MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

LASERS
LASER is the short form of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. A laser is
a highly parallel coherent beam of light of very high intensity. Laser action is achieved by creating
population inversion which can be achieved by different means, such as optical pumping, electrical
discharge and solar energy. Laser light has four main properties: monochromaticity, coherence,
directionality, and high intensity.
Radiation interacts with matter under suitable conditions. The interaction leads to a transition of
the quantum system such as an atom or a molecule from one energy state to another. If the transition is
from a higher state to a lower one, the system gives out a part of its energy and if the transition is to a
higher state from a lower one, then it absorbs the incident energy.
There are three possible ways through which interaction of radiation and matter can takes place.

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Absorption of radiation is known as induced absorption. The emission of radiation can occur in two
ways namely the spontaneous emission, and the stimulated emission.

(1) Induced absorption:- C

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atom + photon → atom*

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Induced absorption is the absorption of an incident photon by a system as a result of which the
system is elevated from a lower energy state to a higher state, wherein the difference in energy of two
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states is precisely the energy of the photon.

(2) Spontaneous emission:-

atom* → atom + photon

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Spontaneous emission is the emission of a photon, when a system transits from a higher energy
state to a lower energy state without the aid of any external agency.

When an electron is excited it will go to the higher energy level E 2. Then the atom is said to be
in the excited state. But the electron will not remain in the excited level for a period more than 10-8
seconds. Immediately it will come back to the ground state by the emission of the energy what it has
absorbed during the excitation process. The emitted energy is in the form of electromagnetic radiation
whose frequency is given by
E2 – E1 = h 

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(3) Stimulated emission:-

C
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atom* + photon → atom + (photon + photon)

Stimulated emission is the emission of a photon by a system, under the influence of a passing
photon of just the right energy, due to which the system transits from a higher energy state to a lower
energy state. The photon thus emitted is called the stimulated photon and will have same phase, energy
and direction of movement as that of the passing photon called the stimulated photon.

When the electron in the excited level is supplied with an external photon having the same
energy as = E2 – E1, then the excited electron is stimulated to come back to the ground level even before
10-8 seconds. This is called stimulated emission. During this process, the external photon comes out with
the photon produced by the electron transition, both with same phase. That is these two photons are
coherent and intensity is more. Thus the supplied light is amplified. This is the basic principle followed
in the production of laser ray.

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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

Expression for Energy density in terms Einstein’s coefficients A and B

Einstein’s co-efficient give the probability associated with the absorption and emission processes.
Consider two energy states E1 and E2 of a system of atoms. Let N1 (number density of atoms in
the states 1) be number of atoms with energy E1, and N2 (number density of atoms in the states 2) be
number of atoms with energy E2 per unit volume of the system. Let U d be the energy incident / unit
volume of the system considering only those radiations whose frequencies lie in the range  &  + d.
Then, U represents the energy density of frequency .
(i) Case of Induced Absorption:-

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 Rate of absorption  N1 U= B12 N1 U. Where B12 is the constant of proportionality
called Einstein’s co-efficient of induced absorption.
(ii)Case of spontaneous emission:-
C
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U

In the case of spontaneous emission, an atom in the higher energy level E2 undergoes transition
to the lower energy level E1, voluntarily by emitting a photon. The rate of spontaneous emission (number
of spontaneous emissions per unit time, per unit volume) is proportional to only the number density in the
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higher energy state, i.e., N2

 Rate of spontaneous emission = A21 N2,
Where A21 is the constant of proportionality called Einstein’s co-efficient of spontaneous emission.
(iii) Case of stimulated emission:-

Since the system requires an external photon of appropriate frequency  = (E2 – E1)/h, to stimulate the
atom for the corresponding downward transition. The rate of stimulated emission (number of stimulated
emission per unit time per unit volume), is proportional to (a) the number density N 2, (b) the energy
density U.
 Rate of stimulated emission = B21 N2 U.
Where B21 is the constant of proportionality called the Einstein’s co-efficient of stimulated emission..
At thermal equilibrium,
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Rate of absorption = Rate of spontaneous emission + Rate of stimulated emission.

 B12 N1 U = A21 N2 + B21 N2 U
U (B12 N1 - B21 N2) = A21 N2
A21N 2
 U =
B12 N1  B21N 2 (1)

By rearranging the equation.

