FIBER OPTICS INTRO & their

properties

MELSS HO
Why use fiber optics ?
Digital Technology Compatibility
Attenuation

Size and Weight

Reliability

Ease of Installation
Capacity

Immunity to interference
Price

Ease of Upgrade
Security
Refractive Index
Normal Air
Light nl = 1

l
90°

Glass
nr

R
n1 is less than nr
 Snell and Fresnel Laws
 Fresnel: Reflection
 i = R
 Snell: Refraction
 ni sin(i) = nr sin(r)
Normal
 i: incidence
Incident Light
 r: refraction i R
 R: reflection ni

nr
r
 Everything is about
 the index of refraction
 Wavelength

cycle, 
 Different wavelengths and their
applications

• Visible light is from 380nm to 750 nm.

• Most fiber optic systems carry between 800
and 1610 nm.
• Four wavelengths: 850, 1300,1310,1550 nm.
• Different wavelengths have specific
applications.
Wavelength
Types of Optical Fibers

• Multimode fiber
– Step Index Fiber
– Graded Index Fiber

• Singlemode Fiber
Fibers

Multimode Step-index Fiber

Multimode Graded index Fiber

Singlemode Step-index Fiber

 OPTICAL POWER
• Optical power, which represents light intensity in
the core of the fiber is measured with an optical
power meter.
• Optical power measurements determine the
power budget in a fiber optic link by measuring
the transmitted power and comparing it with the
receivers sensitivity,the total value ,referred to as
the loss budget,is the maximum accepatable loss.
 Measuring Optical loss
• The actual component that performs the
measurement in any optical experiment is
called a photo detector. (E.g Power Meter)
• It converts optical energy to electrical
energy by producing an electric current
proportional to the amount of light incident
on its sensitive surface.
 Causes of Optical Loss
Absorption by
impurity or OH Microbend

}
}
}
Macrobend

Small compositional
fluctuations cause
}
Rayleigh scatter loss
 Types Of Power Measurements

• Relative power measurements

• Absolute power measurements.
 Relative Power Measurement

• These are usually performed, when attempting to determine return

loss,attenuation, stability of laser sources or gain in an optical system.
• Measurement expressed in decibels(dB)

A decibel (dB) is a unit used to express relative differences

in signal strength. A decibel is expressed as the
base 10 logarithm of the ratio of the power of two signals:
dB = 10 x Log10 (P1/P2)
where Log10 is the base 10 logarithm, and P1 and P2 are the
powers to be compared.
 Absolute Power Measurement

• These are required, when dealing directly with sources,

amplifiers and receivers

• Measurements Expressed in dBm (i.e,1 milliwatt of

power)

P (dBm)  10  log 10 PmW 

P ( dBm )

P (mW )  10 10
TABLE OF CONVERSION
 Optical power loss
• Light travels through fiber and fiber optic
components ,it suffers loss of power due to
different attenuation mechanisms.
• Attenuation is the biggest limitation to
optical fiber performance.
• Handling of Fiber optic cables play a big
role in Attenuation
 Causes of loss in fiber-optics
• Different phenomena cause signal power loss in a fiber-optic link.
• Fiber-related factors such as attenuation in a single fiber and fiber
breaks or faults,can diminish a signal power level to a point below
detector sensitivity .
• Connector related factors ,such as a contimnated / dirty end face and
connector mismatch or misalignment,can cause high attenuation
levels and total communication loss.
• System factors such as insertion loss, return reflection loss, and
splice loss , affect transmission.
The Extrinsic Loss Mechanisms
Microbending Microscopic bends or bumps in the
fiber that cause loss of light by transferring light energy
from core to cladding
Macrobending Fiber curvature that causes loss of
light
Discontinuities - Reflectance
Each time a ray of light meets a discontinuity, part of light
is reflected to the source. This is called REFLECTANCE
Misalignement and Mismatch
Angular Fault Dirt in the connection
Fiber Break
 Measuring Optical power loss
• Optical Power loss in a fiber can be
measured with two different methods:
• Backscattering
• Two-point method.
 Backscattering method

• The backscattering method uses an optical

time domain reflecto-meter that performs a
one-ended measurement.
 OTDR Backscattering

• In this technique, a short pulse of light is launched into the fiber under
test. As the pulse propagates within the fiber, a small amount of light
is continuously reflected back toward the source by the medium itself
(Rayleigh Scattering).

• By measuring the amount of backscatter as a function of time, the loss

profile along the fiber is obtained.

• This method is not very accurate since the loss at the front end and
back end connector cannot be measured .

• Moreover ,it assumes that the attenuation in the back scatter power is
equivalent to attenuation in the transmitted power.
 Two point method
• The two point method compares the power levels at the input and the
output points.This method is much more accurate than the OTDR
method because its main limitation is source stability.Therefore the
two point loss measurement is the most commonly used method.
• At the input point ,a unit acting as a transmitter launches light into
the fiber.
• The light signal is derived from a continous source ,stabilized in
power and operating at a known and fixed wavelength.
• At the output point ,a unit,acting as a receiver and calibrated for the
signal central wavelength and bandwidth,measures the light
throughput.
• The transmitter-receiver pair is available as individual components or
as integrated instrument,also called an optical loss test set(OLTS).
Light Source Basic Requirements
• High optical power output
• Narrow beam width for efficient fiber
coupling
• Efficient electrical to optical power
conversion
• Fast response time (high modulation
bandwidth)
• Desired emitting wavelength with narrow
spectrum
• Reliable (long lifetime)
Sources typical shapes and
Applications
LED for MM and SM short length transmission
FP (Fabry Perot Laser) lor medium range or ORL tests
also having narrower Linewidth, Longitudinal mode
structure and Frequency stability)
DFB (Dual Feed Back Laser) for Long distance 100Km+
and high Bit rate modulation needs
 Comparison of LEDs and Lasers
LASER LED

More stable (less temperature sensitive) x

More reliable x
Lower cost x
Faster operating speed x
More coherent output (narrow angle of x
emission)
Less pulse spreading (dispersion loss) x
Higher bandwidth (information x
carrying capacity)
Longer regeneration spacing x
 Detector Responsivity
0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4
Silicon
0.3
Germanium
0.2 InGaAs

0.1

0
500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1650 1700

RED – SILICON
GREEN – Ge
Yellow - InGaS
ABOUT CONNECTORS & THEIR USES

DIFERENT CONNECTORS DIFERENT FACES

• FC • PC (polished Contact)
• SC • APC (angled Polish)
• ST • UPC (ultra polish)
• SMA
• BICONIC CERAMIC FERRULES
• D4 • ZIRCONIA CERAMIC
• LC • PLASTIC
• MTRJ • SPECIALIZED
METALIZED ALLOY
MOST COMMON USES
FC or SC /PC – for general Tx systems
•UPC – Where very low reflections is a factor
•APC – Ultra low reflection (CATV)
Connector Requirements
Economical

Easy installation
Repeatability

Low loss
MAINTENANCE ISSUES RELATED
TO F.O INSTRUMENTS
OPTICAL CONNECTORS MAINTENANCE IN EXFO

USAGE OF LINT FREE TISSUE PAPERS WITH ALCOHOL

CONNECTOR CLEANING PROCUDURES ( 9 micron polish)

Touch Screen cleaning Procedures

CLEANING SETUP
1. ALCOHOL
2. REEL CLEANER
3. END FACE BUD CLEANER
CLEANING A FOA 222 CONNECTOR
 DO NOT USE ANY SUBSTANDARD
LOCAL CLEANERS AS IT EVENTUALLY
DAMAGES THE END FACES

MODULE CLEANING
COMPRESSED AIRCLEANING
PROCEDURE
USE A MICROSCOPE BEFORE AND AFTER CLEANING

CONTAMINATED
CONNECTOR
EXAMPLE
GENERAL PRECAUTIONS WITH CLEANING LIQUIDS

Use isopropyl alcohol that is 98 % pure or more. When using

isopropyl alcohol to clean an optical device, do not proceed
immediately to dry the surface with compressed air (except when
you are cleaning very sensitive optical devices). This is because the
dust and dirt are in solution and will leave behind a filmy deposit
once the alcohol has evaporated. Therefore, you should first
remove alcohol and dust with a soft tissue, and then use
compressed air to blow away any remaining particles.