Optical Communication is the most modern mode of wired communication.

Optical communication is also the youngest mode of communication. However its capabilities supersede all other modes of communication. Before optical communication the most of the communication was in radio and microwave domain which has frequency range orders of magnitude lower than the optical see Fig for the electromagnetic spectrum.

For good communication a system needs to have following things.

(1) ( )

Bandwidh (BW) Good signal to noise ratio (SNR) i.e. low loss !ince the bandwidth of a system is more or less proportional to the frequency of operation" use of higher frequency facilitates larger B#. $he B# at optical frequencies is e%pected to be & to ' orders of magnitude higher than that at the microwave f requencies (1(H) to 1**(H)).

Transmission media

lternati!e to the Optical Communication

$here are various wired and wireless media used for long and short distance communication. $heir broad characteristics are summari)ed in the following.

$he first two media have a very limited bandwidth. +icrowave lin,s and !atellite communication has comparable bandwidths as in principle their mode of operation is same but the spatial reach of satellite is far greater. Before Fiber optic communication became viable" satellite communication was the only choice for long distance communication.

Comparison of Satellite and Optical communication

Satellite !s "i#er Optics

Satellite

"i#er Optics

-oint to +ulti.point B# / (H) +aintenance free !hort life /0.1 2r 3o upgradeability +obile" air" sea

-oint to point B# / $H) 3eeds +aintenance 4ong life 5pgradeable On ground only

$he two modes of transmission have their own merits and limitations. $he two can infact play a complementary role. #e therefore conclude that Satellite and Optical communication will co$e%ist due their complementar& nature d!antages of Optical Communication 5ltra high bandwidth ($H)) 4ow loss (*. dB67m) 4ow 8+9 !ecurity of transmission 4ow manufacturing cost 4ow weight" low volume -oint to -oint :ommunication $he optical transmission medium is the best in a sense that it has ultra wide bandwidth and very low attenuation. $he attenuation history is given in the following Figure. 9nitially in early 1;0*s due to technology limitation" the optical fiber had a low loss window around 1**nm. <lso the semiconductor optical sources were made of (a<s which emitted light at 1**nm. =ue to compatibility of the medium properties and the sources" the optical communication started in '((nm #and so called the )"irst window* .

<s the glass purification technology improved" the true silica loss profile emerged in 1;1*s. $he loss profile shows two low loss windows" one around 1&**nm and other around 1>>*nm. 9n 1;1*s the optical communication shifted to+,((nm #and " so called the ? Second Window* . $his window is attractive as it can support the highest data rate due to lowest dispersion. 9n 1;;*s the communication was shifted to +--(nm window" so called )Third Window* due to invention of the 8rbium =oped Fiber <mplifier (8=F<). $he 8=F< can amplify light only in a narrow band around 1>>*nm. <lso this window has intrinsically lowest loss of about (.. dB/0m . $his band has higher dispersion" meaning lower bandwidth. However" this problem has been solved by use of so called ?dispersion shifted fibers@.

Both 1&**nm and 1>>*nm band have appro%imately 1**nm bandwidth each. $he frequency bandwidth is related to the

wavelength

bandwidth

as

#here

is the velocity of light in vacuum"

is the refractive inde% of the medium"

is the central wavelength of the

band" and

is the wavelength bandwidth (also called spectral width ). " and . For silica optical fibers . #e therefore get

For 1>>*nm window"

!o we have <ppro%imately.

!o " as a rule of thum# we can ta,e for optical communication"

Basics of 1ight
Characteristics of light 9ntensity (-ower per unit solid angle) #avelength (:olor) !pectral width ( purity of color) -olari)ation . 4inear . :ircular . 8lliptical $he characteristics of light are summari)ed in the following. $he first three parameters scalar characteristics of light wheras the last parameter" polari)ation" describes the vector nature of light. $he choice of wavelength depends upon the loss profile of the medium. For optical fiber the wavelength has to be 1&**nm or 1>>*nm for low loss. $he spectral width has direct bearing on the data rate which the medium can support. 4arger the spectral width" smaller is the data rate. < semiconductor laser typically has spectral width about * to 1** times less compared to 48=. :onsequently" laser based communication can support much higher data rates. -olari)ation in a intrinsic property of an electromagnetic wave.

Spherical and plane wa!e fronts

4ight is an 8lectromagnetic wave.

