gives a n indication of t h e quality of t h e approximations used here.

III. POWER FLOW EQUATION

For t h e sake of simplicity, t h e following derivation is based on a

model which seems t o h a v e limited validity a t first glance. W e assimie
t h a t mode coupUng takes place only between next neighbors. I t will
become a p p a r e n t later t h a t the error involved in this approximation is
small if other modes couple also, b u t t h e coupling strength decreases
sufficiently fast with t h e mode spacing. There is experimental evidence''^
t h a t a mechanism of this kind is indeed present in real multimode fibers.
Fig. 3, for example, shows a measurement performed with t h e solid-core
multimode fiber mentioned previously.*'* T h e core diameter was 55 μm,
t h e relative index difference Δ = 0.0046, a n d the nominal loss 33 d B / k m .
About 700 modes could propagate. B y injectmg a very narrow cone of
light (through a n index-matching cell), we excited about 150 of t h e
low-order modes. This was measured b y scanning the, far-field of t h e
o u t p u t after 30 cm of fiber. Similar measurements with longer fibers
revealed a slow b u t steady increase in the number of excited modes
(the angular far-field width) with fiber length. This slow increase is
considered as strong evidence of a power exchange which favors near
neighbors a n d decreases rapidly with mode spacing.
T o simplify matters, let us again consider t h e two-dimensional case
first. As long as t h e coupling mechanism is a statistical process, we can

I 10-3

7.5
LENGTH INm

Fig. 3—The increase of mode volume with fiber length measured in a multimode
fiber which propagated 700 modes.
 POWER FLOW IN FIBERS 1773

ignore t h e individual mode fields and obtain the power distribution

directly from some form of power rate equations.* These consider t h e
variation ( i P . in the power P„ of the m t h mode along a guide increment
(fe. I n the time-invariant case, t h e variation d P « has two causes: (0 dis­
sipation and loss (scattering) t o the outside, which we comprise in a
t e r m — a^P^dz; (ii) coupling t o other modes. Our simplified model
assumes coupling between neighboring modes only. T h u s , if d . is t h e
coupling coefficient between t h e modes of order m + I and m, we h a v e

^ = - « « P - + d , . ( P . . , - P J + d»_,(P«_. - P J . (11)

T h e transition t o the continuum requires power differences t o be

replaced b y differentials. Especially, we set

W i t h θ„ — Om-i = Δβ from (6), we can rewrite (11) in the form

T h e remaining difference requires an analogous transition

After replacing the index τη everywhere b y a functional dependence of Θ,

we finally obtain the power flow equation

f .-.(,)P + (A,)-i (15)

I n the cylindrical case, t h e index m stands for a group of m modes.

T o obtain t h e power equation for the m t h mode group, we m u s t there­
fore sum (11) over all m members. T h e coefficients a „ a n d d„ depend
only on m, and hence are t h e same for all group members.'" However,
t h e coupling t o the lower group (?« — 1) can occur only between m — 1
members. T h u s

m ^ = - m a , P » + mdJJP^., - P J + (m - l)d.-,(P.-. - P,).

(16)

Using (12) and a transition analogous t o (14), we obtain

1774 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOUBNAL, OCTOBEB 1972

f . - . ^ + ( A . ) ' i ^ , ( - . f ) . (.7)

W i t h t h e help of (4) this finally leads t o

-α(θ)Ρ+(ΑΘ)'-Λ (18)
dz ^' ' ^ ' θδθ
Because of t h e s y m m e t r y involved, we can expand a in t h e form
α{θ) = α. + Αθ' + ••• ,
where a, comprises loss common t o all modes. A loss of this kind can
later be accounted for b y multiplying t h e final solution by a t e r m
exp ( — β ο ζ ) . For t h e moment, we ignore this p a r t of t h e loss. Among
t h e higher orders, t h e t e r m A β* is t h e most i m p o r t a n t one, because it
essentially comprises t h e loss caused a t t h e core-cladding interface.
This is so because t h e power density a t t h e interface increases q u a d -
ratically with t h e transverse wave number « of a certain m o d e ' and
hence quadratically with Θ. I n t h e following, we retain only this im­
portant term.
T h e coupling coefiiicient ά(θ) requires t h e same expansion. I t s zero-
order t e r m is essential and cannot be accounted for later on. Although
no estimates exist on t h e magnitude of other terms, t h e following
derivation merely retains this first t e r m . I t s physical significance will
become clearer as we proceed. T h u s with