 
A21  1 
U =   (2)
B21  B12 N1 1

 B21 N 2 


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By Boltzmann’s factor we have,
 E2 E1  h h
N2     N1
e  kT 
e kT
  e kT
N1 N2
Therefore equation 2 becomes.
C
 
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 
U = A21  1  (3)
B21  B 
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h
 12 e kT 1

 B21 

According to Planck’s law, the equation for U is
U

 
8 h  3  1 
U = (4)
C 3  kT h 
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 e  1
Compare equation (3) and (4). We have
A21 8 h  3 B12
 &  1 or B12  B 21
B21 C3 B21
The probability of induced absorption is equal to probability of stimulated emission, i.e., B12  B 21 ,
A21 and B21 can be represented as A and B and equation (3) can be rewritten.
 At thermal equilibrium the equation for energy density is

 
A  1 
U =
B  h 

 e kT
1 


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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

Condition for LASER action:-

Population Inversion & Metastable state:-
Let N1 be the number of atoms in the ground state E1. Let N2 be the number of atoms in the excited state
E2. Under normal conditions the number of atoms in the ground state is always greater than the number
of atoms in the excited state.

The ratio between these two numbers is given by.

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E  E 
 

N2   2 1
e kT
N1 C

E E 
  2 1
Since E2 > E1, then e kT  1 i.e., N2 < N1 under ordinary condition or at thermal equilibrium.
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If by some means the number in the excited state is more than in the ground state. i.e., N 2 > N1 then it is
said that population inversion has taken place. This is one of the main criteria for the production of laser
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ray.
Population inversion is usually achieved when there is an intermediate energy level called
metastable state exists, where the electrons will remain for a longer time for about 10-3 sec to 10-2 sec.
This property helps in achieving the population inversion in the following way.
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Consider three energy levels E1, E2 & E3 of a quantum system which are such that E2 > E3 > E1.
Let E3 be a metastable state of the system. Let the atoms be excited from E1 to E2 state by supply of
appropriate energy from an external source.
Since E3 is a metastable state, those atoms which get into that state stay over a very long duration,
because of which the population of E3 state increases steadily. Under these conditions a stage will be
reached wherein the population of E3 state overtakes that of E1, which is known as population inversion.
Once the population of E3 exceeds that of E1, the stimulated emission outnumber the spontaneous
emissions, and soon stimulated photons, all identical in respect of phase, wavelength & direction, grow to
a very large number which buildup the laser light. Hence the condition for laser action is achieved by
means of population inversion.

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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

-: Requisites of a Laser system:-

The three requisites of a laser system are
(1) An excitation source for pumping action,
(2) An active medium which supports population inversion, and
(3) Laser cavity.
The excitation source provides the appropriate amount of energy for pumping the atoms to higher
energy levels. Optical pumping is used in Ruby Laser and electrical pumping is employed in He-Ne
laser.
A part of the input energy is absorbed by the active medium in which population inversion occurs at a
certain stage. After this stage the medium attains capability to issue laser light. The laser cavity provides
the feed back necessary to tap certain permissible part of laser energy from the active medium.

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-:LASER CAVITY:-

C
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Fig 1
A Laser device consists of an active medium bound between two mirrors (Fig.1). The mirrors reflect the
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photons to & fro through the active medium form a cavity inside which two types of waves exist; one
type comprises of waves moving to the right, and the other one to the left (Fig. 2 & 3).
The two waves interfere constructively if there is no phase difference between the two (Fig. 2). But, their
interference becomes destructive if the phase difference is π/2.
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(Fig.3).
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In order to arrange for constructive interference, the distance ‘L’ between the two mirrors should be such
that the cavity should support an integral number of half wavelengths.
i.e. L = m (λ /2) , where m is an integer > 0, and λ is the wavelength of the laser light inside the material
of the active medium.
In such case, a standing wave pattern is established within the cavity and the cavity is said to be resonant
at wavelengths, λ = 2 L /m.

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Dr. Pushpa N Department of Physics, SJCIT, Chickballapur Ph .,No: 9071949499

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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

Semiconductor Laser

Principle
A semiconductor laser works by using a forward-biased p-n junction to cause electrons and
holes to recombine and emit photons. This process, called stimulated emission, is amplified as
photons bounce between mirrors, creating a high-intensity, coherent laser beam. Electrical
energy is used to pump the junction, injecting carriers until a population inversion is achieved,
where more electrons are in an excited state than in the ground state.

