THEORY

Introduction

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to

another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber. The light forms an
electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over
electrical cabling when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic
interference are required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and
telemetry through local area networks, computer networks, or across long distances.

Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals,

Internet communication, and cable television signals. Researchers at Bell Labs have reached
internet speeds of over 100 peta bit ×kilometer per second using fiber-optic communication.
The process of communicating using fiber-optics involves the following basic steps:

1. Creating the optical signal involving the use of a transmitter, usually from an electrical
signal

2. Relaying the signal along the fiber, ensuring that the signal does not become too distorted
or weak

3. Receiving the optical signal

4. Converting it into an electrical signal

Historical Development

First developed in the 1970s, fiber-optics 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.

In 1880 Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter created a
very early precursor to fiber-optic communications, the Photophone, at Bell's
newly established Volta Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Bell considered it his most
important invention. The device allowed for the transmission of sound on a beam of light.
On June 3, 1880, Bell conducted the world's first wireless telephone transmission between
two buildings, some 213 meters apart. Due to its use of an atmospheric transmission
medium, the Photophone would not prove practical until advances in laser and optical fiber
technologies permitted the secure transport of light. The Photophone's first practical use came
in military communication systems many decades later.

In 1954 Harold Hopkins and Narinder Singh Kapany showed that rolled fiber glass allowed
light to be transmitted. Initially it was considered that the light can traverse in only straight
medium. Jun-ichi Nishizawa, a Japanese scientist at Tohoku University, proposed the
use of optical fibers for communications in 1963. Nishizawa invented the PIN diode and
the static induction transistor, both of which contributed to the development of optical fiber
communications.
In 1966 Charles K. Kao and George Hockham at STC Laboratories (STL) showed that
the losses of 1,000 dB/km in existing glass (compared to 5–10 dB/km in coaxial cable)
were due to contaminants which could potentially be removed.

Optical fiber was successfully developed in 1970 by Corning Glass Works, with
attenuation low enough for communication purposes (about 20 dB/km) and at the same
time GaAs semiconductor lasers were developed that were compact and therefore suitable
for transmitting light through fiber optic cables for long distances. In 1973, Optelecom, Inc.,
co-founded by the inventor of the laser, Gordon Gould, received a contract from APA for the
first optical communication systems. Developed for Army Missile Command in Huntsville,
Alabama, it was a laser on the ground and a spout of optical fiber played out by missile to
transmit a modulated signal over five kilometers.

After a period of research starting from 1975, the first commercial fiber-optic
communications system was developed which operated at a wavelength around 0.8 μm and
used GaAs semiconductor lasers. This first-generation system operated at a bit rate of 45
Mbit/s with repeater spacing of up to 10 km. Soon on 22 April 1977, General Telephone and
Electronics sent the first live telephone traffic through fiber optics at a 6 Mbit/s throughput in
Long Beach, California.

In October 1973, Corning Glass signed a development contract with CSELT and Pirelli
aimed to test fiber optics in an urban environment: in September 1977, the second cable in
this test series, named COS-2, was experimentally deployed in two lines (9 km) in Turin,
for the first time in a big city, at a speed of 140 Mbit/s.

The second generation of fiber-optic communication was developed for commercial use in
the early 1980s, operated at 1.3 μm and used InGaAsP semiconductor lasers. These early
systems were initially limited by multi mode fiber dispersion, and in 1981 the single-mode
fiber was revealed to greatly improve system performance, however practical connectors
capable of working with single mode fiber proved difficult to develop. Canadian service
provider SaskTel had completed construction of what was then the world's longest
commercial fiber optic network, which covered 3,268 km (2,031 mi) and linked 52
communities. By 1987, these systems were operating at bit rates of up to 1.7 Gb/s with
repeater spacing up to 50 km (31 mi). The first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical
fiber was TAT-8, based on Desurvire optimised laser amplification technology. It went into
operation in 1988.

Third-generation fiber-optic systems operated at 1.55 μm and had losses of about 0.2
dB/km. This development was spurred by the discovery of Indium gallium arsenide and the
development of the Indium Gallium Arsenide photodiode by Pearsall. Engineers overcame
earlier difficulties with pulse- spreading at that wavelength using conventional InGaAsP
semiconductor lasers. Scientists overcame this difficulty by using dispersion-shifted fibers
designed to have minimal dispersion at 1.55 μm or by limiting the laser spectrum to a single
longitudinal mode. These developments eventually allowed third-generation systems to
operate commercially at 2.5 Gbit/s with repeater spacing in excess of 100 km (62 mi).
The fourth generation of fiber-optic communication systems used optical amplification to
reduce the need for repeaters and wavelength-division multiplexing to increase data
capacity. These two improvements caused a revolution that resulted in the doubling of
system capacity every six months starting in 1992 until a bit rate of 10 Tb/s was reached by
2001. In 2006 a bit-rate of 14 Tbit/s was reached over a single 160 km (99 mi) line using
optical amplifiers.

The focus of development for the fifth generation of fiber-optic communications is on

extending the wavelength range over which a WDM system can operate. The
conventional wavelength window, known as the C band, covers the wavelength range
1.53–1.57 μm, and dry fiber has a low-loss window promising an extension of that
range to 1.30–1.65 μm. Other developments include the concept of "optical solutions",
pulses that preserve their shape by counteracting the effects of dispersion with the nonlinear
effects of the fiber by using pulses of a specific shape.

