EE 230: Optical Fiber Communication

Lecture 6
Nonlinear Processes in Optical Fibers

From the movie

Warriors of the Net

Polarization
In molecules, P=+E+E2+E3+
In materials, P=X(o)+X(1)E+X(2)E2+X(3)E3+
If multiple electric fields are applied, every possible
cross term is generated.
At sufficiently high values of E, quadratic or higher
terms become important and nonlinear effects
are induced in the fiber.

Polarization

Distortion of an electron cloud in response to an E-field

Molecules and their dipole moments

Non-linear Polarization

Nonlinear Effects

Stimulated Raman scattering

Stimulated Brillouin scattering
Four-wave Mixing
Self-phase Modulation
Cross-phase Modulation

Index of Refraction

Imaginary part of index:

absorption
For a sample of absorbance A and thickness
d, the imaginary part of the refractive index
is equal to

Amax ln 10
4d

Index of Refraction vs Wavelength

Refractive Index for various materials

Refractive index vs Frequency for silica

Wave slowing in a medium
of higher Index

Nonlinear index of refraction

Real part of index is best described as a
power series
n=n1+n2(P/Aeff)
Term in parentheses is the intensity. For
silica fiber, n22.6x10-11 m2/mW

Interaction Length
Leff

1 e

where (in cm-1) is the loss coefficient of the

fiber. 0.1 dB/km=2.3x10-7 cm-1.

Nonlinear parameter

2n2

Aeff
Propagation constant is power-dependent

NL P

Propagation in Single Mode

Fiber

Geometrical optics is not useful for

single mode fiber, must be handled by full E & M
treatment
Understanding Fiber Optics-Hecht

Think of guiding as diffraction constrained by

refraction
Fields are evanescently damped in the cladding

Effective Length and effective

area

Single Mode Gaussian

Approximation

Fundamentals of Photonics - Saleh and Teich

Fiber Optic Communiocation Systems - Agrawal

Gaussian Pulse Mode Field Diameter

Fiber Optics Communication Technology-Mynbaev & Scheiner

Mitigation
If P is high in a fiber application, the
nonlinear component of the index is
minimized by increasing the effective area
of the fiber. Fiber designed for this
purpose is called LEAF fiber (Large
Effective Area).

Phase modulation
Self-modulation: NL= PLeff
Cross-modulation: NL= 2PotherLeff
Effect of these phase changes is a
frequency chirp (frequency changes
during pulse), broadening pulse and
reducing bit rate-length product

Self Phase Modulation

Pulse Spreading due to Self

Phase Modulation

Gaussian Pulse in a Kerr Medium

Phase change of gaussian pulse

Instantaneous frequency shift

Instantaneous Frequency chirp

Solitons

Nonlinear scattering
Signal photon scatters off oscillation that is
present in the material, gains or loses
frequency equivalent to that of the material
oscillation
At high powers, beating of signal
frequency and scattered frequency
generates frequency component at the
difference that drives the material
oscillations

Stimulated Brillouin Scattering

Sound waves represent alternating
regions of compressed material and
expanded material
Index of refraction increases with density
of polarizable electrons and thus with
compression
Scattering is induced by index
discontinuities

SBS, continued
Transfer of energy into acoustic wave
results in backwards scattering in fiber
Brillouin frequency shift equal to 2nv/,
where n is the mode index and v is the
speed of sound in the material
For fiber, scattered light is 11 GHz lower in
frequency than signal wavelength (speed
of sound is 5.96 km/s)

Stimulated Raman scattering

Oscillations are Si-O bonds in the glass,
frequency 3.3x1013 Hz
Scattered photon can come off decreased
by that amount (Stokes) or increased by
that amount (anti-Stokes)
Stokes shift scatters 1550 nm light up to
1870 nm light

Raman shift in silica

Spectrum shows major peaks at 1100,
800, and 450 cm-1
Those vibrational oscillations occur at 33,
24, and 13.5 THz
Raman gain spectrum shows maximum at
12-14, 18, 24, and 33 THz

Four-wave Mixing

Taylor Series expansion of ()

Through the cubic term:

3
2
2
3
...
0 1
2
6
where

d
i
i
d
i

Importance of Taylor Series terms

Group velocity Vg, dispersion D, and
dispersion slope S
1
Vg
1
2c
D
2
2

dD 2c
4c
S
2 3 3 2
d

Four-Wave Mixing Phase-Matching

Requirement
Phase mismatch M needs to be small for
FWM to occur significantly

M 3 4 1 2

FWM in a WDM system

1=2= (power lost from one signal
wavelength)
3=+ where is the difference in
frequency between adjacent channels
4=-
Substitute in phase mismatch expression to
get M=22
Want 2 to be big to minimize FWM!

Four Wave Mixing