Module - 6
Introduction to optical fiber communication
Light propagation through fibers
Acceptance angle, numerical aperture
V-parameter, Types of fibers
Attenuation, dispersion, intermodal and intramodal
Application of fiber in medicine, endoscopy
Fibre Optics
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FIBER OPTICS
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light,
including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or
detect it.
God is great engineer – any image seen by human eyes connected to the brain by
optical nerves
1870 – British Physicist – John Tyndall
- showed to Royal society that light could be guided along a curved glass
stream.
1880 - Alexander Graham Bell : demonstrated - role of optical fiber
communication by transmitting speech in the form of light waves.
1960 – next era – development of an optical fiber started with the use of optical
fiber as a wave guide for light.
Heavy transmission lossess restricted its further development.
1970 – An industry named “Corning glass works” fabricated low loss fibres.
Solid state laser diode was used to avoid losses.
Optical Fibre
• An optical fibre is a cylindrical wave guide made of transparent dielectric (glass or
clear plastic), which guides light waves along its length by total internal reflection
• Typical diameter of optical fibre is 9 μm to 62.5 μm
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Total Internal Reflection
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Total internal reflection – principle of optical fiber
•The refracted ray bends away from the
normal as the light travels from denser
to the rarer medium.
•As the angle of incidence increases,
the angle of refraction also increases.
•At a particular angle ic no light
penetrates into the second medium.
The angle at which the ‘r’ equals 90o is
called critical incident angle.
•Increasing further the angle of
incidence ‘i’ so that i > ic , all light is
reflected back to the same medium.
This phenomenon is said to be
Total Internal Reflection (TIR).
Propagation of light wave inside a fiber •Principle of TIR enables to keep the
optic cable light inside the fiber
•It has in general three co-axial
regions.
•The inner most region is the light
guided region, known as core.
Construction of optical fiber •It is surrounded by another co-
axial region known as cladding.
•The outer most layer is known as
sheath or jacket or buffer.
•Core : R.I be n1. Made from
silica or doped silica.
•Cladding : R.I be n2. slightly less
than n1. Made from silica or
polymer with one or more layer.
Cladding reduces the scattering
loss at the core surfaces.
Cross-sectional view of the fiber optic cable
•Buffer : It encapsulates the fiber
Core Cladding For mechanical strength and
1. Doped silica Silica flexibility. Protection of the fiber.
Made of elastic plastic material.
2. Silica Polymer
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Modes of Propagation
Higher Order Modes: The modes that propagate at angles close to the critical angle øc. In this, fields are
distributed more towards the edge of the wave-guide and tend to send light energy into the cladding
Lower Order Modes: The modes that propagate at angles larger than the critical angle øc. In this, fields
are concentrated near the centre of the fibre 10
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Single Mode Fibre (SMF)
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Multi Mode Fibre (MMF) – Step Index Fibre
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Multi Mode Fibre (MMF) – Graded Index Fibre
Here the light rays travel with different velocity in different paths because of their
variation in their refractive indices. At the outer edge it travels faster than near the
center. But almost all the rays reach the exit at the same time due to helical path.
Thus, there is no dispersion.
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Types of optical fiber
Comparison of single mode and multimode fibers.
Single mode fiber Multimode fiber
1. These fibers support only one mode of These fibers support the propagation by many
propagation. modes.
2. Traveling signal inside the fiber has only The different modes have different group
one group velocity. velocities and each mode will follow its
own path between the transmitter and
receiver.
3. The amount of dispersion introduced is
less than that introduced as compare to The intermodal dispersion exists due to different
the multimode fiber. group velocities of various modes.
4. These fibers have step index profile.
( but rare grade index profile). These fibers can also have either step index or
graded index profile.
5. These are very high quality fibers for
wide band transmission and are These are fabricated using multicomponent
fabricated from doped silica for reducing glass or doped silica.
the attenuation.
6. Light has to be launched in these fibers Light can be launched in these fibers using
only using laser diodes LED sources.
Note : Mode is the path taken by the light rays while entering into the fiber.
Types of Losses in Optical Fiber
Fiber loss, also called fiber optic attenuation or attenuation loss, refers to the loss of signal between
input and output.
Losses can be introduced by various means such as intrinsic material absorption, scattering,
bending, connector loss and more.
Losses can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic types depending on whether the loss is caused
by intrinsic fiber characteristics or operating conditions.
Intrinsic Optical Fiber Losses consist of absorption loss, dispersion loss and scattering loss
caused by the structural defects or quality of the optical fiber core itself.
Extrinsic Optical Fiber Losses originate from splicing loss, connector loss, and bending loss.
Signal loss between the transmitter and receiver can be caused intrinsically, in the fiber core itself by scattering,
absorption and dispersion or extrinsically at the connector and splice points.
Attenuation is the reduction in power of the light signal as it is transmitted.
Dispersion:
Dispersion is the spreading of light pulse as it travels along the length of the
optical fibre.
It limits the information carrying capacity of the fiber.