In the late 1990s through 2000, industry promoters, and research companies such as KMI, and
RHK predicted massive increases in demand for communications bandwidth due to
increased use of the Internet, and commercialization of various bandwidth-intensive
consumer services, such as video on demand. Internet protocol data traffic was
increasing exponentially, at a faster rate than integrated circuit complexity had
increased under Moore's Law. From the bust of the dot-com bubble through 2006,
however, the main trend in the industry has been consolidation of firms and off
shoring of manufacturing to reduce costs.

Advantages of Fiber Optic Transmission

Optical fibers have largely replaced copper wire communications in core networks in the
developed world, because of its advantages over electrical transmission. Here are the main
advantages of fiber optic transmission.

Extremely High Bandwidth: No other cable-based data transmission medium offers the
bandwidth that fiber does. The volume of data that fiber optic cables transmit per unit time is
far great than copper cables.

Longer Distance: in fiber optic transmission, optical cables are capable of providing low
power loss, which enables signals can be transmitted to a longer distance than copper cables.

Resistance to Electromagnetic Interference: in practical cable deployment, it’s inevitable

to meet environments like power substations, heating, ventilating and other
industrial sources of interference. However, fiber has a very low rate of bit error (10 EXP-
13), as a result of fiber being so resistant to electromagnetic interference. Fiber optic
transmission is virtually noise free.

Low Security Risk: the growth of the fiber optic communication market is mainly driven by
increasing awareness about data security concerns and use of the alternative raw material.
Data or signals are transmitted via light in fiber optic transmission. Therefore there is no way
to detect the data being transmitted by "listening in" to the electromagnetic energy
"leaking" through the cable, which ensures the absolute security of information.
 Small Size: fiber optic cable has a very small diameter. For instance, the cable diameter of a
single OM3 multimode fiber is about 2mm, which is smaller than that of coaxial copper
cable. Small size saves mere space in fiber optic transmission.

Light Weight: fiber optic cables are made of glass or plastic, and they are thinner than
copper cables. These make them lighter and easy to install.

Easy to Accommodate Increasing Bandwidth: with the use of fiber optic cable, new
equipment can be added to existing cable infrastructure. Because optical cable can provide
vastly expanded capacity over the originally laid cable and WDM (wavelength
division multiplexing) technology, including CWDM and DWDM, enables fiber cables the
ability to accommodate more bandwidth.

Disadvantages of Fiber Optic Transmission

Though fiber optic transmission brings lots of convenience, its disadvantages also
cannot be ignored.

Fragility: usually optical fiber cables are made of glass, which lends to they are more
fragile than electrical wires. In addition, glass can be affected by various chemicals including
hydrogen gas (a problem in underwater cables), making them need more cares when
deployed underground.

Difficult to Install: it’s not easy to splice fiber optic cable. And if you bend them too much,
they will break. And fiber cable is highly susceptible to becoming cut or damaged during
installation or construction activities. All these make it difficult to install.

Attenuation & Dispersion: as transmission distance getting longer, light will be attenuated
and dispersed, which requires extra optical components like EDFA to be added.

Cost is Higher Than Copper Cable: despite the fact that fiber optic installation costs are
dropping by as much as 60% a year, installing fiber optic cabling is still relatively
higher than copper cables. Because copper cable installation does not need extra care like
fiber cables. However, optical fiber is still moving into the local loop, and through
technologies such as FTTx (fiber to the home, premises, etc.) and PONs (passive optical
networks), enabling subscriber and end user broadband access.

Special Equipment Is Often Required: to ensure the quality of fiber optic transmission,
some special equipment is needed. For example, equipment such as OTDR (optical time-
domain reflectometry) is required and expensive, specialized optical test equipment such as
optical probes and power meter are needed at most fiber endpoints to properly provide
testing of optical fiber.

Applications of Optical Fiber Communications

Fiber optic cables find many uses in a wide variety of industries and applications. Some
uses of fiber optic cables include:
 Medical -Used as light guides, imaging tools and also as lasers for surgeries

Defense/Government-Used as hydrophones for seismic waves and SONAR , as wiring in

aircraft, submarines and other vehicles and also for field networking

Data Storage- Used for data transmission

Telecommunications- Fiber is laid and used for transmitting and receiving purposes

Networking- Used to connect users and servers in a variety of network settings and help
increase the speed and accuracy of data transmission

Industrial/Commercial- Used for imaging in hard to reach areas, as wiring where EMI is an
issue, as sensory devices to make temperature, pressure and other measurements, and as
wiring in automobiles and in industrial settings.

Broadcast/CATV-Broadcast/cable companies are using fiber optic cables for wiring CATV,
HDTV, internet, video on- demand and other applications. Fiber optic cables are used for
lighting and imaging and as sensors to measure and monitor a vast array of variables. Fiber
optic cables are also used in research and development and testing across all the above
mentioned industries

The optical fibers have many applications. Some of them are as follows

 Used in telephone systems

 Used in sub-marine cable networks

 Used in data link for computer networks, CATV Systems

 Used in CCTV surveillance cameras

 Used for connecting fire, police, and other emergency services.

 Used in hospitals, schools, and traffic management systems.

 They have many industrial uses and also used for in heavy duty constructions.

