1

UNIT – 5

LASER AND FIBRE OPTICS

Unit-05/Lecture-01

Introduction & Definition [RGPV/ June 2011,Dec2012 (14)]

An atom consists of an electron cloud revolving around the central nucleus hav-
ing protons and neutrons. The atoms are constantly in motion, they vibrate, move and ro-
tate. Also they are in different states of excitation and hence have different energies. If
some external energy in the form of light, heat, or electricity is supplied to an atom, the
electrons from low energy level called ground state may jump to higher energy level
called excited state. The electrons in the higher energy orbit cannot stay there for a long
time. Therefore they return to the ground state spontaneously releasing the absorbed en-
ergy in the form of radiations.

LASER
The term LASER stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The
LASER is a device which amplifies light waves similar to the transistor which amplifies
electric current. The laser is a powerful source of light.

Principle of LASER
Laser works on the principle of quantum theory of radiation. When an atom in the lower
energy E1 absorbs the photon energy of incident radiation, it is excited to the higher en-
ergy level of energy E2. This process is called absorption. The number of absorption transi-
tion take place per unit time per unit volume is directly proportional to the number of
atoms in the lower energy level and the number of photons in the incident radiation.

The energy difference E2- E1 is called excitation energy and it is equal to the energy of the
photon absorbed by the atom. In higher energy level (E 2), the atom cannot remain long
time, since it has a tendency to drop 2energy. So the atom jumps to the lower energy
level (E1). At that time, the energy difference E 2- E1 is emitted in the form of radiation as
photon. The energy of the photon released, E 2- E1 =hν, where ν is the frequency of the ra-
diation and h, the Planck's constant.

Definitions [RGPV/ June 2011,Dec2012 (14)]

Spontaneous emission
Spontaneous emission is the process of photon emission takes place immediately without
any inducement during the transition of atoms from higher energy levels to lower energy
levels. This is a random process in which the photons are emitted at different time. So, in
the emitted radiation each photon has different phase and are incoherent. The number of
spontaneous transition (Nsp ) taking place per unit sp time per unit volume is directly pro-
portional to the number of atoms in the higher energy level (N2) is.
Nsp α N2
Nsp = A21 N2
 2

where A21 is a constant known as the probability of spontaneous transition per unit time.
Also it is called Einstein's co-efficient of spontaneous emission.

Stimulated emission

Einstein found a new process called stimulated emission to increase the number of transi-
tion of atoms from higher energy levels to lower energy levels.
Stimulated emission is the process of photon emissions takes place by an induce -
ment given by another photon incident on the atoms in higher energy levels. The energy
of the photon emitted is equal to the energy of the photon incident.
Consider an atom in the higher energy level (E 2 ). When an external radiation of
photon energy E2- E1 is incident on the excited atom, the photon stimulates the atom to
make transition from higher to lower energy level. As a result the same photon energy E 2-
E1 is emitted in the form of radiation. During this process, the stimulating photon and the
photon emitted by the excited atom are emitted simultaneously in the same direction.
Hence they are identical in phase, direction and frequency and are coherent. This process
of stimulated emission is used to produce laser beam.
The number of stimulated transition (N st) taking place per unit time per volume is
directly to
1) the number of atoms in the higher energy level (N 2)
2) The energy density Eν in the frequency range ν and ν+d ν.
ie Nst α N2 Eν
Nst = B21 N2 Eν
Where B21 is a constant known as the probability of stimulated transition per unit time.
Also it is called Einstein's co-efficient of stimulated emission.
 3

Population inversion
Population inversion is the establishment of the situation to make more number
of atoms in the excited state required for the chain reaction of stimulated emission.
For achieving the population inversion, the number of atoms must be raised con-
tinuously to the excited state. When a sufficient energy is given to the atoms in the
ground state, they are excited to the higher energy levels. This process is called pumping.
If the atoms in the ground state are brought to the excited state by means of light energy,
the process is called optical pumping.

[Link] RGPV QUESTIONS Year Marks

Q.1 Difference between spontaneous emission and June2011 7
stimulated emission
Q.2 Explain the spontaneous emission and stimulated DEC 2012 14
emission, population inversion, pumping
 4

Unit-05/Lecture-02

Einstein’s coefficient A & B [RGPV/ Dec2013 (7)]

Consider a ststem of atoms having ground state energy and excited state energy E1 and E2
with the number of densities N1 andN2 respectively. If the photons of frequency
E 2−E1
ν=
h
are incident on the system of atoms, there will be induced absorption. The rate of ab -
sorption of photons will be proportional to the number densities N1 and energy density Eν
in the frequency range ν and ν+d ν in the incident radiation.
Rate of absorption α N1 Eν
Ra = B12 N1 Eν
Where B12 is a constant known as the probability of stimulated absorption per unit time.
Also it is called Einstein's co-efficient of stimulated absorption.
Atoms in the excited state E2 can come down either through Spontaneous
emission or stimulated emission of radiation.
In case of Spontaneous emission the rate of transition of atoms from E 2 to E1 does
not depend on the energy density of atoms and is proportional to the number densities
N2 in the excited state
Rate of Spontaneous emission α N2
Rsp = A21N2
where A21 is a constant known as the probability of spontaneous transition per unit time.
Also it is called Einstein's co-efficient of spontaneous emission.

In case of stimulated emission the rate of transition of atoms from E 2 to E1 will be

proportional to the number densities N2 and energy density Eν in the frequency range ν
and ν+d ν in the incident radiation.
Rate of Spontaneous emission α N2 Eν
Rst = B21 N2 Eν
Where B21 is a constant known as the probability of stimulated transition per unit time.
Also it is called Einstein's co-efficient of stimulated emission.

