ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks to

my Physics master Mr. P Chandiran for his
guidance and his support in completion of
this project.
I would also like to express my gratitude to
the Principal, the Vice-Principal and the
Administrative wonderful opportunity.
 SAINIK SCHOOL AMARAVATHINAGAR

This is to certify that cadet…………………… CBSE Roll

no:……………….. has satisfactorily completed the Project work
in Physics laid down in the regulations of CBSE for the
AISSCE Practical examination for class XII to be held in
Sainik School Amaravathinagar on

(P Chandiran) PGT for Physics

EXAMINERS:

1 :Name:…(Signature)
External
2.Name: …………P Chandiran(Signature) (Internal)

CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2.Applications of Optical Fibres
3.Structure of Optical Fibres
4. Principle of Operation
5. Types of Optical Fibres
6.Pros of Optical Fibres
7. Cons of Optical
Fibres 8Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION
An optical fibre (or fibre) is a glass or plastic fibre that carries light along its length.
Fibre optics is the overlap of applied science and engineering concerned with the
design and application of optical fibres. Optical fibres are widely used in fibre- optic
communications, which permits transmission over longer distances and at higher
bandwidths (data rates) than other forms of communications. Fibres are used
instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss, and they are
also immune to electromagnetic interference. Fibres are also used for illumination,
and are wrapped in bundles so they can be used to carry images, thus allowing
viewing in tight spaces. Specially designed fibres are used for a variety of other
applications, including sensors and fibre lasers.

Joining lengths of optical fibre is more complex than

joining electrical wire or cable. The ends of the fibres must
be carefully cleaved, and then spliced together either
mechanically or by fusing them together with an electric
arc. Special connectors are used to make removable
connections.
 APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIIBRES
Optical fibre communication
Optical fibre can be used as a medium for telecommunication and networking
because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is especially advantageous for
long-distance communications, because light propagates through the fibre with little
attenuation compared to electrical cables. This allows long distances to be spanned
with few repeaters. Additionally, the per-channel light signals propagating in the fibre
can be modulated at rates as high as 111 gigabits per second, although 10 or 40 Gb/s
is typical in deployed systems.

Each fibre can carry many independent channels, each using a

different wavelength of light (wavelength- division multiplexing
(WDM)). The net data rate (data rate without overhead bytes)
per fibre is the per-channel data rate reduced by the FEC
overhead, multiplied by the number of channels.
Fibre is also immune to electrical interference; there is no cross-talk between signals in different
cables and no pickup of environmental noise. Non-armoured fibre cables do not conduct electricity,
which makes fibre a good solution for protecting communications equipment located in high voltage
environments such as power generation facilities, or metal communication structures prone to
lightning strikes. They can also be used in environments where explosive fumes are present, without
danger of ignition.

Although fibres can be made out of transparent plastic, glass, or a combination of the
two, the fibres used in long- distance telecommunications applications are always
glass, because of the lower optical attenuation.

Copper Fiber
Electrical Noise susceptible unless Immune
Bonded- pair and/
or shield
Spark hazard Hazardous No spark hazard
Durablity lower, but can be High
improved with the
light jacketing
cost Lower higher
Both multi- mode and single-mode fibres are used in communications, with multi-mode fibre used mostly for
short distances, up to 550 m (600 yards), and single-mode fibre used for longer distance links. Because of the
tighter tolerances required to couple light into and between single-mode fibres (core diameter about 10
micrometres), single- mode transmitters, receivers, amplifiers and other components are generally more
expensive than multi-mode components.

Fibre optic sensors

Fibres have many uses in remote sensing. In some applications, the sensor is itself an optical
fibre. In other cases, fibre is used to connect a non-fibreoptic sensor to a measurement system.
Depending on the application, fibre may be used because of its small size, or the fact that no
electrical power is needed at the remote location, or because many sensors can be multiplexed
along the length of a fibre by using different wavelengths of light for each sensor, or by sensing the
time delay as light passes along the fibre through each sensor. Time delay can be determined
using a device such as an optical time-domain reflectometer.
 Extrinsic fibre optic sensors use an optical fibre cable, normally a multi- mode one, to transmit modulated
light from either a non-fibre optical sensor, or an electronic sensor connected to an optical transmitter. A
major benefit of extrinsic sensors is their ability to reach places which are otherwise inaccessible.

An example is the measurement of temperature inside aircraft jet engines by using a fibre to transmit radiation
into a radiation pyrometer located outside the engine. Extrinsic sensors can also be used in the same way to
measure the internal temperature of electrical transformers, where the extreme electromagnetic fields present
make other measurement techniques impossible.

Other uses of optical fibres

Optical fibre is also used in imaging optics. A coherent bundle of fibres is used,
sometimes along with lenses, for a long, thin imaging device called an endoscope,
which is used to view objects through a small hole. Medical endoscopes are used
for minimally invasive exploratory or surgical procedures (endoscopy). Industrial
endoscopes (see fiberscope or borescope) are used for inspecting anything hard to
reach, such as jet engine interiors.
 In spectroscopy, optical fibre bundles are used to transmit light from a spectrometer to a
substance which cannot be placed inside the spectrometer itself, in order to analyse its
composition. A spectrometer analyses substance by bouncing light off of and through them. By
using fibres, a spectrometer can be used to study objects that are too large to fit inside, or gasses,
or reactions which occur in pressure vessels

Fibres are widely used in illumination applications. They are used as light
guides in medical and other applications where bright light needs to be shone
on a target without a clear line-of-sight path. In some buildings, optical fibres
are used to route sunlight from the roof to other parts of the building. Optical
fibre illumination is also used for decorative applications, including signs, art,
and artificial Christmas trees. Swarovski boutiques use optical fibres to
illuminate their crystal showcases from many different angles while only
employing one light source.
 Structure of Optical Fibres
The three basic elements of a fibre optic cable are the core, the cladding and
the coating.