die) = d. (19)

or

D = {Aerd. = {^\,, (20)

we can write (15) a n d (18) in t h e form

^ = -Afp + for t h e slab, (21)

and

f = - ^ ^ ' ^ + 7 ^ ( « ^ ) ^-*^««^^· (22)

T h e form of t h e last terms in (21) and (22) identifies next-neighbor mode

coupling as a diffusion process in t h e continuum.
Solutions t h a t are independent of ζ can be obtained from t h e sub­
stitution
 POWER FLOW IN FIBERS 1775

Ρ = Qe-'', (23)
where γ denotes a (power) attenuation constant related to the "steady-
s t a t e " solution Q. Equations (21) and (22) t a k e the form

D ^ = ( Α β ' - y)Q for t h e slab, (24)

and

lh{^fBÍ = ^^^ -^'^^ for the fiber. (25)

T h e first of these equations is satisfied b y t h e Hermite-Gaussian, and

the second b y the Laguerre-Gaussian polynomials; b o t h are well known
from t h e theory of t h e open resonator. T h e a t t e n u a t i o n parameters y
associated with each of these solutions increase with t h e order of the
polynomial.
Both for the slab and the fiber, t h e solutions of least loss have t h e
form
exp i-B'/Ql) (26)

with
θ« = (4i)M)». (27)
T h e power loss associated with this distribution is
γ « = {ADY for t h e slab, (28)

and
γ , = 2{ADY for the fiber. (29)
T h e distribution (26) constitutes an o p t i m u m balance between the loss
in high-order modes a n d t h e steady outflow of power into those modes
through coupling. I t is assumed, of course, t h a t the critical angle β. is
so large compared t o θ « , t h a t the steady-state distribution (26) is not
significantly influenced b y the boundary relations a t fl = β , . If this
is not the case, the solutions of (24) and (25) h a v e to t a k e these boundary
relations into account.

IV. BUILD-UP FROM GAUSSIAN INPUT

A n y z-dependent solution of (21) or (22) can of course be constructed

from the infinite set of solutions of (24) and (25). B u t in the case of the
fiber, there is a certain interest in special solutions which have an
 1776 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOUBNAL, OCTOBEB 1972

a r b i t r a r y Gaussian input

P.. P . exp [-f/QV[ (30)

as initial condition. This is because it is convenient t o s t u d y multimode
fibers b y using a Gaussian laser b e a m for excitation. A high-power lens
converts this b e a m into t h e angular Gaussian distribution (30). B y
observing t h e change in P ( 9 ) with fiber length, a n d t h e loss as a function
of various (Gaussian) i n p u t distributions, one obtains valuable infor­
mation on t h e power flow in t h e fiber.
Since b o t h t h e i n p u t and t h e steady-state are Gaussian, it is reason­
able t o t r y t h e solution
Ρ = Kz) exp [-f/e\z)l (31)

Although this approach is useful b o t h for t h e t w o - a n d t h e t h r e e -

dimensional configuration, we shall concentrate in t h e following on t h e
fiber only. Introducing (31) into (22) yields t h e two differential equations

dQ/dz f -h 2D/Q (32)

and
d1/dz = -4Df/e\ (33)

W e can solve t h e first of these equations for θ and obtain

t a n h γ , ( 2 -f ζ.)
θ' = θ' (34)
coth γ , ( 2 + ζ.),

with t h e steady-state parameters θ . and γ , from (27) a n d (29). T h e

choice of t a n h or coth a n d t h e coefficient z, are determined b y t h e
initial conditions. E q . (33) can b e solved with t h e help of (34) a n d yields

(sinh y»{z + z.)