Block Diagram of Optical Fiber Communication System

Block Diagram of Optical Fiber Communication System

Message origin:

Generally message origin is from a transducer that converts a non-electrical message

into an electrical signal. Common examples include microphones for converting sound waves
into currents and video (TV) cameras for converting images into current. For data transfer
between computers, the message is already in electrical form.

Modulator:

The modulator has two main functions.

1) It converts the electrical message into proper format.

2) It impresses this signal onto the wave generated by the carrier source.

Two distinct categories of modulation are used i.e. analog modulation and digital modulation.

Carrier source:

Carrier source generates the wave on which the information is transmitted. This wave is
called the carrier. For fiber optic system, a laser diode (LD) or a light emitting diode (LED) is
used. They can be called as optic oscillators, they provide stable, single frequency waves with
sufficient power for long distance propagation.
Channel coupler:

Coupler feeds the power into information channel. For an atmospheric optic system, the
channel coupler is a lens used for collimating the light emitted by the source and directing this
light towards the receiver. The coupler must efficiently transfer the modulated light beam
from the source to the optic fiber. The channel coupler design is an important part of fiber
system because of possibility of high losses.

Information channel:

The information channel is the path between the transmitter and receiver. In fiber
optic communications, a glass or plastic fiber is the channel. Desirable characteristics of the
information channel include low attenuation and large light acceptance cone angle. Optical
amplifiers boost the power levels of weak signals. Amplifiers are needed in very long links to
provide sufficient power to the receiver. Repeaters can be used only for digital systems. They
convert weak and distorted optical signals to electrical ones and then regenerate the original
digital pulse trains for further transmission.

Another important property of the information channel is the propagation time of the
waves travelling along it. A signal propagating along a fiber normally contains a range of
fiber optic frequencies and divides its power along several ray paths. This results in a
distortion of the propagation signal. In a digital system, this distortion appears as a spreading
and deforming of the pulses. The spreading is so great that adjacent pulses begin to overlap
and become unrecognizable as separate bits of information.

Optical detector:

The information begin transmitted is detected by detector. In the fiber system the optic wave
is converted into an electric current by a photodetector. The current developed by the detector
is proportional to the power in the incident optic wave. Detector output current contains
the transmitted information. This detector output is then filtered to remove the constant bias
and then amplified. The important properties of photodetectors are small size, economy,
long life, low power consumption, high sensitivity to optic signals and fast response to
quick variations in the optic power. Signal processing includes filtering, amplification. Proper
filtering maximizes the ratio of signal to unwanted power. For a digital system decision
circuit is an additional block. The bit error rate (BER) should be very small for quality
communications.

Signal processing:

Signal processing includes filtering, amplification. Proper filtering maximizes the ratio of
signal to unwanted power. For a digital syst5em decision circuit is an additional block. The
bit error rate (BER) should be very small for quality communications.

Message output:

The electrical form of the message emerging from the signal processor is transformed into a
sound wave or visual image. Sometimes these signals are directly usable when computers or
other machines are connected through a fiber system.
Electromagnetic Spectrum

The radio waves and light are electromagnetic waves. The rate at which they alternate in
polarity is called their frequency (f) measured in hertz (Hz). The speed of electromagnetic
wave (c) in free space is approximately 3 x 108 m/sec. The distance travelled during each
cycle is called as wavelength (λ)

In fiber optics, it is more convenient to use the wavelength of light instead of the frequency
with light frequencies; wavelength is often stated in microns or nanometers.

1 micron (µ) = 1 Micrometre (1 x 10-6) ;1 nano (n) = 10-9 meter

Fiber optics uses visible and infrared light. Infrared light covers a fairly wide range of
wavelengths and is generally used for all fiber optic communications. Visible light is
normally used for very short range transmission using a plastic fiber

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Optical Fiber Waveguides

In free space light ravels as its maximum possible speed i.e. 3 x 108 m/s or 186 x 103
miles/sec. When light travels through a material it exhibits certain behavior explained by
laws of reflection, refraction. An optical wave guide is a structure that "guides" a light wave
by constraining it to travel along a certain desired path. If the transverse dimensions of the
guide are much larger than the wavelength of the guided light, that explain how the optical
waveguide works using geometrical optics and total internal reflection.
A wave guide traps light by surrounding a guiding region, called the core, made from a
material with index of refraction ncore, with a material called the cladding, made from a
material with index of refraction ncladding <ncore. Light entering is trapped as long as sinθ >
ncladding/ncore.

Light can be guided by planar or rectangular wave guides, or by optical fibers. An optical
fiber consists of three concentric elements, the core, the cladding and the outer coating,
often called the buffer. The core is usually made of glass or plastic. The core is the
light-carrying portion of the fiber. The cladding surrounds the core. The cladding is made
of a material with a slightly lower index of refraction than the core. This difference in the
indices causes total internal reflection to occur at the core-cladding boundary along the
length of the fiber. Light is transmitted down the fiber and does not escape through the
sides of the fiber.

Fiber Optic Core: the inner light-carrying member with a high index of refraction.

Cladding: the middle layer, which serves to confine the light to the core. It has a lower index
of refraction.