Core: This is the light transmission area of the fibre, either glass or plastic. The larger the
core, the more light that transmitted into the fibre

Cladding: The function of the cladding is to provide a lower refractive index at the core
interface in order to cause reflection within the core so that light waves are transmitted
through the fibre.

Coating: Coatings are usually

multi-layers of plastics applied to
preserve fibre strength, absorb shock and
provide extra fibre protection. These
buffer coatings are available from 250
microns to 900 microns.
 Principle of Operation
Total Internal Reflection
When light travelling in a dense medium hits a boundary at a steep angle (larger than
the "critical angle" for the boundary), the light will be completely reflected. This effect is
used in optical fibres to confine light in the core. Light travels along the fibre bouncing
back and forth off of the boundary. Because the light must strike the boundary with an
angle greater than the critical angle, only light that enters the fibre within a certain
range of angles can travel down the fibre without leaking out. This range of angles is
called the acceptance cone of the fibre. The size of this acceptance cone is a function
of the refractive index difference between the fibre's core and cladding.

In simpler terms, there is a maximum angle from the fibre axis at which light
may enter the fibre so that it will propagate, or travel, in the core of the fibre.
The sine of this maximum angle is the Numerical Aperture (NA) of the fibre.
Fibre with a larger NA requires less precision to splice and work with than fibre
with a smaller NA. Single-mode fibre has a small NA.
 Types of Optical Fibres

Single Mode Cable

Single Mode cable is a single stand (most applications use 2 fibres) of glass fibre with a
diameter of 8.3 to 10 microns that has one mode of transmission. Single Mode Fibre with a
relatively narrow diameter, through which only one mode will propagate typically 1310 or
1550nm. Carries higher bandwidth than multimode fibre, but requires a light source with a
narrow spectral width. Synonyms mono-mode optical fibre,

Single-mode fibre, single-mode optical waveguide, uni-mode fibre. Single Modem fibre is used
in many applications where data is sent at multi-frequency (WDM Wave-Division-Multiplexing)
so only one cable is needed - (single-mode on one single fibre) Single-mode fibre gives you a
higher transmission rate and up to 50 times more distance than multimode, but it also costs
more. Single- mode fibre has a much smaller core than multimode.
The small core and single light-wave virtually eliminate any distortion that could result from
overlapping light pulses, providing the least signal attenuation and the highest transmission
speeds of any fibre cable type. Single-mode optical fibre is an optical fibre in which only the
lowest order bound mode can propagate at the wavelength of interest typically 1300 to
1320nm.
 Multi-Mode Cable
Multi-Mode cable :- has a little bit bigger diameter, with a common diameter in the 50-to-100-micron
range for the light carry component (in the US the most common size is 62.5um). Most applications in which
Multi-mode fibre is used, 2 fibres are used (WDM is not normally used on multi-mode fibre). POF is a newer
plastic-based cable which promises performance similar to glass cable on very short runs, but at a lower cost.

Multimode fibre gives you high bandwidth at high speeds (10 to 100MBS -
Gigabit to 275m to 2km) over medium distances. Light waves are dispersed into
numerous paths, or modes, as they travel through the cable's core typically 850
or 1300nm. Typical multimode fibre core diameters are 50, 62.5, and 100
micrometres. However, in long cable runs (greater than 3000 feet [914.4
meters), multiple paths of light can cause signal distortion at the receiving end,
resulting in an unclear and incomplete data transmission so designers now call
for single mode fibre in new applications using Gigabit and beyond.
 Pros of Using Optical Fibres

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

Longer Distance: In fibre 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, fibre has a very low rate of bit error (10 EXP-13), as a
result of fibre being so resistant to electromagnetic interference. Fibre optic transmission is virtually
noise free.

Low Security Risk: Data or signals are transmitted via light in fibre 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: Fibre optic cable has a very small diameter. For instance, the cable
diameter of a single OM3 multimode fibre is about 2mm, which is smaller than that of
coaxial copper cable. Small size saves more space in fibre optic transmission.

Cons of Using Optical Fibres

Fragility: Usually optical fibre 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 fibre optic cable. And if you bend them too much, they
will break. And fibre 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 fibre optic installation costs
are dropping by as much as 60% a year, installing fibre optic cabling is still relatively higher than copper cables.
Because copper cable installation does not need extra care like fibre cables. However, optical fibre is still
moving into the local loop, and through technologies such as FTTx (fibre to the home, premises, etc.) and
PONS (passive optical networks), enabling subscriber and end user broadband access.

CONCLUSION

Fibre optic transmission is widely used for data transmission and is

increasingly being used in place of metal wires because of its efficiency
and high transmission capacity. We have seen the fibre optic cables have
replaced traditional copper twisted-pair cable or coaxial cable. As the use
and demand for great bandwidth and fast speed, there is no doubt that
fibre optic transmission will bring more opportunities and be continuously
researched and expanded to cater for future demands