/ = /. (35)
cosh γ«(2 -f- z.).
A Gaussian input stays indeed Gaussian, its width approaching monoto-
nically t h a t of t h e steady state. T h e transition function is t h e h}rperbolic
t a n g e n t if t h e i n p u t width is smaller t h a n t h e steady-state width a n d t h e
hyperboUc cotangent in t h e opposite case. F o r t h e initial conditions (30),
t h e solutions (34) and (35) can be written in t h e form

V a.' e' + θΐ t a n h yji

(36)
®^'^ = ®-ei + e i t a n h 7 ^
 POWER FLOW IN FIBERS 1777

and

Ρ θ'
^^"^ = e i s i n h 7 ^ + e^ cosh 7-2' ^^^^

T o obtain t h e total power in the guide, Ρ{β) must be integrated over

all angles u p t o 9 . . If we assume, as previously, t h a t P(9) is sufficiently
small a t t h e critical angle and beyond, we can extend t h e integration
t o infinity. W i t h (31), t h e t o t a l power is

2 T Γ P{e)BdB = τ/θ'. (38)

Jo
T h e power loss per unit length is consequently

B y using t h e differentials dQ/dz and dj/dz from (32) a n d (33), we obtain

y{z) = AQ\z). (40)

W i t h (27) and (29) this can also be written in t h e form

ψ - ψ- (41)
Tee "β
T h e ratio (41) is plotted in Fig. 4 versus t h e fiber length for some specific
i n p u t conditions. T h e plot illustrates t h e loss, t h e solid angle covered
b y t h e fiber o u t p u t and, since this is proportional t o t h e mode volume,
also t h e n u m b e r of modes propagating in t h e fiber.
If t h e measured width Q{z) is small compared t o t h e steady-state
width Θ , , we can approximate (36) b y
θ ' = Qít^z -k- Θ : . (42)
I n this case, because of (27) a n d (29), θ'(ζ) is a straight line with t h e
slope

θ ^ γ . = 4D. (43)

T h u s measuring θ'(ζ) under these conditions yields directly t h e coupling

p a r a m e t e r D. T h e approximate linear increase of t h e d a t a in Fig. 3 is
an indication of t h e validity of (42). A straight-line approximation of
t h e measured d a t a yields

Z) = 7 1 0 - ' r a d 7 m . (44)
This value represents a first approximation for the zero-order coupling
 1778 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOITBNAL, OCTOBEB 1072

2.Br

Fig. 4—Calculated increase of mode volume and loss with fiber length. The data
are related to the steady-state values.

coefficient d, which, because of (20), becomes d, = 16 m~* a t t h e measur­

ing conditions (a = 50 ^m, λ = 0.63 /im). T h e range of t h e measured
d a t a is n o t sufficient t o d r a w any conclusions on t h e size of higher-order
coefficients in d(fl).

V. TWO BOUBCE8 OF COUPLING

Marcuse"* has studied a dielectric slab guide with slightly distorted

interfaces. H e finds t h a t two modes are coupled if t h e surface imper­
fections comprise a component of wavelength A t h a t coincides with
t h e " b e a t wavelength" between t h e two modes. T h e b e a t wavelength
is t h e distance in which t h e phase difference between two modes increases
t o 2 T . I t can be calculated from t h e wave n u m b e r

(45)

of t h e m t h mode. W i t h u from (3), we obtain for two neighboring modes

of order m and m -|- 1,
 POWER FLOW IN FIBERS 1779

A = π - = f · (^6)

This is also t h e distance t h a t a ray of angle θ requires to complete a

zigzag period in a slab of width 2a.
T o describe the distorted slab walls, let us define a " p o w e r " spectrum
φ(1/Α) of t h e (random) deviations ¿(2) from ideally straight interfaces.
If t h e irregularities of both walls are uncorrelated, t h e coupling coefiS-
cient d{fl) between adjacent modes is'"