In thermal equilibrium, the rate of transition of atoms from E 1 to E2 must be equal to the
rate of transition of atoms from E2 to E1. Thus
Rate of absorption = Rate of Spontaneous emission + Rate of stimulated emission
B12 N1 Eν = A21N2 + B21 N2 Eν

B12 N1 Eν - B21 N2 Eν = A21N2

N2 N2
B12 E ν −B 21 Eν = A 21
N1 N1
 5

¿¿

N2
A 21
N1
E ν=
N2
(B ¿ ¿ 12−B21 )¿
N1
A21
E ν=
N1
(B ¿ ¿ 12 −B 21)¿
N2
A 21 1
E ν= [ ]
B12 B12 N 1 ¿
( )( )−1 ¿
B21 N 2
From Maxwell distribution
N1 hν
=exp
N2 kT
A 21 1
E ν= [ ]

( )
B12 B12 hν ¿
(exp )−1¿
B21 kT
From Plank’s law
8 πh ν 3 1
E ν= [ ]
c3
( exp
hν
kT )
−1
On comparing the eq.

B12
=1
B 21
B12 =B 21
Thus, the probability of induced absorption is equal to the probability of stimulated
emission
A 21 8 πh ν 3
And =
B12 c
3

A 21 3
∝ν
B12
i.e. the ratio of Einstein's co-efficient of spontaneous emission to the Einstein's co-
efficient of stimulated emission is directly proportional to the cube of frequency.
 6

[Link] RGPV QUESTIONS Year Marks

Q.1 Obtain the relation between the transition Dec 2013 7
probability of Einstein’s coefficient A & B

Q.2
Q.3
 7

Unit-05/Lecture-03
Main components of laser system [RGPV/ June 2012 (7)]
There are three main components of laser system
1. Active medium
2. Energy source
3. Optical resonator
Active medium:
When active medium is excited, it achieves population inversion. The active medium may be solid,
liquid or gas. Depending on the active medium we have different type of lasers i.e. solid state lase,
liquid laser or gas lasers.

Energy source:
The energy source raises the system to an excited state.

Optical resonator
The optical resonator consists of two mirrors facing each other. The active medium is enclosed by this
cavity. Out of the two mirrors, one is fully reflective while the other is partially reflective. The function of
the optical resonator is to increase the intensity of laser beam.
Action of optical resonator
1. Initially the active centres are in non excited state.
2. Using a suitable pumping process, the material is taken into the population inversion state.
For this purpose, the energy source is used.
3. At the initial stage, the spontaneous photons are emitted in all directions. The photons that
travel in specific direction are selected while others are rejected.
4. The stimulated photons are to be made through medium constituting the resonator source
the directional selectivity, the photons are travelling in random directions are lost. On
reaching the partially reflective mirror, some photons are transmitted out while the
remaining are reflected back.
5. The reflected photons de-excite more and more atoms. At fully reflective mirror, some
photons are absorbed while a major number of photons are reflected. The beam is not
amplified.
6. The amplified beam undergoes multiple reflections at the mirrors and gain in strength.
7. When the amount of amplified light beam equal to the total amount of light lost the laser
 8

beam oscillations begins.

8. When the oscillator build -up to enough intensity then they emerge out through the front
mirror as highly collimated intense beam i.e. laser light.

Characteristics of LASER
Laser radiation is different from normal light radiation. The characteristics of laser are given be-
low:
1. Laser radiation is monochromatic. It contains only one particular wavelength (colour) of light.
The wavelength is determined by the amount of energy released.
2. Laser radiation is coherent. In emitted radiation all the photons are having the same phase and
amplitude.
3. Laser radiation is highly directional. Laser beam of light can travel very long distance, without
much divergence.
4. Laser radiation is very intense. The intensity and hence the brightness of the laser radiation is
high.
The radiation having single wavelength, same amplitude and same phase is called ‘coherent radia-
tion’.

Coherence
Coherence between two sources of light concerns with the existence of a constant phase relation
between them. This is of following types.
i. Temporal coherence
ii. Spatial coherence
Temporal coherence
Temporal coherence is the measure of the average correlation between the value of a wave and
itself delayed by τ, at any pair of times. Temporal coherence tells us how monochromatic a source
is. In other words, it characterizes how well a wave can interfere with itself at a different time. The
delay over which the phase or amplitude wanders by a significant amount (and hence the
correlation decreases by significant amount) is defined as the coherence time τc. At τ=0 the degree
of coherence is perfect whereas it drops significantly by delay τc. The coherence length Lc is defined
as the distance the wave travels in time τc.

Spatial Coherence
In some systems, such as water waves or optics, wave-like states can extend over one or two
dimensions. Spatial coherence describes the ability for two points in space, x1 and x2, in the extent
of a wave to interfere, when averaged over time. More precisely, the spatial coherence is the
cross-correlation between two points in a wave for all times. If a wave has only 1 value of
amplitude over an infinite length, it is perfectly spatially coherent. The range of separation
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between the two points over which there is significant interference is called the coherence area, Ac
[Link] RGPV QUESTIONS Year Marks
Q.1 Write a short note on coherence, optical resonator June 2012 7
 10

Unit-05/Lecture-04

Ruby laser. [RGPV/ JUNE 2012(14), JUNE 2011 (7)]

The first working laser was built in 1960 by Maiman, using a ruby crytal and so called the Ruby
laser.