1. Intermodal: happens in multimode step index fiber.
Can be avoided using graded index fiber
2. Intramodal – happens in single mode step index fiber.
The dispersion arises within the mode of the pulse.
a) Material dispersion
b) Waveguide dispersion.
Its only single mode step index fiber does not suffer from intermodal dispersion, but however suffers from
chromatic dispersion
Intrinsic losses
Intrinsic fiber loss, or cable attenuation is a measure of the optical power of the fiber itself due to light
absorption of the fiber material, scattering and dispersion. It is measured in decibels (dB) per kilometer
with the relation:
A(dB)=10 log(Pin/Pout)
where Pin and Pout refer to the optical power going into and coming out of the fiber. Intrinsic losses in the
fiber itself are relatively small. Modern optical fibers are designed to have low intrinsic losses to ensure
efficient signal transmission over long distances.
Material Absorption
As light in traditional optical fibers is guided via a solid material, there are losses due to absorption as
light propagates through the fiber. The most common fibers are manufactured using fused silica and
are optimized for transmission from 1300 nm to 1550 nm. At wavelengths >2000 nm, multi-phonon
interactions in fused silica cause significant absorption.
Alternative fluoride glasses such as ZrF4 and InF3 are used in manufacturing Mid-IR optical fibers
primarily because they exhibit lower loss at longer wavelengths.
Contaminants in the fiber, like water molecules, contribute to absorption loss. Water molecules
trapped in the glass of the optical fiber can absorb light around 1300 nm and 2.94 µm. This attenuation is
undesirable as it affects telecom signals and lasers operating in the same region.
Silica naturally contains hydroxyl ions (OH-) that absorb light in the NIR-IR spectrum. To improve
transmission at telecom wavelengths, fibers with low-OH content are preferred. On the other hand, fibers
with high-OH content are useful for applications like fluorescence or UV-VIS spectroscopy, where
increased transmission at UV wavelengths is beneficial.
Scattering
Scattering is the process by which some or all of the optical power is transferred into another mode.
It occurs when light encounters a change in the refractive index of the medium. This can be
caused by irregularities in refractive index of the fiber, impurities, particulates, or bubbles; or
intrinsic, caused by fluctuations in the glass density, fiber axis direction composition, geometry or
phase state. There are two main types:
•Rayleigh scattering: Rayleigh scattering contributes to up to ≈ 90% of total light attenuation in
optical fibers. It is a form of elastic scattering that occurs when light interacts with particles
that are much smaller than the wavelength of the incident light, such as random
inhomogeneities in the glass lattice. Thus rayleigh scattering is inversely proportional to the
wavelength of light and becomes significant at shorter wavelengths comparable to size of the
structures in the glass.
•Mie scattering: Mie scattering is a type of scattering that occurs when light interacts with particles
that are comparable in size to the wavelength of the incident light, such as inhomogeneities in the
fiber core or cladding or external contaminants.
Dispersion
Dispersion refers to the distortion or spreading of an optical signal as it propagates along the
fiber length. Dispersion limits the bit rate or bandwidth from point to point within a fiber optic system
and is therefore considered as a type of indirect loss mechanism. There are three main
types: chromatic, modal and polarization mode dispersion. The total dispersion in SM fibers
comprises contributions from the chromatic and polarization dispersion whilst in MM fibers there is also
the additional modal dispersion.
Chromatic Dispersion: This occurs because different spectral components of the optical signal in the
optical fiber travel at different speeds. In Figure, different wavelengths are represented by the red , green
and blue line
Modal Dispersion: Modal dispersion is a distortion mechanism occurring in multimode fibers
because of different propagation velocity for all modes. Since multi-mode fibers allow multiple
pathways (or modes) for light to travel along the fiber, those with a longer pathlength arrive later at the
end of the fiber than those shorter pathlength 'modes'.
Depending on the AOI, some of these light rays will travel straight through the center of the fiber (axial
mode) while others will repeatedly bounce off the cladding/core boundary by the process of total internal
reflection, as illustrated in Figure. Whenever there is refraction at the core-cladding boundary, modal
dispersion (or intermodal dispersion) occurs. The longer the path is, the higher the model dispersion
Polarization mode dispersion (PMD): PMD refers to the spreading of an optical pulse as it travels through
an optical fiber due to the different propagation speeds of the two orthogonal polarization states that travel
along the fast axis and slow axis.
PMD arises due to the asymmetry in the fiber's core, stress-induced birefringence, or other
imperfections in the fiber structure.
As the polarization modes disperse, they interfere with each other and create a pulse broadening effect,
which reduces the sharpness and clarity of the signal. In Figure , point “a” shows that both polarizations
are in phase, while at point “b” the polarization states experience a lag.
Extrinsic losses
Extrinsic losses are related with all the components in addition to the fiber optic cable. Extrinsic
losses occur at the interfaces between fiber components and can significantly affect the overall system
performance. Depending on the loss mechanism, these extrinsic losses are described as either insertion
loss or return loss.