Using this relation and (20), we can calculate the spectrum associated
with t h e measured coupling parameter D of (44): T h e result

suggests a decrease of φ with t h e fourth power of t h e (spatial) frequency

1/A.
T h i s result permits us t o estimate t h e coupling among nonadjacent
modes. As is evident from (45) a n d (46), modes which differ b y a
small n u m b e r r h a v e the b e a t wavelength 4 r a / i . Because of (48),
coupling among such modes decreases with t h e fourth power of their
order difference. I t is this rapid decrease which permitted us t o neglect
all coupling except t h a t between next-neighbors in (11). T h e error
involved in this approximation can be estimated for t h e case t h a t t h e
power distribution P(fi) changes slowly within τΑΘ. I n t h a t case,

fc^^f for r«m. (49)

T h e transition from (11) t o (15) t h e n allows us t o l u m p t h e coupling

of all modes from m t o m -f- r in the coefficient d„ = difl) whjch assumes
t h e form

d = |5d~108d. (50)

This suggests t h a t t h e relative error in our approximation is as small

a s 8 percent.
R a n d o m bends in the guide are another source of coupling. T h i s
problem has been studied b y tracing rays through a r a n d o m l y curved
slab g u i d e . " T h e result relates the statistics of t h e r a y angle θ t o t h e
 1780 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL, OCTOBER 1972

"power s p e c t r u m " C ( l / A ) of t h e c u r v a t u r e components. Reference 11

demonstrates t h a t components of wavelength A predominantly influence
rays with t h e same zigzag wavelength. F o r a short guide length z, t h e
probability distribution of t h e r a y angle θ is found t o h a v e a variance
which increases as

Az) = ^.^c{£) + al (51)

where σΐ is t h e variance a t t h e i n p u t . " These results presuppose Gaussian

statistics, for which t h e probability t o find a r a y a t θ h a s t h e form
exp ( - ί Ρ / 2 σ ' ) .
Let us compare this distribution t o t h e distribution

Ρ(β) = exp [-θ'/θ']

of (31). For negligible mode attenuation, t h e width of this Gaussian

is given b y t h e simple relation (42). Like t h e variance of (51), it grows
linearly with length. A comparison of t h e growth factors involved m u s t
t a k e t h e factor 2 into accoimt which enters because of t h e definition of
t h e variance. This leads t o t h e relation

(52)

T o compare this result with φ of (48), let us consider correlated

deviations of t h e form δ sin (2irz/A) a t b o t h walls. Twofold differentia­
tion with respect t o ζ transforms this into a c u r v a t u r e component of
t h e form ( 2 i r / A ) ' á sin {2irz/A). Accordingly, we can relate t h e c u r v a t u r e
spectrum t o a spectrum of (correlated) irregularities

= (A/2T)«C. (53)

This result transforms (52) into

T h e factor 2 which distinguishes this result from (48) results from t h e

correlation of t h e wall deviations assumed in (53) contrary t o (48);'° t o
represent a curved slab, t h e deviations m u s t be equal a n d in phase.
Irregularities of this kind couple only modes which differ b y an odd
order n u m b e r r = 1,3, · · · . Coupling across even n u m b e r s results from
irregularities in anti-phase or—in t h e case of t h e fiber—from irregularities
of a t least twofold cross-sectional s y m m e t r y . Specific p a r t s of t h e spec­
t r u m φ{ί/Α) are likely t o be dominated b y certain kinds of irregularities.
 POWER FLOW I N FIBERS 1781

T h e region of interest is determined b y Λ = 4α/β and was in our case

between Λ = 1 and 10 mm. Since these lengths are significantly larger
t h a n t h e core diameter (150 Mm), we beUeve t h a t bends were t h e domi­
n a n t source of coupling. T h e following example therefore uses the
relation (52) for a quantitative estimate of t h e hregularities involved.
Although (52) applies specifically t o t h e slab model, we shall combine
it with the fiber d a t a (44), confident t h a t this will illustrate a t least
t h e orders of magnitude involved.
T o obtain a more tangible description of t h e random curvature, we
assume it t o be composed of randomly distributed smgular deviations
of t h e kind illustrated in Fig. 5a. W e model these deviations b y single-
period sinewaves of t h e form & sin ( 2 « / A ) . Essentially, only those with
a width larger t h a n Λ/2 contribute t o t h e curvature spectrum a t A.
If there are η of those per unit length, t h e curvature spectrum has
approximately the v a l u e "