Ruby belongs to the family of gems consisting of Al2O3 with various types of impurities. For ex-
ample pink Ruby contains 0.05% Cr atoms. The schematic diagram of ruby laser can be drawn
as:

Construction of Ruby Laser

The ruby lazer consists of a ruby rod . which is made of chromium doped ruby material. At the
opposite ends of this rod there are two silver polished mirrors. Whose one is fully polished and
other is partially polished. A spring is attached to the rod with fully polished end for adjustment
of wave length of the lazer light. Around the ruby rod a flash light is kept for the pump input.
The whole assembly is kept in the glass tube. Around the neck of the glass tube the R.F source
and switching control is designed in order to switch on and off the flash light for desired inter-
vals.

Operation of Ruby Laser:

When we switch on the circuit the R.F operates. As a result the flash of light is obtained around the ruby
rod. This flash causes the electrons within ruby rod to move from lower energy band towards higher en-
ergy band. The population inversion takes place at high energy band and electrons starts back to travel
towards the lower energy band. During this movement the electron emits the laser light. This emitted
light travels between the two mirrors where cross reflection takes place of this light. The stimulated
laser light now escapes from partially polished mirror in shape of laser beam.
 11

The spring attached with the fully polished mirror is used to adjust the wave length equal to λ/2 of laser
light for optimum laser beam. The switching control of the R.F source is used to switch on and off the
flash light so that excessive heat should not be generated due to very high frequency of the movement
of the electron.

Energy Level Diagram for Ruby Laser

The above three level energy diagram show that in ruby lasers the absorption occurs in a rather broad
range in the green part of the spectrum. This makes raise the electrons from ground state E 1 to the band
of level E3 higher than E1. At E3 these excited levels are highly unstable and so the electrons decays
rapidly to the level of E2. This transition occurs with energy difference (E 1 – E2) given up as heat (radia-
tion less transmission). The level E2 is very important for stimulated emission process and is known as
Meta stable state. Electrons in this level have an average life time of about 5m.s before they fall to
ground state. After this the population inversion can be established between E 2 and E1. The population
inversion is obtained by optical pumping of the ruby rod with a flash lamp. A common type of the flash
lamp is a glass tube wrapped around the ruby rod and filled with xenon gas. When the flash lamp inten-
sity becomes large enough to create population inversion, then stimulated emission from the Meta sta-
ble level to the ground level occurs which result in the laser output. Once the population inversion be-
gins, the Meta stable level is depopulated very quickly. Thus the laser output consists of an intense spike
lasting from a few Nano sec to µsec. after stimulated emission spike, population inversion builds up
again and a 2nd spike results. This process continues as long as the flash lamp intensity is enough to cre-
ate the population inversion.

Advantages of Ruby Lasers

 From cost point of view, the ruby lasers are economical.

 Beam diameter of the ruby laser is comparatively less than CO 2 gas lasers.
 Output power of Ruby laser is not as less as in He-Ne gas lasers.
 Since the ruby is in solid form therefore there is no chance of wasting material of active
medium.
 Construction and function of ruby laser is self explanatory.
 12

Disadvantages of Ruby Laser

 In ruby lasers no significant stimulated emission occurs, until at least half of the ground
state electrons have been excited to the Meta stable state.
 Efficiency of ruby laser is comparatively low.
 Optical cavity of ruby laser is short as compared to other lasers, which may be consid-
ered a disadvantage.

Applications of ruby Laser

 Due to low output power they are class-I lasers and so may used as toys for children’s.
 It can be used in schools, colleges, universities for science programs.
 It can be used as decoration piece & artistic display.

Nd:YAG Laser

Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet; Nd:Y3Al5O12) is a crystal that is used as

a lasing medium for solid-state lasers. The dopant, triply ionized neodymium, Nd(III), typically
replaces a small fraction (1%) of the yttrium ions in the host crystal structure of the yttrium alu-
minium garnet (YAG), since the two ions are of similar size. It is the neodymium ion which pro-
vides the lasing activity in the crystal, in the same fashion as red chromium ion in ruby lasers.

Construction and Working

Nd:YAG lasers are optically pumped using a flashtube or laser diodes. These are one of the most
common types of laser, and are used for many different applications. Nd:YAG lasers typically
emit light with a wavelength of 1064 nm, in the infrared. However, there are also transitions
near 940, 1120, 1320, and 1440 nm. Nd:YAG lasers operate in both pulsed and continuous
mode. Pulsed Nd:YAG lasers are typically operated in the so-called Q-switching mode: An opti-
cal switch is inserted in the laser cavity waiting for a maximum population inversion in the
neodymium ions before it opens. Then the light wave can run through the cavity, depopulating
the excited laser medium at maximum population inversion. In this Q-switched mode, output
powers of 250 megawatts and pulse durations of 10 to 25 nanoseconds have been
[Link] high-intensity pulses may be efficiently frequency doubled to generate laser light
at 532 nm, or higher harmonics at 355 and 266 nm.

Nd:YAG absorbs mostly in the bands between 730–760 nm and 790–820 nm. At low current
densities krypton flashlamps have higher output in those bands than do the more common
xenon lamps, which produce more light at around 900 nm. The former are therefore more effi-
cient for pumping Nd:YAG lasers.
 13

As can be seen from the energy level diagram, Nd lasers are four level lasers. Nd ions have two
absorption band, and excitation is done by optical pumping, either by flash lamps for pulsed
lasers, or by arc lamps for continuous wave lasers. From these excited energy levels, the Nd
ions are transferring into the upper laser level by a non radiative transition. The stimulated
emission is from the upper laser level to the lower laser level, and the wavelengths of the emit-
ted photons are around 1.06 [mm]. From the lower laser level, a non-radiative transition to the
ground level.