Buffer: The outer layer, which serves as a "shock absorber" to protect the core and cladding
from damage. The coating usually comprises one or more coats of a plastic material to protect
the fiber from the physical environment.

o
 Light injected into the fiber optic core and striking the core-to-cladding interface at an
angle greater than the critical angle is reflected back into the core. Since the angles of
incidence and reflection are equal, the light ray continues to zigzag down the length of the
fiber. The light is trapped within the core. Light striking the interface at less than the critical
angle passes into the cladding and is lost.

Fibers for which the refractive index of the core is a constant and the index changes abruptly
at the core-cladding interface are called step-index fibers.
Step-index fibers are available with core diameters of 100 mm to 1000 mm. They are well
suited to applications requiring high-power densities, such as delivering laser power for
medical and industrial applications.

Multimode step-index fibers trap light with many different entrance angles, each mode in a
step-index multimode fiber is associated with a different entrance angle. Each mode
therefore travels along a different path through the fiber. Different propagating modes have
different velocities. As an optical pulse travels down a multimode fiber, the pulse begins to
spread. Pulses that enter well separated from each other will eventually overlap each
other. This limits the distance over which the fiber can transport data. Multimode step-index
fibers are not well suited for data transport and communications.

In a multimode graded-index fiber the core has an index of refraction that decreases as the
radial distance from the center of the core increases. As a result, the light travels faster near
the edge of the core than near the center. Different modes therefore travel in curved paths
with nearly equal travel times. This greatly reduces the spreading of optical pulses.
A single mode fiber only allows light to propagate down its center and there are no longer
different velocities for different modes. A single mode fiber is much thinner than a
multimode fiber and can no longer be analyzed using geometrical optics. Typical core
diameters are between 5 mm and 10 mm.

When laser light is coupled into a fiber, the distribution of the light emerging from the other
end reveals if the fiber is a multimode or single mode fiber.

Optical fibers are used widely in the medical field for diagnoses and treatment. Optical fibers
can be bundled into flexible strands, which can be inserted into blood vessels, lungs and other
parts of the body. An Endoscope is a medical tool carrying two bundles of optic fibers inside
one long tube. One bundle directs light at the tissue being tested, while the other bundle
carries light reflected from the tissue, producing a detailed image. Endoscopes can be
designed to look at regions of the human body, such as the knees, or other joints in the
body

In a step-index fiber in the ray approximation, the ray propagating along the axis of the fiber
has the shortest route, while the ray incident at the critical angle has the longest route.
Determine the difference in travel time (in ns/km) for the modes defined by those two rays for
a fiber with n core = 1.5 and ncladding = 1.485.
 Solution:

If a ray propagating along the axis of the fiber travels a distance d, then a ray incident at the
critical angle θc travels a distance L = d/sinθc.

The respective travel times are td = dncore/c and tL = dncore/(sinθc c).

sinθc = ncladding/ncore.

θc = 81.9 deg.

For d = 1000 m , td = 5000 ns and tL =5050.51 ns.

The difference in travel time is therefore 50.51 ns/km.

Ray theory

The phenomenon of splitting of white light into its constituents is known as dispersion. The
concepts of reflection and refraction of light are based on a theory known as Ray theory or
geometric optics, where light waves are considered as waves and represented with simple
geometric lines or rays.

The basic laws of ray theory/geometric optics

 In a homogeneous medium, light rays are straight lines.

 Light may be absorbed or reflected.

 Reflected ray lies in the plane of incidence and angle of incidence will be equal to the
angle of reflection.

 At the boundary between two media of different refractive indices, the refracted ray will lie
in the plane of incidence. Snell’s Law will give the relationship between the angles of
incidence and refraction.

Reflection depends on the type of surface on which light is incident. An essential

condition for reflection to occur with glossy surfaces is that the angle made by the incident
ray of light with the normal at the point of contact should be equal to the angle of reflection
with that normal. The images produced from this reflection have different properties
according to the shape of the surface. For example, for a flat mirror, the image produced is
upright, has the same size as that of the object and is equally distanced from the surface of
the mirror as the real object. However, the properties of a parabolic mirror are different and
so on.
 Refraction is the bending of light in a particular medium due to the speed of light in that
medium. The speed of light in any medium can be given by

The refractive index for vacuum and air is 1.0 for water it is 1.3 and for glass refractive index
is 1.5. Here n is the refractive index of that medium. When a ray of light is incident at the
interface of two media with different refractive indices, it will bend either towards or
away from the normal depending on the refractive indices of the media. According to
Snell’s law, refraction can be represented as

= refractive index of first medium

= angle of incidence, n2= refractive index of second medium

= angle of refraction

For , is always greater than . Or to put it in different words, light moving from
a medium of high refractive index (glass) to a medium of lower refractive index (air) will
move away from the normal.

Total internal reflection

To consider the propagation of light within an optical fiber utilizing the ray theory
model it is necessary to take account of the refractive index of the dielectric medium. Optical
materials are characterized by their index of refraction, referred to as n. The refractive index
of a medium is defined as the ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to the velocity of light
in the medium.

When a beam of light passes from one material to another with a different index of refraction,
the beam is bent (or refracted) at the interface.
where nI and nR are the indices of refraction of the materials through which the beam is
refracted and I and R are the angles of incidence and refraction of the beam. If the angle of
incidence is greater than the critical angle for the interface (typically about 82° for optical
fibers), the light is reflected back into the incident medium without loss by a process known
as total internal reflection .