Insertion loss, also referred to as connector losses, refers to the loss of optical power that occurs
when light is transmitted through a component, such as a connector, splice, coupler, or any
other device that introduces an additional optical path. It is given by:
Where insertion loss is typically in dB, Pout is the output
optical power, Pin is the input optical power
Return loss, also known as reflectance, is the loss of optical power that occurs when light is
reflected back towards the source at an optical component's interface. Return loss is typically
expressed as the magnitude of the reflected signal
Return loss can apply to all fiber optic components including couplers, splitters, splicers,
connectors and attenuators
Where return loss is typically in dB, P0 represents the
reflected optical power, and P1 represents the input optical
power.
This insertion and return losses are primarily caused by misalignment, reflection,
scattering, positioning errors, or absorption at the interface between the fiber and the
component:
Imperfect End Face Geometry
Connector Quality
Alignment Tolerance
Fiber Mismatch
Fiber Core Concentricity
Fiber Cladding Modes
Surface Contamination
Mechanical Stress
Wavelength and Polarity
Schematic diagram for pulse broadening due to intermodal
dispersion in the three types of fibres
Measuring intermodal dispersion
• The modes take different routes but travels with same velocity and hence
arrive at different time at the receiver end of the FO Cable.
• This ultimately causes the pulse widening and is called intermodal
dispersion or simply modal dispersion.
• For digital transmission : logic 1 – light pulse; logic 0 – no light pulse.
• Light pulse enters a fibre, each pulse breaks down to a set of small pulses carried
by a individual mode.
• At the fibre end, individual pulses recombine and overlaps resulting in a long
pulse.
Meridional and Skew beams
Beams propagating in a optical fibre are divided into two categories.
Meridional beams: During propagation they intersect the centre line of the fibre.
Skew beams: Propagate without intersecting the central axis. They are not
confined to a single plane but tend to follow a helical path along the fibre.
Meridional (longitudinal & cross section) Skew (longitudinal & cross section)
•Skew beams are more difficult to track.
•Constitute a major portion of the total number of guided rays.
•Their analysis is not necessary to obtain general picture of rays propagating in fibre.
•Sufficient to consider meridional rays for practical purposes.
Numerical Aperture and Acceptance Angle
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Acceptance angle is the maximum angle that a light ray can have relative to the axis of the fibre
and propagate down the fibre 36
Acceptance Cone:
• In three dimensions, the light rays contained with in the cone having a full angle
2θ0 are accepted and transmitted along the fibre.
• Light incident beyond this cone, refracts through the cladding and the
corresponding optical energy is lost.
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N.A. determines the light gathering ability
of the fibre
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Each mode has a definite value of V-number below which the mode is cut off
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Fibre Optics Communication System
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Critical Angle of Propagation
• Let two rays entre the fibre at two different angles of incidence θ and θ2
• The dotted ray incident at an angle θ2 undergo refraction at point A giving an angle θ1 with respect to the axis
of fibre. further this ray transmitted out of the fibre and does not propagate through fibre
• The solid ray with an angle of incidence θ1 undergo refraction at point A and propagates at an angle θc in the
fibre and makes an angle øc at point B (core-cladding boundary) and undergo total internal reflection
• Here θc is called as critical propagation angle
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From Δ ABC, and ,
Those rays which are refracted into the cable at angles < will propagate in the
optical fibre
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Endoscopy
• Endoscopy means looking inside and typically refers to looking inside
the body
• For medical reasons using an endoscope, an instrument used to
examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body.
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Endoscopy Cont..
An Endoscopy is a simple procedure which allows a doctor to look
inside human bodies using an instrument called an endoscope.
A cutting tool can be attached to the end of the endoscope, and the
apparatus can then be used to perform surgery.
This type of surgery is called Key hole surgery, and usually leaves
only a tiny scar externally.
• Unlike most other medical imaging devices, endoscopes are inserted
directly into the organ.
• Endoscope can also refer to using a borescope in technical situations
where direct line of-sight observation is not feasible
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Endoscopy Cont..
• Non-surgical endoscopes are marketed in hardware and building
supply stores under the name snake camera or inspection camera.
• Naturally these endoscopes are not as well made as surgical
endoscopes and relay inspection images that are lower quality.
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Flexible Endoscope • Endoscopy is a non-ionising
imaging technique used in
medical physics to examine
the interior of the human
body.
• The difference between
other imaging techniques
and endoscopy is that
endoscopy uses a device
called an endoscope, which
is inserted directly into the
human body.
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• Fiber optics is used in endoscopy. Optical fibers are flexible and
transparent fibers with a diameter just a little bigger than a human
hair. They are primarily used for transmitting light.
• In fiber optics, a core is usually surrounded by a transparent cladding
material with a lower index of refraction. The way light is transmitted
in fiber optics, which allows doctors to use endoscopes to see the
body’s interior, depends on the total internal reflection principle
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What are the applications of endoscopy?
• Endoscopy is currently used in a variety of applications in medical
physics. While endoscopy is mainly used in surgeries to allow
surgeons to visualize the interior of the human body while operating,
other uses include looking into the passageways of the human body
to determine any abnormalities.
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract)
The respiratory tract
Normally closed body cavities (through a small incision)
Nuclear reactor cores and jet engines etc..,
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