[Link] RGPV QUESTIONS Year Marks

Q.1 Discuss the principle construction and working of Ruby JUNE 2012 14
laser. JUNE 2011 7
 14

Unit-02/Lecture-05

He-Ne Lasers [RGPV/ JUNE 2011(10), DEC 2012 (10)]

He-Ne stands for Helium-Neon. The He-Ne laser active medium consists of two gases which do
not interact form a molecule. Therefore He-Ne laser is one type of atomic gas lasers.

Construction of He-Ne Lasers

The construction of typical He-Ne laser plasma tube can be shown as :

The tube where the lasing action takes place consists of a glass envelop with a narrow capillary
tube through the center. The capillary tube is designed to direct the electrical discharge
through its small bore to produce very high current densities in the gas.

The output coupler and the HR (high reflective) mirror are located at the opposite ends of the
plasma tube. To make laser tubes more economical and durable manufacturers often attach the
mirror s directly to the ends of the capillary tube as shown above. This is very common with
small low power lasers. With high power tubes or when optically polarized output is desired,
the capillary tubes ends are cut at an angle and sealed with glass planes called Brewster win-
dows. When this is done then the mirrors mush be mounted in mechanically stable but ad-
justable mounts. This allows the operator to align the mirror surfaces parallel to each other but
perpendicular to the axis of the capillary tube.

The plasma tube has a large cylindrical metallic cathode and a smaller metallic anode. The cur-
rent is directed from cathode to anode.

Working of  He-Ne Laser

In the He-Ne laser the light is produced by atomic transitions within the Neon atom. The Helium
does not directly produce laser light but it acts as a buffer gas, the purpose of which is to
assist/help the atoms of the other gas to produce lasing in as manner.

When energy from the pumping source is applied He-Ne gas mixture then some of the energy is
observed by the Helium atoms. In other words we can say that helium atoms achieve an excited
state. Now when the Helium atoms move within the laser tube, they collide with the Neon
 15

atoms. At each collision some of the energy within the helium atom is transferred to the Neon
atom and so raising it to an excited meta-stable state. When a sufficient number of Neon atoms
reach to this state then population inversion occurs and hence the lasing can take place.

This can be shown by simplified energy level diagram as:

Here upward transition shows the absorption of energy from the pumping source by Helium
atom. While down ward transition shows the emission of energy / light or lasing present in the
Neon atom only.

In diagram above there are 3 down word energy transitions for Neon that produce lasing.
If transition occurs at the relatively small energy step from E5 to E4 then low energy infrared
photon is released with a wavelength of 3.391 microns. If transition occurs at E5 to E2 which is
much larger energy step then it produces short wavelength more energetic photon at 632.8nm.
This gives the red light which is most desirable for He-Ne laser applications.

E3 to E2 then it produces a laser output at 1.152microns in infrared portion of the spec-

trum.

Characteristics of He-Ne Laser

The He-Ne laser is a relatively low power device with an output in the visible red portion of the
spectrum. The most common wavelength produced by He-Ne lasers is 632.8nm, although two
lower power (1.152µm and 3.391µm) infrared wavelengths can be produced if desired. Major-
ity of He-Ne lasers generate less than 10m watt of power, but some can be obtained commer-
cially with up to 50m watts of power. For He-Ne lasers the typical laser tube is from 10 to 100
cm in length and the life time of such a tube can be as high as 20,000 hours.
 16

Applications / Uses of He-Ne Laser

The Helium-Neon gas laser is one of the most commonly used laser today because of the fol-
lowing applications.

 He-Ne lasers are produced in large quantities from many years.

 Many schools / colleges / universities use this type of laser in their science programs and
experiments.
 He-Ne lasers also used in super market checkout counters to read bar codes and QR
codes.
 The He-Ne lasers also used by newspapers for reproducing transmitted photographs.
 He-Ne lasers can be use as an alignment tool.
 It is also used in Guns for targeting.

Advantages of He-Ne Laser

 He-Ne laser has very good coherence property

 He-Ne laser can produce three wavelengths that are 1.152µm, 3.391 µm and 632.8nm,
in which the 632.8nm is most common because it is visible usually in red color.
 He-Ne laser tube has very small length approximately from 10 to 100cm and best life
time of 20.000 hours.
 Cost of He-Ne laser is less from most of other lasers.
 Construction of He-Ne laser is also not very complex.
 He-Ne laser provide inherent safety due to low power output.

Disadvantages of He-Ne Laser

The weak points of He-Ne laser are

 It is relatively low power device means its output power is low.

 He-Ne laser is low gain system/ device.
 To obtain single wavelength laser light, the other two wavelengths of laser need sup-
pression, which is done by many techniques and devices. So it requires extra technical
skill and increases the cast also.
 High voltage requirement can be considered its disadvantage.
 Escaping of gas from laser plasma tube is also its disadvantage

CO2 laser [RGPV/ JUNE 2011(10), DEC 2012 (10)]

The CO2 laser (carbon dioxide laser) is a laser based on a gas mixture as the gain medium, which
contains carbon dioxide (CO2), helium (He), nitrogen (N2), and possibly some hydrogen (H2),
water vapor and/or xenon (Xe). Such a laser is electrically pumped via a gas discharge, which
can be operated with DC current, with AC current (e.g. 20–50 kHz) or in the radio frequency (RF)
domain. Nitrogen molecules are excited by the discharge into a metastable vibrational level and
transfer their excitation energy to the CO 2 molecules when colliding with them. Helium serves
 17

to depopulate the lower laser level and to remove the heat. Other constituents such as
hydrogen or water vapor can help (particularly in sealed-tube lasers) to reoxidize carbon
monoxide (formed in the discharge) to carbon dioxide.