Figure Total Internal Reflection allows light to remain inside the core of the fiber

Refraction is described by Snell’s law:

A ray of light travels more slowly in an optically dense medium than in one that is less dense,
and the refractive index gives a measure of this effect. When a ray is incident on the interface
between two dielectrics of differing refractive indices (e.g. glass–air), refraction occurs, as
illustrated in Figure . It may be observed that the ray approaching the interface is propagating
in a dielectric of refractive index n and is at an angle φ to the normal at the surface of the
interface.

If the dielectric on the other side of the interface has a refractive index n which is less than n1,
then the refraction is such that the ray path in this lower index medium is at an angle to the
normal, where is greater than . The angles of incidence and refraction are related to
each other and to the refractive indices of the dielectrics by Snell’s law of refraction, which
states that:

It may also be observed in Figure that a small amount of light is reflected back into the
originating dielectric medium (partial internal reflection). As n is greater than n, the
angle of refraction is always greater than the angle of incidence. Thus when the angle of
refraction is 90° and the refracted ray emerges parallel to the interface between the dielectrics,
the angle of incidence must be less than 90°.
 Figure Light rays incident on a high to low refractive index

This is the limiting case of refraction and the angle of incidence is now known as the critical
angle φc, as shown in Figure. The value of the critical angle is given by

At angles of incidence greater than the critical angle the light is reflected back into the
originating dielectric medium (total internal reflection) with high efficiency (around 99.9%).
Hence, it may be observed in Figure that total internal reflection occurs at the inter- face
between two dielectrics of differing refractive indices when light is incident on the dielectric of
lower index from the dielectric of higher index, and the angle of incidence of the ray exceeds
the critical value. This is the mechanism by which light at a sufficiently shallow angle (less than
90° ) may be considered to propagate down an optical fiber with low loss.

Figure Transmission of a light ray in a perfect optical fiber

The above figure illustrates the transmission of a light ray in an optical fiber via a series of
total internal reflections at the interface of the silica core and the slightly lower refractive
index silica cladding. The ray has an angle of incidence φ at the interface which is greater
than the critical angle and is reflected at the same angle to the normal. The light ray shown in
Figure is known as a meridional ray as it passes through the axis of the fiber core. This type of
ray is the simplest to describe and is generally used when illustrating the fundamental
transmission properties of optical fibers.
 It must also be noted that the light transmission illustrated in Figure assumes a perfect
fiber, and that any discontinuities or imperfections at the core–cladding interface would
probably result in refraction rather than total internal reflection, with the subsequent loss of
the light ray into the cladding.

Critical Angle

When the angle of incidence is progressively increased, there will be progressive increase of
refractive angle. At some condition the refractive angle becomes 90o to the normal. When
this happens the refracted light ray travels along the interface. The angle of incidence at the
point at which the refractive angle becomes 90o is called the critical angle. The critical angle
is defined as the minimum angle of incidence at which the ray strikes the interface of two
media and causes an angle of refraction equal to 90o. Figure shows critical angle refraction.
When the angle of refraction is 90 degree to the normal the refracted ray is parallel to the
interface between the two media. Using Snell’s law

It is important to know about this property because reflection is also possible even if the
surfaces are not reflective. If the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle for a
given setting, the resulting type of reflection is called Total Internal Reflection, and it is
the basis of Optical Fiber Communication.

Acceptance angle

In an optical fiber, a light ray undergoes its first refraction at the air-core interface. The angle
at which this refraction occurs is crucial because this particular angle will dictate
whether the subsequent internal reflections will follow the principle of Total Internal
Reflection. This angle, at which the light ray first encounters the core of an optical fiber is
called Acceptance angle.
The objective is to have greater than the critical angle for this particular setting. As you
can notice, depends on the orientation of the refracted ray at the input of the optical
fiber. This in turn depends on , the acceptance angle. The acceptance angle can be calculated
with the help of the formula below.

Numerical Aperture

Numerical Aperture is a characteristic of any optical system. For example, photo-detector,

optical fiber, lenses etc. are all optical systems. Numerical aperture is the ability of the optical
system to collect the entire light incident on it, in one area. The blue cone is known as the
cone of acceptance. As you can see it is dependent on the Acceptance Angle of the optical
fiber. Light waves within the acceptance cone can be collected in a small area which can then
be sent into the optical fiber (Source).

Numerical aperture (NA), shown in above Figure, is the measure of maximum angle at which
light rays will enter and be conducted down the fiber. This is represented by the following
equation:
Skew rays: In a multimode optical fiber, a bound ray that travels in a helical path along the
fiber and thus (a) is not parallel to the fiber axis, (b) does not lie in a meridional plane,
and (c) does not intersect the fiber axis is known as a Skew Ray.

Figure, view (a), provides an angled view and view (b) provides a front view.

1. Skew rays are rays that travel through an optical fiber without passing through its axis.

2. A possible path of propagation of skew rays is shown in figure.

3. Skew rays are those rays which follow helical path but they are not confined to a single
plane. Skew rays are not confined to a particular plane so they cannot be tracked easily.
Analyzing the meridional rays is sufficient for the purpose of result, rather than skew rays,
because skew rays lead to greater power loss.

4. Skew rays propagate without passing through the center axis of the fiber. The acceptance
angle for skew rays is larger than the acceptance angle of meridional rays.