Construction
 Gallium Arsenide laser is a semiconductor laser. The Gallium Arsenide laser diode is a

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single crystal of GaAs,
 The consists of heavily doped n and p section, n-section is formed by doping with
tellurium whereas the p-section, is obtained by doping with [Link] doping
concentration is very high and is of the order of 1017 to 10 19dopant atoms/cm3.
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 The overall size of the diode is very small and each of its sides is of the order of
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1 mm. The p-n junction layer has a width varying from 1µm to 100 µm depending upon
the diffusion and temperature conditions that exist at the time of fabrication.
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 A pair of parallel planes of the crystal are cleaved or polished at right angles to the p-n
layer .These planes play the role of reflecting mirrors. These planes provide sufficient
reflection to sustain the lasing action through feedback.
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Semiconductor laser

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Working

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C
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Energy level diagram of semiconductor laser
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 When a suitable forward bias voltage is applied initially the concentration of electrons
in the energy Levels at the bottom of the conduction band will still be lesser than that in
the energy levels at the top of the valence band, and the recombinations result in only
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spontaneous emissions.
 But, as the current is increased, a threshold for lasing will be attained beyond which the
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population gets inverted and an active region is formulated in the junction. The active
region will be very thin, and is of the order of 1 µm.
 At this stage, a photon released by a spontaneous emission may trigger stimulated
emissions over a large number of recombinations leading to the buildup of laser
radiation of high power. Thus the current flow in essence provides pumping in a
semiconductor. Energy gap of GaAs is 1.4 eV and wavelength is 8400Å.
Application
 Semiconductor lasers are the smallest and least expensive of all the lasers available. The
semiconductor lasers find important use in optical communications.

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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

Applications of Lasers

Barcode reader

A laser barcode scanner uses optics, electronics, and mechanics to read barcodes. A laser
barcode scanner’s main components are a laser diode, prism, photodiode, analog-to-digital
converter and decoder.

Laser Diode and Lens

The laser diode in a barcode scanner emits a beam of light, generally in the red spectrum, with a

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wavelength of around 650 nanometres. This beam passes through a lens that adjusts its width
and focus to form a scanning line which moves across the barcode to illuminate the bars and
spaces. The scanner’s lens ensures that the light reflects back at the right angle so that the
receiving photodiode can capture the reflected signal. The laser diode of a typical barcode
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scanner emits a beam with a power output ranging between 0.5 to 1 milliwatt (mW).
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Barcode reader

Rotating Mirror or Prism

After passing through the lens, the laser beam strikes a rotating mirror or a prism. These are
made of borosilicate or fused silica and may also have optical coatings to improve reflectivity
and wear. Industrial laser barcode scanners have gold or aluminium coatings. The rotating mirror
or prism directs the beam across the barcode in a sweeping motion.

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The rapid movement of the beam ensures the barcode is scanned multiple times in different
positions, improving the chance of a successful read even if the barcode is damaged, poorly
printed, or the ambient light is low. Some laser barcode scanners have diodes for lighting up the
barcode.

Photodiode

As the laser sweeps across the barcode, it hits the black bars and white spaces differently. The
black bars absorb most light, while the white spaces reflect it to the [Link] reaching the
photodiode, the reflected light passes through optical filters to block most ambient light,
ensuring only the barcode’s reflection is measured. The photodiode is usually made from silicon,
which is sensitive to the laser’s wavelength. It converts the reflected light into electrical signals,

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with the strength of these signals changing based on the barcode’s dark and light areas.

The scanner uses a system of beam-splitting optics or polarising filters to prevent interference
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between the emitted laser and the reflected light. Once the analogue signal is generated, it must
be converted into digital form for processing. This conversion is performed by the analogue-to-
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digital (A/D) converter
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Laser printers
Laser printer acts as photocopier machine that uses laser light and toner to print a document. In
laser printer, selenium coated drum uses that allows to print document with using of electrical
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charges.
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This printer provides print with the combination of electrical charges and toner, and after
completing the printing the extra toner and electrical charges are discard from page.
Principle
Laser printer fires the beams your print on the metal cylinder, it has name the ‘Drum’. With the
help of static electricity, drum gets to attract with powdered toner from its cartridge. The drum
gets to spin the toner on the paper as a format of your sending print commands. Then, toner gets
to start melt on the paper by heat from fuser that passed underneath. Finally, laser printer gets
out your printout