CO2 lasers typically emit at a wavelength of 10.6 μm, but there are other lines in the region of 9–
11 μm (particularly at 9.6 μm). In most cases, average powers are between some tens of watts
and many kilowatts.

The filling gas within the discharge tube consists primarily of:

 Carbon dioxide (CO2) (around 10–20%)

 Nitrogen (N2) (around 10–20%)
 Helium (He) (The remainder of the gas mixture)

The specific proportions vary according to the particular laser.

The population inversion in the laser is achieved by the following sequence:

1. Electron impact excites vibrational motion of the nitrogen. Because nitrogen is a homo-
nuclear molecule, it cannot lose this energy by photon emission, and its excited vibra-
tional levels are therefore metastable and live for a long time.
2. Collisional energy transfer between the nitrogen and the carbon dioxide molecule
causes vibrational excitation of the carbon dioxide, with sufficient efficiency to lead to
the desired population inversion necessary for laser operation.
3. The nitrogen molecules are left in a lower excited state. Their transition to ground state
takes place by collision with cold helium atoms. The resulting hot helium atoms must be
cooled in order to sustain the ability to produce a population inversion in the carbon di-
oxide molecules. In sealed lasers, this takes place as the helium atoms strike the walls of
the container. In flow-through lasers, a continuous stream of CO2 and nitrogen is excited
by the plasma discharge and the hot gas mixture is exhausted from the resonator by
pumps.

Lasing transition in CO2 laser

Lasing transitions in CO2 laser occur when the molecule is going from higher energy level of the
asymmetric mode into one of the other two, as can be seen in fig..
 18

1. The transition to the symmetric stretching mode correspond to the wavelength of 10.6
[mm].
2. The transition to the bending mode correspond to the wavelength of 9.6 [mm ].

Applications

CO2 lasers are widely used for material processing, in particular for

 cutting plastic materials, wood, die boards, etc., exhibiting high absorption at 10.6 μm,
and requiring moderate power levels of 20–200 W
 cutting and welding metals such as stainless steel, aluminum or copper, applying multi-
kilowatt powers
 laser marking of various materials.

[Link] RGPV QUESTIONS Year Marks

Q.1 How laser light is different from ordinary light. Describe June 2011 10
the principle, construction and working of He – Ne Laser Dec 2012
or CO2 laser. Write any two characteristics of laser light. 7
Q.2 Define the principle, construction and working of any DEC 2013 7
one Laser.

UNIT 5/LECTURE 6
 19

OPTICAL FIBRE [RGPV/ JUNE 2012(7)]

Optical fibers are fine transparent glass or plastic fibers which can propagate light. They work
under the principle of total internal reflection from diametrically opposite walls. In this way light
can be taken anywhere because fibers have enough flexibility. This property makes them suit-
able for data communication, design of fine endoscopes, micro sized microscopes etc. An optic
fiber consists of a core that is surrounded by a cladding which are normally made of silica glass
or plastic. The core  ransmits an optical signal while the  cladding  guides the light within the
core. Since  light is guided through the fiber it is sometimes called an optical wave guide.

A ray of light, incident upon the interface between two transparent optical materials having
different indices of refraction, will be totally internally reflected (rather
than refracted) if
(1) the ray is incident upon the interface from the direction of the more dense material and
(2) the angle made by the ray with the normal to the interface is greater than some critical an-
gle, the latter being dependent only on the indices of refraction of the media.

Construction of optical fibre

Basically optical fibers consist of two parts

1. Core and Cladding: these are made from fused silica glass (SiO2) and are optically trans-
parent.
2. Coating:

The central portion of the optical fibers is called the core; it is this part in which light rays are
guided. That portion which surrounds the core is called cladding. The refractive index of the
core is always slightly greater than the refractive index of the cladding. Due to this difference in
the refractive indices of the core and cladding, the light rays are always kept within the core of
the optical fibers.
 20

During manufacturing of the optical fibers, protective layers of plastic are uniformly applied to
the entire length of the fiber. The refractive index of the coating is higher than that of cladding
and core, to attenuate any undesirable light in the cladding. This coating can be removed when
desired, i.e. (for jointing etc). The coating gives protection to the fibers from external influences
and absorbs shear forces. These coatings are usually colored to identify individual fibers in a
multi-fibers cable.

Types Of Optical Fiber

A mode is a stable propagation state in optical fibers. When light rays travel along certain paths
through the optic fibers, the electromagnetic fields in the light waves support each other to
form a stable field distribution. Thus light travels in the fibers. These stable operating points
(standing waves) are called modes. If the light follows other paths then a stable wave will not
propagate through the fiber and hence there will be no mode.

The optical fibers are typed according to the following modes:

[Link]-mode Fiber

In this, the light propagates in a single or fundamental mode in the core. Such fibers with only
one mode are called single-mode fiber. It allows a single light path, and typically used with
LASER signaling. The single mode fibers can allow greater bandwidth and cable runs than that of
multimode but it is more expansive. The single mode fiber has the best characteristics of
highest data rates and least attenuation. The single mode fiber is of very small size. It has the
core of approximatly 5 to 10 micro meter in diameters.