5. Skew rays are often used in the calculation of light acceptance in an optical fiber. The
addition of skew rays increases the amount of light capacity of a fiber. In large NA fibers, the
increase may be significant.

6. The addition of skew rays also increases the amount of loss in a fiber. Skew rays tend to
propagate near the edge of the fiber core. A large portion of the number of skew rays that are
trapped in the fiber core are considered to be leaky rays.

7. Leaky rays are predicted to be totally reflected at the core-cladding boundary. However,
these rays are partially refracted because of the curved nature of the fiber boundary. Mode
theory is also used to describe this type of leaky ray loss.
 Cylindrical fiber

1. Modes

When light is guided down a fiber (as microwaves are guided down a waveguide), phase
shifts occur at every reflective boundary. There is a finite discrete number of paths down the
optical fiber (known as modes) that produce constructive (in phase and therefore additive)
phase shifts that reinforce the transmission. Because each mode occurs at a different angle to
the fiber axis as the beam travels along the length, each one travels a different length through
the fiber from the input to the output. Only one mode, the zero-order mode, travels the length
of the fiber without reflections from the sidewalls. This is known as a single-mode fiber. The
actual number of modes that can be propagated in a given optical fiber is determined by the
wavelength of light and the diameter and index of refraction of the core of the fiber.

The exact solution of Maxwell’s equations for a cylindrical homogeneous core dielectric
waveguide* involves much algebra and yields a complex result. Although the presentation of
this mathematics is beyond the scope of this text, it is useful to consider the resulting modal
fields. In common with the planar guide TE (where Ez = 0) and TM (where Hz = 0) modes
are obtained within the dielectric cylinder. The cylindrical waveguide, however, is
bounded in two dimensions rather than one. Thus two integers, l and m, are necessary in
order to specify the modes, in contrast to the single integer (m) required for the planar guide.

For the cylindrical waveguide, therefore refer to TElm and TMlm modes. These modes
correspond to meridional rays traveling within the fiber. However, hybrid modes
where Ez and Hz are nonzero also occur within the cylindrical waveguide.

These modes, which result from skew ray propagation within the fiber, are designated
HElm and EHlm depending upon whether the components of H or E make the larger
contribution to the transverse (to the fiber axis) field. Thus an exact description of the modal
fields in a step index fiber proves somewhat complicated.

Fortunately, the analysis may be simplified when considering optical fibers for
communication purposes. These fibers satisfy the weakly guiding approximation where the
relative index difference Δ1. This corresponds to small grazing angles θ. In fact is usually
less than 0.03 (3%) for optical communications fibers. For weakly guiding structures with
dominant forward propagation, mode theory gives dominant transverse field components.
Hence approximate solutions for the full set of HE, EH, TE and TM modes may be given by
two linearly polarized components.

These linearly polarized (LP) modes are not exact modes of the fiber except for the
fundamental (lowest order) mode. However, as in weakly guiding fibers is very small, then
HE– EH mode pairs occur which have almost identical propagation constants. Such modes are
said to be degenerate. The superposition of these degenerating modes characterized by a
common propagation constant correspond to particular LP modes regardless of their HE, EH,
TE or TM field configurations. This linear combination of degenerate modes obtained from
the exact solution produces a useful simplification in the analysis of weakly guiding fibers.
The relationship between the traditional HE, EH, TE and TM mode designations and the
LPlm mode designations is shown in Table. The mode subscripts l and m are related to
the electric field intensity profile for a particular LP mode. There are in general 2l field
maxima around the circumference of the fiber core and m field maxima along a radius
vector. Furthermore, it may be observed from Table 1.1 that the notation for labeling the
HE and EH modes has changed from that specified for the exact solution in the cylindrical
waveguide mentioned previously.

2. Mode coupling

Thus, so far the propagation aspects of perfect dielectric waveguides were considered.
However, waveguide perturbations such as deviations of the fiber axis from straightness,
variations in the core diameter, irregularities at the core–cladding interface and refractive
index variations may change the propagation characteristics of the fiber. These will have the
effect of coupling energy traveling in one mode to another depending on the specific
perturbation. Ray theory aids the understanding of this phenomenon, as shown in Figure
which illustrates two types of perturbation. It may be observed that in both cases the ray no
longer maintains the same angle with the axis. In electromagnetic wave theory this
corresponds to a change in the propagating mode for the light. Thus individual modes do not
normally propagate throughout the length of the fiber without large energy transfers to
adjacent modes, even when the fiber is exceptionally good quality and is not strained or bent
by its surroundings. This mode conversion is known as mode coupling or mixing. It is usually
analyzed using coupled mode equations which can be obtained directly from Maxwell’s
equations.

Figure Ray theory illustrations showing two of the possible fiber perturbations which give
mode coupling: (a) irregularity at the core–cladding interface; (b) fiber bend
3. Step index fibers

The optical fiber considered in the preceding sections with a core of constant refractive index
n1 and a cladding of a slightly lower refractive index n2is known as step index fiber. This is
because the refractive index profile for this type of fiber makes a step change at the core–
cladding interface, as indicated in Figure which illustrates the two major types of step index
fiber.