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Dr. Pushpa N Department of Physics, SJCIT, Chickballapur Ph .,No: 9071949499

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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

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C
Block diagram of Laser Printer
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Printing includes following steps
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 Image Processing: When you fire the print instruction on the specific document or
picture, then computer system immediately transfers the all data to internal memory of
laser printer. In this memory, output data saved and gets to prepare for processing
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phases.
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 Charging: Here, laser printer gets to start warm up, and corona wire is getting to heat up
and gets to ready mode for sending its all positive static charge to metal cylinder drum.

 Writing: At the same time, laser diode fires a laser to spin mirror that move to draw the
image on to drum. Entire image of what you asked for it to print will appear on the drum
as it turns.

 Conditioning: Electrostatic negative charge get supply on the surface of the drum, and it
helps to discard the last latent image from the photosensitive drum, and then gets to
condition the drum for fresh latent image.

 Exposing: While rotating of drum, it grabs the positive charge throughout on its entire
surface. Few laser printers have all in one color models, it means having four drums
which catered to every color like as Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black. Now, laser printer
get activate, and beam reflects off rolling mirror unit that helps to direct beam on the
drum unit.
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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

 Developing: Toner cartridge gets to release positively charged carbon toner powered
particles across the surface of drum when it gets to turn. When toner is attracted with any
other areas of negative charge, then it leaves the positively charged areas of drum
without touching it.

 Transferring: Transfer belt gets to roll the paper with helping of printer, and it is
providing the positive charge. Then, tone that negatively charged that attracted with page
as a format of your print.

 Fusing: Hot roller gets to melt of toner on the surface of paper, it is known as fuser unit.

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Now you result is ready as a printout.

 Cleaning and Recharging: During the cleaning process, remnants of toner on the drum
scraped away by electrically neutral soft plastic blade into waste [Link], newly
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fresh cleaned drum obtains the new negative charge on it surface from charge roller, and
gets to prepare the photosensitive drum for the new print job.
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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

Optical Fibers
Structure:-

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Optical fibers are very thin glass fibers, which consists of the inner core and the outer
cladding as shown in figure. The refractive index of the two parts must be such that n1 > n2 so
that light travels through the core only. Both the core and the cladding are made up of glass
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which contains, 80 – 95% of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and few other dopents such as P2O5 , P2O3 ,
fluorine etc.
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Principle of working of Optical fibers: Total Internal Reflection

Light propagates in optical fibers

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according to the principle of total

internal reflection. When light travels
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from a denser to a rarer medium, it

bends away from the normal. Let a ray
AO be incident at O at the interface of
the two media with refractive indices.
n1and n2 making an angle of incidence
θ[Link] gets refracted along OA1 making an angle of refraction θ[Link] OB an incident ray which
makes an angle of incidence θc. It gets refracted along OB1 which makes an angle of refraction
900 with respect to the normal drawn at the point of incidence. The ray grazes along the interface
of two media. Let OC be an incident ray which makes an angle of incidence greater than θc., then
the light is completely reflected to the same medium along OC1. The entire incident energy is
returned along the reflected light. Hence it is called Total Internal Reflection.

From Snell’s law we have, n1 sin θi = n2 sin θr

For the rayAOA1
n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2 is obeyed.

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For the rayBOB1

θi = θc (critical angle) θr = 90º,
n1 sin θc = n2 sin 90º
sin θc = n2/n1
 θc = sin-1 (n2/n1)
Condition for Total Internal reflection:
1. The ray must travels from denser to rarer medium.
2. Angle of incidence must be greater than critical angle, θi  θc

Numerical aperture and Ray propagation in the fiber:

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Consider a light ray AO entering the fiber core with an angle 0 to the fiber axis. It gets
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refracted along OB at an angle 1 in the core and further proceeds to fall at critical angle of
incidence (equal to 90-1) at B on the interface between core and cladding. Since it is a critical
angle of incidence, the ray is refracted at 90º to normal i.e., it grazes along BC.
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Now it is clear from the figure that any ray that enters into the core at an angle of
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incidence less than 0 will have refractive angle less than 1 because of which its angle of
incidence (90 - 1) at the interface will become greater than the critical angle of incidence, and
thus undergoes total internal reflection. If the incident ray is greater than 0 at O, the angle of
incidence at B is less than the critical angle, because of which it will be refracted into the
cladding region and thus will be lost.