Single-mode fiber allows for a higher capacity to transmit information because it can retain the
fidelity of each light pulse over longer distances, and it exhibits no dispersion caused by multiple
modes. Single-mode fiber also enjoys lower fiber attenuation than multimode fiber. Thus, more
information can be transmitted per unit of time. Like multimode fiber, early single-mode fiber
was generally characterized as step-index fiber meaning the refractive index of the fiber core is
a step above that of the cladding rather than graduated as it is in graded-index fiber. Modern
 21

single-mode fibers have evolved into more complex designs such as matched clad, depressed
clad and other exotic structures.

Single-mode fiber has disadvantages. The smaller core diameter makes coupling light into the
core more difficult. The tolerances for single-mode connectors and splices are also much more
demanding.

[Link]-MODE

It is further divided into:

 STEP-INDEX
 GRADED-INDE

STEP-INDEX MULTIMODE FIBERS

This fiber works in a very simplified way. The word step-index is used because the refractive
index suddenly changes at the interface between core and cladding. The refractive index of the
core is slightly greater than that of the cladding, thus confining the light to the core, by the
principle of total internal reflection. The step-index multi mode fibers collect light easily but
have a limited bandwidth.

GRADED-INDEX FIBERS

These are called graded-index fibers because in these fibers the refractive index changes
gradually from the core to the cladding and at the boundary between the core and cladding, the
change is abrupt. The refractive index decreases gradually from the center of the core to the edge
of the cladding. Graded-index multi mode fibers collect light better than small core single mode
fibers and have broader bandwidth than step-index multi mode fibers.
 22

[Link] RGPV QUESTION YEAR MARKS

Q.1 What are optical fibres? Explain how June 2012 7
glass fibre guides light from one end to
the other?
Q.2
 23

UNIT 5/LECTURE 7

Acceptance angle [RGPV/DEC 2011 (7)]

Consider a light ray (i) entering the core at a point A , travelling through the core until it reaches
the core cladding boundary at point B. As long as the light ray intersects the core-cladding
boundary at a small  angles, the ray will be reflected back in to the core to travel on to point C
where the process of reflection is repeated .ie., total internal reflection takes place. Total inter -
nal reflection occurs only when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle.  If a ray
enters an optic fiber at a steep angle(ii), when this ray intersects the core-cladding boundary,
the angle of intersection is too large. So, reflection back in to the core does not take place and
the light ray is lost in the cladding. This means that to be guided through an optic fibre, a light
ray must enter the core with an angle less than a particular angle called the acceptance angle of
the fibre. A ray which enters the fiber with an angle greater than the acceptance angle will be
lost in the cladding.

Consider an optical fibre having a core  of refractive index n1 and cladding of refractive index n2.
let the incident light makes an angle i with the core axis as shown in figure (a). Then the light
gets refracted at an angle θ and fall on the core-cladding interface at an angle where,

                 ...................... (1)

By Snell’s law at the point of entrance of light in to the optical fiber we get,

n 0 sin θ=n1 sinθ '   ....................... (2)

Where n0 is refractive index of medium outside the fiber. For air n0 =1.

n 0 sin θ=n1 cos θ

 The largest value of θ = im occurs when θ=θ ' c

 24

n1
sin i m= cos θ ' c
n0

 When light travels from core to cladding it moves from denser to rarer medium and so it may
be totally reflected back to the core medium if θ' exceeds the critical angle θ'c. The critical angle
is that angle of incidence in denser medium (n1) for which angle of refraction become 90°. Us-
ing Snell’s laws at core cladding interface,

n1 sin ⁡θ ' c =n2 sin 90

n2
sin θ' c =
n1

cos θ 'c = √1−sin θ' c

cos θ '
=
√ n −n
2
1
2
2
c
n1

n1
∗√ n1−n 2
2 2
n0
sin i m=
n1

sin i m =
√ n −n2
1
2
2
n0

 For air n 0=1 

sin i m=√ n21 −n22

i m=sin −1 √n21 −n22

Thus, acceptance angle is defined as the maximum angle from the fibre axis at which the light
may enter the fibre so that it will propogate in the core by the total internal reflection.
 25

Acceptance cone

It is the cone in which the light incident at acceptance angle or less than the acceptance angle
and then the light can propagate through the fiber after total internal reflection.

Numerical Aperture [RGPV/ DEC 2012(4)]

The significance of NA is that light entering in the cone of semi vertical angle i m only propagate
through the fibre. The higher the value of im or NA more is the light collected for propagation in
the fibre. Numerical aperture is thus considered as a light gathering capacity of an optical fibre.
It is also known as figure of merit.

Numerical Aperture is defined as the Sine of angle of acceptance.

NA =sin im =√ n21−n 22

It may also be evaluated in terms of relative refractive index difference∆ is defined as

n1−n 2 n2
∆= =1−
n1 n1

n2
=(1−∆)
n1

NA ¿ √ n21−n22
 26

√ ()
2
n2
NA =n1 [1− ¿ ]¿
n21

NA =√ ¿ ¿

NA =n1 √2 ∆−∆ 2

∆ is very small, the term ∆ 2 is negligible

NA =n1 √ 2 ∆

V-Number [RGPV/ DEC 2012(4)]

In an optical fiber, the normalized frequency, V (also called the V number), is given by

where a is the core radius,

λ is the wavelength in vacuum,

n1 is the maximum refractive index of the core,

n2 is the refractive index of the homogeneous cladding,

and applying the usual definition of the numerical aperture NA.

Significance of V number:

If V is less than 2.405 then the fiber is mono mode but if V is greater than 2.405 then fiber is
multimode.

