Unit-IV

Chapter-II Fiber Optics

Fiber optics is a technology in which signals are converted from electrical in to optical
signals, transmitted through a thin glass fiber or other transparent materials and
reconverted in to electrical signals. It works on the principle of total internal reflection.
The diameter of an optical fiber is very small and as such bigger light sources cannot be
used for launching light beam in to it. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes are
the optical sources used in the fiber optics.

OPTICAL FIBER:
Definition: An optical fiber is a transparent conduit (pipe) as thin as human air, made
of glass or clear plastics, designed to guide light waves along its length.

Structure: A practical optical fiber is a cylindrical in shape and has in general three
coaxial regions. The inner most cylindrical region is the light guiding region known as
core. The diameter of the core is typically of the order of 50 µm. It is surrounded by
coaxial middle region known as Cladding (diameter - 125 µm). The cladding is directly
fused with the core such that there is no material discontinuity between core and
cladding. The refractive index of cladding (n2) is always lower than that of the core (n1).
The cladding keeps the light within the core and provides some strength to the core. The
outer region is known as sheath (diameter -150 µm), which is made of plastic or polymer.
The sheath protects the cladding and the core from abrasions, contamination and the
harmful influence of moisture.

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Principle: The propagation of light in an optical fiber from one of its ends to the other
end is based on the principle of total internal reflection. When light enters one end of the
fiber, it undergoes successive total internal reflections from sidewalls and travels down
the length of the fiber along a zigzag path, as shown in Fig-1.
Total internal reflection at the fiber wall can occur and light propagates down the optical
fiber only if the following two conditions are satisfied.
(i) The refractive index of the core material , must be slightly greater than that of the
cladding, .
(ii) At the core cladding interface, the angle of incidence between the ray and normal to
the interface mst be greater than the critical angle defined by

i.e. Only those rays, that are incident at the core-cladding interface at angles greater than
the critical angle will propagate through the optical fiber. Rays that are incident at smaller
angles are refracted in to the cladding and are lost.

There may be small loss through sidewalls but a major fraction emerges out from
the exit end of the fiber. Light can travel through fiber even if it is bent.

Expression for the acceptance angle:

Light propagates as an electromagnetic wave through an optical fiber. The diameter of an
optical fiber is very small and therefore light emitting diodes (LED’s) and laser diodes are
the optical sources.

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Let us consider a step index optical fiber in to which light is launched at one end, as
shown in Fig-3. Let the refractive index of the core and cladding are n1 and n2 respectively
(n1>n2)and the refractive index of the medium from which light is launched in to the fiber
is n0 . Assume that the light ray enters the fiber at an angle θi to the axis of the fiber. The
ray refracts at an angle θr and strikes the core cladding interface at an angle. As long as 
> c the ray undergoes total internal reflection and will stay within the fiber.

Applying snell’s law to the launching face of the fiber, we get

(1)

Now largest value of θi occurs when

From Δ ABC we have
(2)
From eqn (1)

Or (3)

When

Then (4)

But

Therefore (5)

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Substituting the value of from eqn(5) to eqn (4)

(6)

If , then for all values of θi , total internal reflection will occur.

Assuming =1

Or The angle is called the acceptance angle of the fiber.

Acceptance angle: Acceptance angle is defined as the maximum angle that a ray can
have relative to the axis of the fiber and propagates down the fiber. It is denoted by .

Acceptance cone: - The light rays contained within the cone having a full angle 2θm
are transmitted along the fiber. This cone is therefore known as acceptance cone.

Fractional refractive index: - The parameter is defined as the ratio of the difference
between the refractive indices of the core and cladding to the refractive indices of the
core.
It is denoted by Δ and expressed as

Numerical aperture: - Numerical aperture determines the light gathering ability of the
fibre. It is a measure amount of light that can be accepted by a fiber.

The numerical aperture NA is defined as the sine of the acceptance angle.

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 NA = sinθm

= ….. (1)

Let then

NA = n1
From equation (1) we can says that NA is dependent only on the refractive indices of the
core and cladding materials and does not depend on the physical dimensions of the fiber.
The value of NA ranges from 0.13 to 0.5. A large NA implies that a fiber will accept large
amount of light from the source as shown in the figure.

Modes of propagation
We all are aware of that the light propagates as an electromagnetic wave through an
optical fiber and its propagation is governed by Maxwell’s equations. To understand the
propagation of light waves through optical fiber in details requires a complete
understanding of solution of these equations in the context of optical fibres. When a plane
electromagnetic wave propagates in free space, it travels as transverse electromagnetic
waves. The electric field and magnetic field components associated with the wave are
perpendicular to each other and also perpendicular to the direction of propagation. It is
known as a TEM wave. When the light ray is guided through an optical fiber, it
propagates in different types of modes. Each of these guided modes consists of a variety
of electromagnetic field configurations, such as transverse electric TE, transverse
magnetic TM and hybrid modes. Hybrid modes are combinations of transverse electric
and magnetic modes. In simple terms, these modes can be visualized as the possible
number of allowed paths of light in an optical fiber as shown in figure