Figure shows a multimode step index fiber with a core diameter of around 50µm or greater,
which is large enough to allow the propagation of many modes within the fiber core. This is
illustrated in Figure by the many different possible ray paths through the fiber. Figure shows a
single-mode or monomode step index fiber which allows the propagation of only one
transverse electromagnetic mode (typically HE11), and hence the core diameter must be of
the order of 2 to 10µm. The propagation of a single mode is illustrated in Figure as
corresponding to a single ray path only (usually shown as the axial ray) through the fiber. The
single-mode step index fiber has the distinct advantage of low intermodal dispersion
(broadening of transmitted light pulses), as only one mode is transmitted, whereas with
multimode step index fiber considerable dispersion may occur due to the differing group
velocities of the propagating modes. This in turn restricts the maximum bandwidth attainable
with multimode step index fibers, especially when com- pared with single-mode fibers.

The refractive index profile may be defined as

Figure Refractive index profile and ray transmission in step index a) multimode b) single
mode

However, for lower bandwidth applications multimode fibers have several advantages over
single- mode fibers. These are:

a) The use of spatially incoherent optical sources (e.g. most light-emitting diodes) which
cannot be efficiently coupled to single-mode fibers.
b) Larger numerical apertures, as well as core diameters, facilitating easier coupling to
optical sources

c) Lower tolerance requirements on fiber connectors

Multimode step index fibers allow the propagation of a finite number of guided modes along
the channel. The number of guided modes is dependent upon the physical parameters (i.e.
relative refractive index difference, core radius) of the fiber and the wavelengths of the
transmitted light which are included in the normalized frequency V for the fiber.

Mode propagation does not entirely cease below cutoff. Modes may propagate as unguided or
leaky modes which can travel considerable distances along the fiber. Nevertheless, it is the
guided modes which are of paramount importance in optical fiber communications as these
are confined to the fiber over its full length. The total number of guided modes or mode
volume Ms for a step index fiber is related to the V value for the fiber by the approximate
expression that allows an estimate of the number of guided modes propagating in a particular
multimode step index fiber.

4. Graded index fibers

Graded index fibers do not have a constant refractive index in the core* but a decreasing core
index n(r) with radial distance from a maximum value ofn1 at the axis to a constant value n2
beyond the core radius a in the cladding. This index variation may be represented as:

where is the relative refractive index difference and α is the profile parameter which gives
the characteristic refractive index profile of the fiber core. Equation which is a convenient
method of expressing the refractive index profile of the fiber core as a variation of α, allows
representation of the step index profile when α = ∞, a parabolic profile when α = 2 and a
triangular profile when α = 1. This range of refractive index profiles is illustrated in Figure.
The graded index profiles which at present produce the best results for multimode optical
propagation have a near parabolic refractive index profile core with ~~2. Fibers with such
core index profiles are well established and consequently when the term ‘graded index’ is used
without qualification it usually refers to a fiber with this profile.

Figure Refractive index profile and ray transmission in multimode graded index
Where, r = Radial distance from fiber axis, a = Core radius, n1= Refractive index of core, n2 =
Refractive index of cladding, α = Shape of index profile.

Profile parameter α determines the characteristic refractive index profile of fiber core. For this
reason in this section, consider the waveguiding properties of graded index fiber with a
parabolic refractive index profile core. A multimode graded index fiber with a parabolic index
profile core is illustrated in Figure. It may be observed that the meridional rays shown appear
to follow curved paths through the fiber core. Using the concepts of geometric optics, the
gradual decrease in refractive index from the center of the core creates many refractions
of the rays as they are effectively incident on a large number or high to low index
interfaces. This mechanism is illustrated in Figure where a ray is shown to be gradually
curved, with an ever- increasing angle of incidence, until the conditions for total internal
reflection are met, and the ray travels back towards the core axis, again being continuously
refracted.

Figure An expanded ray diagram showing refraction

Multimode graded index fibers exhibit far less intermodal dispersion than multimode step
index fibers due to their refractive index profile. Although many different modes are excited in
the graded index fiber, the different group velocities of the modes tend to be normalized by the
index grading. Again considering ray theory, the rays traveling close to the fiber axis have
shorter paths when compared with rays which travel.

However, the near axial rays are transmitted through a region of higher refractive
index and therefore travel with a lower velocity than the more extreme rays. This compensates
for the shorter path lengths and reduces dispersion in the fiber. A similar situation exists for
skew rays which follow longer helical paths, as illustrated in Figure. These travel for the most
part in the lower index region at greater speeds, thus giving the same mechanism of mode
transit time equalization. Hence, multi- mode graded index fibers with parabolic or near-
parabolic index profile cores have trans- mission bandwidths which may be orders of
magnitude greater than multimode step index fiber bandwidths.

Consequently, although they are not capable of the bandwidths attain- able with single- mode
fibers, such multimode graded index fibers have the advantage of large core diameters (greater
than 30 µm) coupled with bandwidths suitable for long- distance communication. The
parameters defined for step index fibers (i.e. NA, Δ, V ) may be applied to graded index
fibers and give a comparison between the two fiber types.
 However, it must be noted that for graded index fibers the situation is more complicated since
the numerical aperture is a function of the radial distance from the fiber axis. Graded index
fibers, therefore, accept less light than corresponding step index fibers with the same relative
refractive index difference.