V number is also related with the number of modes is the fiber as:

N = V2/ 2 for step index fiber and

Number of modes for graded index fiber is N = V2/ 4.

 27

[Link] RGPV QUESTION YEAR MARKS

Q.1 What is meant by acceptance angle of Dec2011 7
optical fibre? Derive an expression for
it?
Q.2 Define following terms of optical fibre. Dec2012 4
[Link] frequency
[Link] aperture

UNIT 5/LECTURE 8

Attenuation [RGPV/ DEC 2013 (4)]

It is defined as the reduction in amplitude (or power) and intensity of a signal as it is guided
throughout optical fibre.

The fiber loss mean's wasting of energy (power) in fiber. If Pin is the input power and Pout is the
output power of fiber, than fiber loss is defined methematically as:

Loss = Pout / Pin   ---------(1)

In decibels (logrithmic unit) the (1) can be

Lossdb = 10 X log(Pout / Pin)  ---------- (2)

The unit uses for less will be "decibels per kilometer" because the loss is increases mostly with
fiber length.

LOSSES IN FIBERS: [RGPV/ DEC 2013 (7)]

There are many reasons which contribute to losses in optical fibers. The main sources of losses
are summarized below:

(i) Absorption loss:

Absorption due to impurities present in the fiber are a major source of fiber loss. Normal glass
is relatively impure with copper, iron and manganese being the common contaminants. The ab-
sorption loss due to these impurities varies with the wavelength being used. Also presence of
hydroxyl ions(OH) add to loss. In order to manufacture low loss fibers, the impurity level must
be brought down to the barest minimum.
 28

ii) Intrinsic absorption:

Even if all the impurities are eliminated from the optical fiber materials, absorpotion loss will
still occur. This happens because pure glass has its own absorption loss at some wavelengths
like ultra violate and infrared, which is used in optical communication.

iii) Rayleigh scattering:

It is the scattering of light due to micro-irregularities the dielectric medium through which elec-
tromagnetic wave propagates. The Rayleigh scattering varies inversely as the wave length. So
higher scattering occurs at lower wavelength and gradually diminishes at larger wavelength.
Small defects such as hubbies in the fibre cause localized scattering.

Rayleigh scattering

(iv) Microbending:

Even slight deformation of the fiber axis cause the optical power to he redistributed among the
rays. Such loss, referred to as Microbending loss, may he minimised by either decreasing the
core size or increasing the refractive index difference along the fiber axis.
 29

microbending

(v) Bend or Curnature loss:

Bending a fiber causes radiation of previously guided rays. The loss resulting from this radiation
depends on he angle and radius of bending. Generally bending radius of a few cms or more arc
not hazardous.

macrobending

(vi) Cladding effects:

The loss due to absorption In the cladding material also add to The total loss. In a multimode
fiber, almost entire power is cofined to the core and therefore the effect of lossy cladding is not
much felt. However, as the core is much smaller dimension in monomode fibers, there is much
 30

more power in the cladding. As such the purity of cladding is very important.

DISPERSION IN FIBERS. [RGPV/ DEC 2013 (4)]

Dispersion is the broadening of light pulses as it propagates through the fiber. It increases with
length of the fiber. Excessive dispersion causes over-lapping of adjacent pulses or inter symbol
interference. So dispersion has a negative effect on the bandwidth of a fiber. The higher the dis-
persion, lie lower will he bandwidth of the system. Dispersion also decreases the peak optical
power of the pulse and therefore increases the effective attenuation of a fiber,

Dispersion may be classified into two categories depending on the cause. These are

(I) Modal and (ii) Material dispersion.

(I) Modal dispersion:

These are dominant in multimode fibers where the optical rays propagate in different modes.
Thus the path lengths are different for different modes and consequently propagation time is
different for different rays, This results in broadening or dispersion of light pulses.

In order to solve this problem, graded index fibers have been discovered where the refractive
index varies accross he cross-section of the fiber. Therefore the speed of optical rays arc differ-
ent for different modes. The refractive index profile is so designed that the propagation lime is
almost the same for different modes.

Another solution to tie problem of modal dispersion is to reduce the core diameter to such an
extent that only a single mode of propagation is possible. Such a fiber is called the monomode
fiber. With the introduction of this type of fiber it has been possible to virtually eliminate modal
dispersion. The fiber bandwidth, therefore, is much greater now a days.

(ii) Material dispersion:

The refraction index of a optical material varies with the wavelength of operation. The variation
pattern is shown below:

It can be seen from the above figure that the refractive index decreases with the increasing
lengths. Practical optical sources have a non-zero spectral width. So, there is a difference in re -
fractive index and, consequently, speeds of light rays are different for this non-zero spectral
width. This results in broadening or dispersion of optical signals. The LED source has a much
larger spectral line width and thereby material dispersion is much higher. Later on LASER diode
sources have been developed with much less spectral line width and higher optical output
power. Thus it has been possible to reduce the material dispersion to a great extent. The unit of
material dispersion is ps/nm/km (Pico seconds per manometer of source spectral line width per
kilometer of fiber)

 RESULTANT BANDWIDTH
 31

Dispersion is the major factor which limits the bandwidth of a fiber, Overall or total dispersion
may he obtained from the following relationship:

(Total dispersion)2 = (Modal dispersion) 2 + (material dispersion)2

The bandwidth of system may be calculated from the following empirical relation:

BW= l80/T GHz km

Where T is total dispersion expressed in ps/km.

[Link] RGPV QUESTION YEAR MARKS

Q.1 Write a short note on different loss Dec 2013 7
mechanism in an optical fibre
Q.2 Discuss the attenuation and Dec 2013 4
dispersion in optical fibre.
Q.3

UNIT 5/LECTURE 9

Calculation of dispersion

Consider a ray of light OA be incident at an angle θi on the entrance aperture of the fibre. The
ray is refracted into the core along AB an angle θr with the axis of the core. Now the ray strikes
at the upper core cladding at B. After this the ray is totally internally reflected back inside the
core. Further it strikes at point C of lower cladding and after reflection it again strikes the upper
interface at D. let t be the time taken by the light ray to cover the distance B to C and then from
C to D with velocity v.
 32

Then
BC + CD
t= … … … … … … … .(1)
v

If n1 be the refractive index of core and c is the speed of light in vacuum , then

c
v= … … … … … … … … … ..(2)
n1

From fig.

BG GD
BC= ∧CD=
cos θ r cos θr

BG +GD l
BC +CD= = … … … … … … … …(3)
cos θr cos θr

Substituting the values from eq (2) and (3) in eq (1), we get

l
∗n
cos θr 1 n l
t= = 1 … … … … … …( 4)
c c cos θr

 As the ray in the fibre propagates by a series of total internal reflections ar the interface, the
time taken by the ray I traversing an axial length l of the fibre will be
 33

n1 l
τ= … … … … … … …..(5)
c cos θ r

Now, we consider that all the light rays lying between angle 0 and angleθc are present. The time
taken by rays making 0 angle with the fibre axis will be minimum. This is given by putting θr =0
in eq. (5), i.e.,

The minimum time is given by

n1 l
τ min= … … … … … … … … … … … … (6)
c

The maximum time rate is given by

n1 l
τ max=
c cos θc

n2
θc =
n1

( n¿¿ 1)2 l
τ max= … … … … … … … … … ..(7) ¿
n2 c

The time interval △τ at the output is

(n¿ ¿1)2 l n1 l
△ τ=τ max −τ min = − ¿
n2 c c

△ τ=
c n1[ ]
n1 l n2
−1 =
n1 l
c
△ … … … … … ….(8)

Where

n1−n 2 n2
∆= =1−
n1 n1

We know that, the numerical aperture

NA =n1 √ 2 ∆

So , in terms of NA, delay difference △τ is given by

(NA)2 l
△ τ= … … … … … … … … … ..(9)
2 n1 c
 34

Expressions (8) and (9) are employed to estimate the maximum pulse broadening.

[Link] RGPV QUESTION YEAR MARKS

Q.1 What is meant by inter modal May 2014 7
dispersion? Derive an expression for the
time delay difference in the step index
fibre?

UNIT 5/LECTURE 10
 35

 The refractive indices of core and cladding materials of a step index fibre are 1.48 and 1.45, re-
spectively. Calculate: (i) numerical aperture, (ii) acceptance angle, and (iii) the critical angle at
the core-cladding interface and (iv) fractional refractive indices change .

Sol: Let the refractive index of core, n1 = 1.48

and the refractive index of cladding , n2 = 1.45

1. Numerical aperture (NA)

                

2. Let θ0 be the acceptance angle

3. n2 sin 90 = n1 sin θc [θc = critical angle]

4. The fractional refractive indices change,

Q2. Calculate the number of allowed modes in a multimode step index fiber, a = 100 mm, core
index of 1.468 and a cladding index of 1.447 at the wavelength of 850nm.
Solution:
2 πa 2 2 1/2 V
2
V= (n −n ) =91 . 44 , M ≈ =4181
λ 1 2 2

UNIT 5/LECTURE 11/ADDITIONAL TOPICS

 36

Optical Fiber Transmitter

Explanation

Optical transmitter is a device that generates the signal sent through optical fibers. The basic
elements of optical fiber transmitter are shown in above Fig:

Electronic Interface

There is wires standard electronic connection or pins energizing the transmitter. They provide
power Electronic I/P and Optical O/P signals.

Optical Interface

There are actually the connectors between the light source and fiber may have different forms.

Drive CKT

This depends on application, requirements, data format and the light source.

Electronic Processing

In some transmitters the I/P Electrical signals are electronically processed to put them into of
suitable from to drive the light source.

Optical Monitor

It Monitors the O/P of the LASER and provides feedback to the drive CKT so that the O/P power
remains stable.

Temperature Monitor

The characteristic of semi-conductor LASER changes in temperature. The life time of LASER
decreases with increase in operating temp and the O/P power also decrease which produce
some change in 0/p wave length of the light, to keep the operating temp stable the
Thermo-electric coolers are used in optical fiber transmitters these coolers control the temp of
LASER.

Attenuation
 37

The optical fiber transmitters should produce some standard level of power and this level
should not desired for the receivers, to handle the receiver I/P power, the attenuator is used in
the transmitter to reduce the O/P level of the transmitter to a safe value for the receivers.

External modulator

The external modulation means modulation of light source by on external device in order to
prevent spreading of wave-length range of light emitted by LASER.

Optical Fiber Receiver

This is a device that converts the optical signal received through the fiber into Electrical from for
the use of other devices as an I/P signals; the basic elements of optical receiver either analog or
digital are shown below.

Detector

The 1st stage of optical fiber receiver is a detector, which converts the received signal into an
Electrical from.

Amplification Stages

In the amplification stages there are 2, stage of amplifier are used which amplifies the
converted signal, for further processing.

De modulator or Decision CKT

It reproduces the original Electrical signal from modulated incoming signals.