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We can see that all the paths are zigzag paths excepting the axial direction. The rays
having propagation angles between θ=00 and θ = θmax will be in a position to
undergo total internal reflections; all of them will not however propagate along the
optical fiber. Only a certain ray directions are allowed. As zigzag ray gets repeatedly
reflect at the walls of the fiber, phase shift occurs. Consequently, the waves traveling
along certain zigzag paths will be in phase and undergo constructive interference,
while the waves along certain other paths will be out of phase and diminish due to
destructive interference. The light ray paths along which the waves are in phase
inside the fiber are known as modes. Each mode is a pattern of electric and magnetic
field distributions that is repeated along the fiber at equal intervals. The number of
modes propagating in a fibre increases as θc or Δ increases. Increasing the core
refractive index increases the number of propagating modes. On the other hand,
increasing the clad refractive index decreases the number of propagating modes. The
number of modes that a fibre will support depends on the ratio d/λ, where d is the
diameter of the core and λ is the wave length of the wave being transmitted.
The zero order ray travels along the axis in known as the axial ray. Note that each
mode carries a portion of the light from the input signal.

Types of modes:
In a fibre of fixed thickness , the modes that propagate at angles close to critical angle фc (
i.e. critical propagation angle θc ) are higher order modes, and modes that propagate with
angles larger than the critical angle (i.e. lower than the critical propagation angle) are
lower order modes as shown in figure

In case of lower order modes, the fields are concentrated near the centre of the fibre. In
case of higher order modes, the fields are distributed more towards the edge of the wave-
guide and tend to send light energy into the cladding. This energy is lost ultimately. The
higher order modes have to traverse longer paths and hence take larger time than the
lower order modes to cover a given length of the fibre.
Thus, the higher order modes arrive at the output end of the fibre later than the
lower order modes.

V – Number: - V-number is an important characteristic parameter of optical fiber.

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It is generally called normalized frequency of the fiber. It is given by the relation

Where a is radius of the core , λ is free space wavelength in terms

The maximum no. of modes supported by step index fiber is determined by

For single mode fiber V<2.405 MM V >2.405

Wavelength corresponding to the value of v=2.405 is known as cut of wavelength

In case of graded index fiber

Classification of optical fiber:

1. on the basis of refractive index profile:

Optical fibers are classified in two categories on the basis of refractive index

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(i) Step index fiber: In the step index fiber the refractive index is constant throughout the
core and abruptly changes at the core-cladding interface.
(ii) Graded index fiber: In the case of graded index fiber the refractive index of the core is
not constant but varies smoothly over a diameter of the core. It has a maximum value at
the centre and decreases gradually towards the outer edge of the core. At the core-
cladding interface the refractive index of the core matches with the refractive index of the
cladding.

2. on the basis of material:

Optical fibers are fabricated from glass or plastic which are transparent to light
frequencies. With these materials three types of fibers are made.
(i) Plastic core with plastic cladding
(ii) Glass core with plastic cladding
(iii) Glass core with glass cladding
All glass fibers (Glass core with glass cladding):
The basic material for fabrication of glass fibers is silica (SiO 2). It has a refractive index of
1.458 at λ=850 nm. Small amount of impurity of Boron, Germanium and Phosphorus
altered the refractive index. If the basic silica material is doped with Germania (GeO 2) or
Phosphorus Pentoxide (P2O5), the refractive index of the material increases. Such material
are used as core material and pure silica is used as cladding material. When pure silica is
doped with boria (B2O3) its refractive index decreases. In this case such material is used as
cladding material and pure silica is used as core material.

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All glass fibers exhibit very low losses and are used in long distance communications.

All plastic fibers (Plastic core with plastic cladding):

In these fibers, polystyrene or polymethyl meta acrylate (PMMA) are used for core Their
refractive indices are 1.49 and 1.59 respectively. A fluorocarbon polymer or a silicon resin
is used as cladding material. The main advantages of the plastic fibers are low cost and
higher mechanical flexibility. The mechanical flexibility allows the plastic fibers to have
large cores, of diameters ranging from 110 to 1400 µm. They are temperature sensitive
and exhibit very high loss; therefore they are used in low cost applications and at
ordinary temperatures (Below 80ºc).

3. PCS fibers:
The plastic clad silica (PCS) fibers are composed of silica cores surrounded by a low
refractive index transparent polymer as cladding. The core is made from high purity
quartz. The cladding is made of silicon resin or Teflon. Plastic index is used for step index
fibers onlyThe PCS fibers are less expensive but a high losses. Therefore, they are mainly
used in short distance applications.

3. On the basis of modes of light propagation:

The optical fibers are classified in to three types:
(i) Single mode step index fiber (SMSIF)
Used in – wide band communication
No model dispersion because light travels along single path that is along the axis
only.