Single-mode fiber

The advantage of the propagation of a single mode within an optical fiber is that the signal
dispersion caused by the delay differences between different modes in a multimode fiber may
be avoided. Multimode step index fibers do not lend themselves to the propagation of a single
mode due to the difficulties of maintaining single-mode operation within the fiber when
mode conversion (i.e. coupling) to other guided modes takes place at both input mismatches
and fiber imperfections. Hence, for the transmission of a single mode the fiber must be
designed to allow propagation of only one mode, while all other modes are attenuated by
leakage or absorption. Following the preceding discussion of multimode fibers, this may be
achieved through choice of a suitable normalized frequency for the fiber. For single-mode
operation, only the fundamental LP01 mode can exist. Hence the limit of single-mode
operation depends on the lower limit of guided propagation for the LP11 mode. The
cutoff normalized frequency for the LP11 mode in step index fibers occurs at Vc = 2.405. Thus
single-mode propagation of the LP01 mode in step index fibers is possible over the range:

As there is no cutoff for the fundamental mode. It must be noted that there are in fact two
modes with orthogonal polarization over this range, and the term single-mode applies to
propagation of light of a particular polarization. Also, it is apparent that the normalized
frequency for the fiber may be adjusted to within the range given in Equation by reduction of
the core radius.

1. Cutoff wavelength

It may be noted that single-mode operation only occurs above a theoretical cutoff wavelength
λc given by:

Where Vc- Cut off normalized frequency.

Dividing above equation by

Thus for step index fiber where Vc=2.405, the cut-off wavelength is given by

An effective cutoff wavelength has been defined by the ITU-T which is obtained from a 2 m
length of fiber containing a single 14 cm radius loop. This definition was produced because
the first higher order LP11 mode is strongly affected by fiber length and curvature near cutoff.
Recommended cutoff wavelength values for primary coated fiber range from 1.1 to 1.28 µm
for single-mode fiber designed for operation in the 1.3µm wavelength region in order to avoid
modal noise and dispersion problems. Moreover, practical transmission systems are generally
operated close to the effective cutoff wave- length in order to enhance the fundamental mode
confinement, but sufficiently distant from cutoff so that no power is transmitted in the second-
order LP11 mode.

2. Mode-field diameter and spot size

Many properties of the fundamental mode are determined by the radial extent of its
electromagnetic field including losses at launching and jointing, micro bend losses, waveguide
dispersion and the width of the radiation pattern. Therefore, the MFD is an important
parameter for characterizing single-mode fiber properties which takes into account the
wavelength-dependent field penetration into the fiber cladding. In this context it is a better
measure of the functional properties of single- mode fiber than the core diameter. For step
index and graded (near parabolic profile) single-mode fibers operating near the cutoff
wavelength λc, the field is well approximated by a Gaussian distribution. In this case the MFD
is generally taken as the distance between the opposite 1/e = 0.37 field amplitude points and
the power 1/e2 = 0.135 points in relation to the corresponding values on the fiber axis.
Another parameter which is directly related to the MFD of a single-mode fiber is the spot size
(or mode-field radius) ω0. Hence MFD = 2ω0, where ω0 is the nominal half width of the input
excitation.

The MFD can therefore be regarded as the single- mode analog of the fiber core diameter in
multimode fibers. However, for many refractive index profiles and at typical operating
wavelengths the MFD is slightly larger than the single-mode fiber core diameter. Often, for
real fibers and those with arbitrary refractive index profiles, the radial field distribution is not
strictly Gaussian and hence alternative techniques have been proposed. However, the problem
of defining the MFD and spot size for non-Gaussian field distributions is difficult one and at
least eight definitions exist.

3. Effective refractive index

The rate of change of phase of the fundamental LP01 mode propagating along a straight fiber
is determined by the phase propagation constant. It is directly related to the wavelength of the
LP01 mode λ01 by the factor 2π, since β gives the increase in phase angle per unit
length. Hence:
Morever, it is convenient to define an effective refractive index for single mode fiber,
sometimes referred to as a phase index or normalized phase change coefficient neff by the ratio
of the propagation constant of the fundamental mode to that of the vaccum propagation
constant.

Hence, the wavelength of the fundamental mode is smaller than the vaccum wave by the
factor 1/ neff ,where

It should be noted that the fundamental mode propagates in a medium with a refractive index
n(r) which is dependent on the distance r from the fiber axis. The effective refractive index can
therefore be considered as an average over the refractive index of this medium. Within a
normally clad fiber, not depressed-cladded fibers, at long wavelengths (i.e. small V values) the
MFD is large compared to the core diameter and hence the electric field extends far into the
cladding region. In this case the propagation constant β will be approximately equal to n2k
(i.e. the cladding wave number) and the effective index will be similar to the refractive
index of the cladding n2. Physically, most of the power is transmitted in the cladding
material. At short wavelengths, however, the field is concentrated in the core region and the
propagation constant β approximates to the maximum wave number nlk. Following this
discussion, and as indicated previously, then the propagation constant in single-mode fiber
varies over the interval n2k< β <n1k. Hence, the effective refractive index will vary over the
range n2<neff<n1.

4. Group delay and mode delay factor

The transit time or group delay τg for a light pulse propagating along a unit length of fiber is
the inverse of the group velocity, υg

The group index of a uniform plane wave propagating in a homogenous medium has been
identified as

However, for a single mode fiber, it is usual to define an effective group index by
Hence, where υg is considered to be the group velocity of the fundamental fiber mode. Hence,
the specific group delay of the fundamental fiber mode becomes: