Fiber Optics Technology and

Step Index Fiber

By- Ramesh Pagidipalli

Optical Fiber

Fiber-Optic Communication
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting
information from one place to another place by sending
pulses of light through an optical fiber.
Fiber-optic communication systems have revolutionized
the telecommunications industry and have played a
major role in the advent of the Information Age.
Because of its advantages over electrical transmission,
optical fibers have largely replaced copper wire
communications in core networks in the developed
world.
Researchers at Bell Labs have reached internet speeds of
over 100 petabits per second
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Optical Fiber Communication

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Optical Fiber

An optical fiber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide made

of low-loss materials such as silica glass.

It has a central core in which the light is guided,

embedded in an outer

Cladding of slightly lower refractive index Light rays

incident on the core-cladding boundary at angles greater
than the critical angle undergo total internal

Reflection and are guided through the core without

refraction..
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Optical Fiber

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History

1880 Alexander G. Bell

Photo phone, transmit sound waves over beam of light

1930: TV image through uncoated fiber cables

Few years later image through a single glass fiber

1951: Flexible fiberscope: Medical applications

1956: The term fiber optics used for the first time

1958: Paper on Laser & Maser

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History Contd

1960: Laser invented

1967: New Communications medium: cladded fiber

1960s: Extremely lossy fiber:

More than 1000 dB /km

1970: Corning Glass Work NY, Fiber with loss of

less than 2 dB/km

70s & 80s : High quality sources and detectors

Late 80s : Loss as low as 0.16 dB/km

1990: Deployment of SONET systems

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Optical Fiber: Advantages

Capacity: much wider

bandwidth (10 GHz)

Crosstalk immunity

Immunity to static interference

Lightening

Electric motor

Florescent light

Higher environment immunity

Weather, temperature, etc.

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http://www.tpub.com/neets/book24/index.htm

Optical Fiber: Advantages

Safety: Fiber is non-metalic

No explosion, no chock

Longer lasting

Security: tapping is difficult

Economics: Fewer repeaters

Low transmission loss (dB/km)

Fewer repeaters

Less cable

Remember: Fiber is non-conductive

Hence, change of magnetic field has
No impact!
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Optical Fiber: Disadvantages

Higher initial cost in installation

Interfacing cost

Strength

Lower tensile strength

Remote electric power

More expensive to repair/maintain

Tools: Specialized and sophisticated

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Light Spectrum
Light frequency is
divided into three
general bands
Remember:
When dealing with
light we use
wavelength:
l=c/f
c=300E6 m/sec

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Optical Fiber Architecture

TX, RX, and Fiber Link

Input
Signal

Transmitter
Coder or
Light
Converter
Source

Source-to-Fiber
Interface

Fiber-optic Cable

Fiber-to-light
Interface

Light
Detector
Receiver
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Amplifier/Shaper
Decoder

Output

Optical Fiber Architecture

Components

Light source:

Input
Signal

Amount of light emitted is

proportional to the drive
current
Two common types:

LED (Light Emitting

Diode)
ILD (Injection Laser
Diode)

Sourceto-fiber-coupler
(similar to a lens):

Coder or
Converter

Light
Source

Source-to-Fiber
Interface

Fiber-optic Cable

Fiber-to-light
Interface

Light
Detector

Amplifier/Shaper
Decoder

Output

Receiver

Light detector:

A mechanical interface to
couple the light emitted
by the source into the
optical fiber
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PIN (p-type-intrinsic-n-type)
APD (avalanche photo diode)
Both convert light energy into
current

A little about Light

When electrons are excited and
moved to a higher energy state
they absorb energy
When electrons are moved to a
lower energy state loose
energy emit light
photon of light is generated
Energy (joule) = h.f
Plancks constant: h=6.625E-23
Joule.sec
f is the frequency
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http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~f93-jhu/phys_sim/compton/Compton.htm

DE=h.f

Refraction
Refraction is the change in direction
of a wave due to a change in its speed
Refraction of light is the most
commonly seen example
Any type of wave can refract when
it interacts with a medium
Refraction is described by Snell's law,
which states that the angle of
incidence is related to the angle of
refraction by :
The index of refraction is defined as
the speed of light in vacuum divided
by the speed of light in the medium:
n=c/v
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Optical Fiber Construction

Core thin glass center
of the fiber where light
travels.
Cladding outer optical
material surrounding the
core
Buffer Coating plastic
coating that protects
the fiber.
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Fiber Types Based on Material

Optical fibers are made up of materials like silica and plastic.
The basic optical fiber material must have the following
properties:
(i) Efficient guide for the light waves
(ii) Low scattering losses
(iii) The absorption, attenuation and dispersion of optical
energy must be low.

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Fiber Types Based on Material

Based on the material used for fabrication, they
are classified into two types:

Glass fibers
Plastic fibers

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Fiber Types Based on Material

Glass fibers :
The glass fibers are generally fabricated by
fusing mixtures of metal oxides and silica
glasses.
Examples:
SiO2 core; P2O3 SiO2 cladding
GeO2 SiO2 core; SiO2 cladding
P2O5 SiO2 core; SiO2 cladding

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Fiber Types Based on Material

Plastic fibers :
The plastic fibers are of low cost.
Although they exhibit considerably greater
signal attenuation than glass fibers, but these
are tough and durable.
Due to its high refractive index differences
between the core and cladding materials,
plastic fibers yield high numerical aperture and
large angle of acceptance.

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Optical Fibers Based on Modes

Mode is the one which describes the nature of
propagation waves in a Fiber.
i.e. it is the allowed direction whose
associated angles satisfy the conditions for
total internal reflection and constructive
interference.

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Optical Fibers Based on Modes

Based on the number of modes that propagates
through the optical fiber, they are classified as:

Single mode fibers (V<2.405)

Multi mode fibers (V>2.405)

2 n1a 2D

Here, n1 = refractive index of the core; a

= radius of the core; = wavelength of
the light propagating through the fiber;
= relative refractive indices difference.

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Single Mode Fibers:

In a fiber, if only one mode is transmitted
through it, then it is said to be a single mode
fiber.

A typical single mode fiber may have a core

radius of 3 m and a numerical aperture of 0.1
at a wavelength of 0.8 m.
The condition for the single mode operation is
given by the V number of the fiber which is
defined as such that V 2.405.
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Single Mode Fibers:

characteristics:
Only one path is available.
V-number is less than 2.405

Core diameter is small

No dispersion
Higher band width (1000 MHz)

Used for long haul communication

Fabrication is difficult and costly
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Multi Mode Fibers:

If more than one mode is transmitted through
optical fiber, then it is said to be a multimode
fiber.
The larger core radii of multimode fibers make
it easier to launch optical power into the fiber
and facilitate the end to end connection of
similar powers.

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Multi Mode Fibers:

Properties

More than one path is available

V-number is greater than 2.405
Core diameter is higher
Higher dispersion
Lower bandwidth (50MHz)
Used for short distance communication
Fabrication is less difficult and not costly

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Modes in Fiber

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Optical Fiber Based on Refractive

Index Profile
Based on the refractive index profile of the core
and cladding, the optical fibers are classified into
two types:

Step index fiber

Graded index fiber.

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Step Index Fiber

In a step index fiber, the refractive index
changes in a step fashion, from the center of
the fiber, the core, to the outer shell, the
cladding.

It is high in the core and lower in the cladding.

The light in the fiber propagates by bouncing
back and forth from core-cladding interface.
The step index fibers propagate both single
and multimode signals within the fiber core.

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Types Of Optical Fiber

Light
ray

n1 core
n2 cladding

Single-mode step-index Fiber

Multimode step-index Fiber

n1 core
n2 cladding

Index profile

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Step index single mode fibers :

The light energy in a single-mode fiber is
concentrated in one mode only.
This is accomplished by reducing D and or the
core diameter to a point where the V is less
than 2.4.
In other words, the fiber is designed to have a
V number between 0 and 2.4.

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Step index single mode fibers :

This relatively small value means that the fiber
radius and D, the relative refractive index
difference, must be small.

No intermodal dispersion exists in single mode

fibers because only one mode exists.

With careful choice of material, dimensions

and l, the total dispersion can be made
extremely small, less than 0.1 ps /(km nm),
making this fiber suitable for use with high
data rates.
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Single-mode step-index Fiber

Advantages:

Minimum dispersion: all rays take same path, same time to

travel down the cable. A pulse can be reproduced at the
receiver very accurately.
Less attenuation, can run over longer distance without
repeaters.
Larger bandwidth and higher information rate

Disadvantages:

Difficult to couple light in and out of the tiny core

Highly directive light source (laser) is required
Interfacing modules are more expensive

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Step index multimode fibers :

In this fibers light propagates in many modes.
The total number of modes MN
increase in the numerical aperture.

increases with

For a larger number of modes, MN

approximated by

dn1 2D
V

4.9

2
l

MN

can be

where d = diameter of the core of the

fiber and V = V number or
normalized frequency.

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Step index multimode fibers :

The normalized frequency V is a relation
among the fiber size, the refractive indices and
the wavelength. V is the normalized frequency
or simply the V number and is given by
1
2a
2a
V
N.A
n1 (2D) 2
l
l

where a is the fiber core radius,

l is the operating wavelength,
l n1 the core refractive index and
l D the relative refractive index difference.

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Step index multimode fibers :

To reduce the dispersion, the N.A should not be
decreased beyond a limit for the following
reasons:
First, injecting light into fiber with low N.A
becomes difficult. Lower N.A means lower
acceptance angle, which requires the entering
light to have a very shallow angle.
Second, leakage of energy is more likely, and
hence losses increase.
The core diameter of the typical
multimode fiber varies between 50 m and about
200 m, with cladding thickness typically equal to
the core radius.
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What do the fiber terms 9/125, 50/125 and

62.5/125 (micron)

Remember: A micron (short for micrometer) is one-millionth of a meter

Typically n(cladding) < n(core)

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Any Questions

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