Now if OA is rotated around the fiber axis keeping 0 fixed, then it describes a conical
surface. Only those rays, which are funneled into the fiber within this cone, will only be totally
reflected and thus confined within the fiber for propagation. The rest of the incident light rays
emerge from the sides of the fiber.

The angle 0 is called the waveguide acceptance angle or the acceptance cone half angle,
and sin0 is called the numerical aperture (NA) of the fiber. The numerical aperture represents
the light gathering capability of the optical fiber.

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Let n0, n1 and n2 be refractive indices of surrounding medium, core of the fiber and
cladding respectively.

Now for refraction at point ‘O’, using Snell’s law

n0 sin0 = n1sin1
sin0 = (n1 / n0) sin1
Then sin0 = (n1sin1) / n0 (1)
At the point ‘B’ on the interface, angle of incidence = 90 -1.
Applying Snell’s law

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n1 Sin (90 -1) = n2 Sin 90
n1 Sin (90 -1) = n2
n1 Cos1 = n2 C
Cos1 = n2 / n1 (2)
n1
From eqn (1) Sin 0 = sin  1
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n0
n1
1  Cos  
2
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= 1
n0
n1 n2
Sin 0 = 1  22
n0 n1
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n12  n 22
Therefore Sin 0 =
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n0
If the medium surrounding the fiber is air, then n0=1,
Sin 0 = n12  n22

N.A = Sin 0 = n12  n22

Condition for ray propagation
If i is the angle of incidence of an incident ray, then the ray will be able to propagate,
If i  0 or if, Sini  Sin0 or Sini  n12  n22
This is the condition for propagation, i.e., sini  N.A.

Numerical Aperture: It is the light gathering capacity of the optical fiber. It is given by
n12  n 22
Numerical aperture=NA=Sin 0 =
n0

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Angle of acceptance: The angle of incidence 0 of light on the core for which the angle of
incidence on the core-cladding interface will be critical angle is known as angle of acceptance.
It is also known as waveguide acceptance angle.
Fractional index change (  ):
The fractional index change  is the ratio of the refractive index difference between the core
and cladding to the refractive index of core of an optical fiber.
  = (n1 –n2) / n1
Relation between  and NA
 = (n1 –n2) / n1
 n1 –n2 = n1
N.A = n12  n22 , N. A. = n1  n2 n1  n2  = n1  n2  n1 

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Since n1  n2 , n1 + n2 = 2 n1

 N. A. = 2 n12 
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N.A. = n1 2 
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Increase in the value of  increases numerical aperture, and thus enhances the light gathering
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capacity of the fiber.

V – number :
The number of modes supported for propagation in the fiber is determined by a
parameter called V – number. If the surrounding medium is air then the V – number is given by
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d d
V= n12  n22 = (N.A)
 
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Where, d is the diameter of the core, n1 is the refractive index of the core, n2 is the refractive
index of the cladding.  is the wavelength of light propagating in the fiber.
If the fiber is surrounded by a medium of refractive index n0, then the expression is,
d n12  n22
V= ,
 n0
For V  1, the number of modes supported by the fiber is given by,
Number of modes  V2 /2

Types of Optical fibers:

The application of Maxwell’s equation shows that, out of the light that enters into the
core within the waveguide acceptance angle, only that light waves in terms of certain number of
modes will be sustained, for propagation in the fiber. The modes are represented as though they
are light rays in the figures. Thus single ray propagation is shown in single mode fiber and so
on.

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Dr. Pushpa N Department of Physics, SJCIT, Chickballapur Ph .,No: 9071949499

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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

In any optical fiber, the whole cladding material has a uniform refractive index value.
But for core material refractive index may either remain constant or subjected to variation in a
particular way. The curve which represents the variation of refractive index with respect to the
radial distance from the axis of the fiber is called the refractive index profile.
The optical fibers are classified under three categories. This classification is done
depending on the refractive index profile and the number of modes that the fiber can guide.
(a) Single mode fiber
(b) Step index multimode fiber, and
(c) Graded index multimode fiber.
(a) Single mode fiber :
A single mode fiber has a core material of uniform refractive index value. Similarly

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cladding also has a material of uniform refractive index but of lesser value. This results in a
sudden increase in the value of refractive index from cladding to core. Thus its refractive
index profile takes the shape of a step. The diameter value of the core is about 8 to 10 m
and external diameter of cladding is 60 to 70 m. Because of its narrow core, it can guide
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just a single mode as shown in figure. Hence it is called single mode fiber. Single mode
fibers are the most extensively used and they constitute 80% of all the fibers that are
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manufactured in the world today.
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(b) Step index multimode fiber :

The geometry of a step-index multimode fiber is as shown in figure. Its construction is
similar to that of a single mode fiber, but its core has much larger diameter to support
propagation of large number of modes as shown in the figure. Its refractive index profile is
similar to that of a single mode fiber but with a large plane region for the core. The step-index
multimode fiber can accept either a laser or Light Emitting Diode (LED) as source of signal. It
is least expensive of all.

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(c) Graded - index multimode fiber :
The geometry of the graded index (GRIN) multimode fiber is same as that of a step index
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multimode fiber. But core material refractive index value decreases in the radially outward
direction from the axis and becomes equal to that of the cladding at the interface. The refractive
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index of the cladding remains uniform. Its refractive index profile is as shown in fig. The laser
or LED can be the source of signal for the GRIN multimode fiber. It is the most expensive of
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all.
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Attenuation:
The loss of power suffered by the optical signal as it propagates through the fiber is
called attenuation or fiber loss. The three mechanisms through which attenuation takes place
are, (1) Absorption, (2) Scattering and (3) Radiation losses.

(1) Absorption:-
The loss of signal power occurs due to absorption of photons associated with the signal.
Photons are absorbed (a) by impurities in the silica glass of which fiber is made off and (b) by
intrinsic absorption by the glass material itself.

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The impurities present in fiber glass are iron, chromium, cobalt and copper. During
signal propagation when photons interact with these impurities, the electrons absorb the photons
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and get excited to higher energy level. Later these electrons give up their absorbed energy either
as heat energy or light energy, it is of no use. Hence it is a loss. The absorption in fiber occurs
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predominantly due to the presence of impurities. The other impurity which would cause
significant absorption loss is the OH (hydroxy) ion, which enters into the fiber constitution at the
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time of fiber fabrication.

The fiber itself as a material has a tendency to absorb light energy. The absorption that
takes place in the material assuming that there are no impurities and hence it is called intrinsic
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absorption which sets the lowest limit on absorption for a given material.
(2) Scattering Losses:-
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While the signal travels in the fiber, the photons may be scattered because of sharp
changes in refractive index values inside the glass over distances that are small compared to
wavelength of light. This type of scattering is same as Rayleigh scattering. Rayleigh scattering
occurs whenever a light wave travels through a medium having scattering objects whose
dimensions are smaller than a wavelength. The Rayleigh scattering is inversely proportional to
the 4th power of wavelength. Therefore light of smaller wavelengths are scattered very
efficiently. Due to Rayleigh scattering, the photon moves in random directions and in all
probabilities leaves the fiber and thus becomes a loss.

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Since the Rayleigh scattering has a characteristic -4 dependence, it increases

dramatically, with decreasing wavelength. Below 0.8 nm wavelength, the loss due to this effect
alone builds to a prohibitive value for long distance propagation. As the wavelength increases,
the scattering loss diminishes. This effect makes the use of light waves of longer wavelengths
attractive. The other types of scattering losses are due to the structural inhomogeneities and
defects created during fiber fabrication.

(3) Radiation Losses:-

Radiative losses occur due to bending of fiber. There are two types of bends, (a)

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Macroscopic & (b) Microscopic.
(a) Macroscopic bends :-
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This refers to bends having radii that are large compared to fiber diameter. Fiber can be
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bent with radii of curvature as small as 10 cm with negligible loss. Although the loss is
negligible for small bends, it increases exponentially until a certain critical radius of curvature.
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Any bend of radius less than this threshold makes the losses suddenly become extremely large
which indicates the absence of total internal reflection.