C = 8T*U δ'/Α' (55)

in t h e vicinity of A. Because of (52)

,5' = (56)

Fig. 5b evaluates this relation for the case of t h e fiber measured. Plotted
is the density η versus the amplitude δ for r a y periods (and angles) of
interest. For example, an average of 1000 singular irregularities per meter
would account for t h e coupling measured, if their magnitudes obeyed
the relation δ = 15· Ι Ο ' Ά . T h a t would mean t h a t the magnitude of t h e
irregularities increases linearly vñth their length reaching a value of
15 n m a t A = 1 mm.

VI. CONCLUSIONS

A comprehensive description of a multimode fiber b y one differential

equation is possible, if the modes are approximated b y a continuum.
Under certain realistic conditions, this equation has a rigorous solution.
We calculate here the far-field o u t p u t distribution as a function of fiber
length and compare this t o experiments performed with a low-loss
multimode fiber. We find neighboring modes to be coupled b y an average
1.6 percent per mm. Coupling among other modes seems t o be a t least
an order of magnitude less.
Among t h e possible sources of coupling t a k e n into consideration, we
believe random bends t o be t h e most likely. I n this case, t h e curvature
1782 T H E BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOUBNAL, OCTOBEB 1972

28
T
Tt ~
I .

(a)

80 100
SINnm

Fig. 5—Deviations from straightness as indicated in (a) account for the coupling
measured, if their density η, and magnitude Í are related to their length A as plotted
in (b).

spectrum h a s a value of 2-10~' mm~* in t h e region of spatial ferquencies

between 0.1 a n d 1 m m ~ \ Another equivalent description of this result
is b y small hump-shaped deviations from straightness—on t h e average
1000 of t h e m per meter—the magnitude of which increases propor­
tionally t o their length a n d is about 15 n m for a length of 1 oun.
T h e t h e o r y derived here can be modified t o include t h e velocity dif­
ferences among t h e modes and, in this way, t o describe t h e impulse
response m the presence of coupling a n d loss. T h i s will be t h e subject
of another paper.
 POWER FLOW IN FIBERS 1783

VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

T h e experiment was performed together with E. L. Chinnock whose

skillful cooperation is gratefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES
1. Stone, J., "Optical Transmission Loss in Liquid-Core Hollow Fibers," Topical
Meeting on Integrated Optics—Guided Waves, Materials, and Devices, Lae
Vegas, Nevada, February 7-10, 1972.
2. Manitfactured by Coming Glass Works, Corning, New York.
3. Gloge, D., et al., "Dispersion in a Low-Loss Multimode Fiber Measured at Three
Wavelengths," Topical Meeting on Integrated Optics—Guided Waves,
Materials and Devices, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 7-10, 1972.
4. Gloge, D., et al., "Picosecond Pulse Distortion in Optical Fibers," IEEE J.
Quantum Elec., QE-8 (1972), pp. 217-221.
5. Personick, S. D., "Time Dispersion in Dielectric Waveguides," B.S.T.J., δΟ,
No. 3 (UnTch 1971), pp. 843-859.
β. Marcuse, D., "Pulse Propagation in Multimode Dielectric Waveguides,"
B.S.T.J., 61, No. 6 (July-August 1972), pp. 1199-1232.
7. Gloge, D., Chinnock, E. L., and Stone, J., "Dispersion Measurements in Liquid-
Core Fibers," unpublished work.
8. Gloge, D., "Weakly Guiding Fibers," Appl. Opt., Í0, 1971, pp. 2252-2258.
9. Marcuse, D., "Denvation of Coupled Power Equations," B.S.T.J., δ1, No. 1
(January 1972), pp. 229-237.
10. M a r c u s e ^ . , "Mode Conversion Caused by Surface Imperfections of a Dielectric
Slab Waveguide," B.S.T.J., 48, No. 10 (December 1969), pp. 3187-3215.
11. Gloge, D., "Bending Loss in Multimode Fibers With Graded and Ungraded
Core Index," to appear in Applied Optics.