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(ii) Multi mode step index fiber (MMSIF)
(iii) Multimode graded index fiber (MMGIF)

Pulse Distortion & dispersion: -

The optical signal becomes increasingly distorted as it travels along a fiber.
This distortion is due to dispersion effect.

Pulse Dispersion
A pulse of light sent in to a fiber broadens in time as it propagates through the fiber, this
phenomenon is known as pulse dispersion.

Three different dispersion mechanisms determine the broadening of pulses.

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(1)Intermodal dispersion:
Intermodal dispersion occurs as a result of the differences in the wave group velocities of
the modes. The power associated with the single pulse gets distributed in to the various
modes or paths guided by the fiber. The path length along the axis of the fiber is shorter
while the other zigzag paths are longer. Because of this difference the lower order modes
reach the end of the fiber earlier then the higher order modes. As a result light pulses
broaden as they travel down the fiber, causing signal distortion. This type of distortion is
known as intermodal or simply modal dispersion.

Expression for total time delay due to model dispersion in step index fiber: -
The total time delay between the arrival of axial ray and the slowest ray, the one
travelling the longest distance is
Δt = tmax – tmin ……..(1)
From Fig. () the time taken by the refracted ray to traverse the distance ABC of the fiber
would be

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Since the ray path will repeat it self, the time taken by a ray to traverse a length L of the
fiber is

The above relation shows that the time taken by a ray in the fiber core is a function of the
angle θr for axial ray θr = 0 and hence

In case of the ray that travels the longest path , θr = θc these fore

…………(5)

Now

in terms of Δ

In terms of NA

(2)Intra model dispersion :

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Intra model dispersion is the spreading of light pulse within a single mode.
The two main causes of this are.
i). Material dispersion: -
Glass is a dispersive medium the light waves of different waves of different wavelengths
travel different speeds in a medium. The short wavelength wave’s travel slower
compared to long wavelength waves travel slower compared to long wave length waves.
As a result, narrow pulses of light tend to broaden as they travel down to optical fiber.
This is called material dispersion.
Spectral width of the source determines the extent of material dispersion. It is given by

Dm =

Where λ = Peak wave length

L = Length of the core
n = refractive index of the core

Remedy:

The material dispersion can be minimized at certain wavelengths say

870nm, 1300 nm and 1550 nm; these wavelengths are termed Zero Dispersion
wavelengths(ZDW).
Whether light wavelength is lesser than Zero Dispersion wavelengths ,
it travels slower and when it is higher than ZDW it travels faster. Thus the speed is
altered and adjusted in such a way that all the waves passing through the fiber will
move with constant speed and hence the material dispersion is minimized.
Note: this dispersion will not occur in single mode fibers

(ii) Wave guide dispersion: -

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 Wave guide dispersion arises from the guiding properties of the fiber the
group velocities of the modes depend on the wavelength. Hence the effective refractive
index for any mode varies with wavelength.

In general
Inter-modal dispersion > Material Dispersion> Waveguide dispersion

Attenuation or fiber losses :

Attenuation is a measure of decay of signal strength or loss of light power that occurs as light
pulses propagate through the length of the fiber.
It is defined as the ratio of optical out power Pout from a fiber of length ‘L’ to the optical input
power Pin . it is denoted by ‘α’ (alpha) and its unit is decibel / Km

Since attenuation plays a major role in determining the transmission distance,

the following attenuation mechanisms are to be considered in designing an optical
fiber.

1. Absorption:

Usually absorption of light occurs due to imperfections of the atomic structure

such as missing molecules, (OH-), hydroxyl ions, high density cluster of atoms etc.,
which absorbs light.
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2. Scattering:
Scattering is also a wavelength dependent loss, which occurs
inside the fibers. Since the glass is used in fabrication of fibers, the disordered
structure of glass will make some variations in the refractive index inside the fiber.
As a result, if light is passed through the atoms in the fiber, a portion of light is
scattered (elastic scattering) .this type of scattering is called Raleigh scattering.

3. Radiative loss:

Radiative loss occurs in fibers due to bending of finite radius of curvature in

optical fibers. The types of bends are

a. Macroscopic bends

b. Microscopic bends

a. Macroscopic bends:

If the radius of the core is large compared to fiber diameter, it may cause large-
curvature at the position where the fiber cable turns at the corner. At these corners
the light will not satisfy the condition for total internal reflection and hence it
escapes out from the fiber. This is called as macroscopic / macro bending losses.
Also note that this loss is negligible for small bends.

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b. Microscopic bends:

Micro-bends losses are caused due to non-uniformities or micro bends

inside the fiber as shown. This micro bends in fiber appears due to non uniform
pressures created during the cabling of the fiber or even during the manufacturing
itself. This lead to loss of light by leakage through the fiber.

Remedy:

Micro-bend losses can be minimized by extruding (squeezing out) a

compressible jacket over the fiber. In such cases, even when the external forces are
applied, the jacket will be deformed but the fiber will tend to stay relatively straight
and safe, without causing more loss.

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