(b) Microscopic bends :-

These are repetitive small-scale fluctuations in the linearity of the fiber axis.
Microscopic bending occurs due to non-uniformities in the manufacturing of the fiber or by non-
uniform lateral pressures created during the cabling of the fiber. The micro bends couple light
between the various guided modes of fiber and some of them then leak through the fiber.
Extruding a compressible jacket over the fiber could minimize micro bending losses.

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Dr. Pushpa N Department of Physics, SJCIT, Chickballapur Ph .,No: 9071949499

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 MODULE – 2 PHOTONICS 1BPHYS102/202

Attenuation Coefficient:

When light travel in a medium, there will always be a loss in its intensity with distance
travelled. The loss of intensity with distance travelled. The loss of intensity is expressed in terms
of a quantity called attenuation coefficient denoted as α.

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α= log dB/km

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Where, L is the length of the optical fiber is expressed in terms of kilometer.
P in is the intial intensity of light launched into the fiber and Pout is the intensity of
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output received at the other end of the optical fiber.
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Power input (P in) and Power output (P out) are expressed in watt.

Fiber optic communication:

Block diagram of Point-to-point Communication:
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Optical fiber communication is the transmission of information by propagation of optical signal

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through optical fibers over the required distance, which involves deriving optical signal from
electrical signal at the transmitting end, and conversion of optical signal back to electrical signal
at the receiving end.

A simple point-to-point communication system using optical fibers is shown in figure.

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1. The voice is fed into the telephone, which gets converted into electrical signal.
2. The analog electrical signal is fed into a coder, which converts it into binary data.
3. The binary data comes out of the coder as electrical pulses.
4. These pulses are converted into optical signal by modulating the light emitted by an
optical source through an optical transmitter.
5. The optical signal is then fed into optical fiber, through which the signal propagates by
means of total internal reflection.
6. As the signal propagates it is subjected to attenuation and delay distortion. This is
compensated by an optical repeater which converts the distorted optical signal into
electrical signal. This electrical signal is sent back to the optical transmitter.
7. The optical signal is received by the photo detector, where it is transformed into pulses of

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electrical signals (binary data).
8. These pulses are fed into decoder which converts the sequence of binary data into analog
electrical signal.
9. This analog electrical signal gets converted into voice through telephone.
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Applications of optical fibers:

1. Sensing device: Optical fibers can be used as sensing devices where as they can sense
parameters like pressure, voltage or current.
2. Data Link: In data transfer systems we can make use of optical fibers where the
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information will be in a secured form.

3. Local Area networks: Optical fibers provide more efficient communication facilities in
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the local area networks.

Advantages of optical communication system:

1. Optical fibers can carry very large amounts of information in either digital or analog
form.
2. The materials used for making optical fibers are silicon dioxide and plastic, both of
which are easily available at low cost.
3. Because of the greater information carrying capacity by the fibers, the
cost/meter/channel for the fiber would be lesser than that for the metallic cable.
4. Because of their compactness, and lightweight, fibers are much easier to transport.
5. The optical fibers are totally protected from interference between different
communication channels, since no light can enter a fiber from its sides. Thus the purity
of the signals traveling inside the fiber remains unaffected because of which no cross talk
takes place.

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6. The signals generated from radio and telecommunications stations, or from some
electronic equipments, or sometimes radiation from lightning, or sparking, tend to cause
disturbance in the metallic cable but cannot do so for the fiber cable.
7. There is no energy radiation from a fiber. Hence the possibility of information tapping
by detecting the leaky radiation is ruled out.
8. Fiber communication system is easily compatible with the electronic [Link] the
signal is optical, no sparks are generated as it could be in the case of electrical signal.
Hence it leads to protection from corrosive and flammable environments.

Limitations of optical communications systems:

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1. Splicing (joining two fibers) is a skilful task, which if not done precisely, the signal loss
will be so much that it is virtually a break in the communication line. The optic
connectors that are used to connect (splicing) two fibers are highly expensive.
2. While system modification is made, or because of accidents, a fiber may suffer line
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break. Operations required re-establishing the connections are highly skilful and time
consuming.
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3. Though fibers could be bent to circles of few centimeters radius, they may break when
bent to still smaller curvatures. Also for small curvature bends, the loss becomes
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considerable.
4. Fibers undergo expansion and contraction with temperature that upset some critical
alignments, which lead to loss in signal power.
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Dr. Pushpa N Department of Physics, SJCIT, Chickballapur Ph .,No: 9071949499

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