9t consists wave fronts. $he lines normal to the wave fronts are called the light rays. 9f the phase fronts are concentric spheres" the light is called a spherical wave" and if the phase fronts are parallel planes" the light is called a plane wave. For a plane waves the rays are parallel whereas for the spherical wave" the emerge from the center of the spheres. 9f the source is a a finite distance" the appropriate model is the spherical wave model" and if the source is assumed to be at infinite distance" the plane wave model is appropriate. < plane wave can be represented by a wave function which is a composite function of space and time Wa!e "unction

: : : : :

<mplitude of the wave <ngular frequency of the wave (rad6s) -hase constant (rad6m) =istance $ime

Snell*s 1aw
#hen light travels from one medium to other" it gets refracted. $he relation between the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction is given by the !nell@s law. $he !nell@s law is described in the following figure.

9f the angle of incidence"

is greater than the critical angle"

given by

where and are the refractive indices of the two media as shown in Fig." then the light is Total 2nternall& reflectedin medium 1. $here is no refracted ray in that case.

Basic "i#er Structure

<n optical fiber basically is a solid glass rod surrounded by concentric glass shell as shown in Fig

$he rod is called the core and is made of highly purified glass. +ost of the light energy in confined to the core. $he glass shell called cladding. $he cladding shields optical fields so as not to get interfered by the outer layers of the fiber. $he cladding is an essential part of an optical fiber. $he cladding is surrounded by the buffer layers. $hese layers have no role in propagation of light. $hey are essentially there to provide the mechanical support to the glass fiber and to protect the fiber from e%ternal damage.

3RO3 G T2ON O" 12G4T 2N N O3T2C 1 "2B5R (R 6 7O851) +.+ 1. . B S2CS Optical fiber is basically a solid glass rod. $he diameter of rod is so small that it loo,s li,e a fiber. Optical fiber is a dielectric waveguide. $he light travels li,e an electromagnetic wave inside the waveguide. $he dielectric waveguide is different from a metallic waveguide which is used at microwave and millimeter wave frequencies. 9n a metallic waveguide" there is a complete shielding of electromagnetic radiation but in an optical fiber the electromagnetic radiation is not Aust confined inside the fiber but also e%tends outside the fiber. '. >. $he light gets guided inside the structure" through the basic phenomenon of total internal reflection . $he optical fiber consists of two concentric cylindersB the inside solid cylinder is called the core and the surrounding shell is called the cladding . (!ee Fig 1)

&.

"igure+9 Schematic of an optical fi#er

C.

For the light to propagate inside the fiber through total internal reflections at core.cladding interface" the refractive inde% of the core must be greater than the refractive inde% of the cladding. $hat is .

1.2

!9+-48 D<2 +O=84

Figure

(optical fiber with core" cladding and total internally reflected ray)

For propagation of light inside the core there are two possibilities.

1.

< light ray is launched in a plane containing the a%is of the fiber. #e can then see the light ray after total internal reflection travels in the same plane i.e." the ray is confined to the plane in which it was launched and never leave the plane. 9n this situation the rays will always cross the a%is of the fiber. $hese are called the +eridional rays. (Fig. )

2.

$he other possibility is that the ray is not launched in a plane containing the a%is of the fiber. For e%ample if the ray is launched at some angle such that it does not intersect the a%is of the fiber" then after total internal reflection it will go to some other plane. #e can see that in this situation the ray will never intersect the a%is of the fiber. $he ray essentially will spiral around the a%is of fiber. $hese rays are called the !,ew rays. !o it can be concluded that if the light is to propagate inside an optical fiber it could be through two types of rays

a)

+eridional raysE $he rays which always pass through the a%is of fiber giving high optical intensity at the center of the core of the fiber. !,ew Days E $he rays which never intersect the a%is of the fiber" giving low optical intensity at the center and high intensity towards the rim of the fiber.

b)

1.3

-ropagation of +eridional Days

Figure (&)

1. 2.

4et us consider figure &. < ray is launched from outside (air) at an angle " from the a%is of the fiber. $he question is" under what conditions the ray is ultimately guided inside the core due to total internal reflections at the core cladding boundaryF 4et the ray ma,es an angle .cladding interface. 4et with the a%is of the fiber inside the core" and let the ray ma,e an angle with core

be the angle of refraction in the cladding.

9f G critical angle the ray is refracted in cladding. $he ray which goes to cladding is lost and is not useful for communication. $he ray which is confined to the core is useful for optical communication.

3. Since

3ow as we increase the launching angle

" the angle

also increases.

, decreases and at some point becomes less than the critical angle. When angle, equals equals the critical

. The maximum launching angle then corresponds to . 4. et us appl! Snell"s la# at the launching point and at the core$cladding inter%ace %or the maximum launching angle . &or this case let #e then ha'e and

(since

no#,

So the sine o% the maximum angle at #hich the ra! #ill be guided inside the %iber is gi'en b! square root o% the di%%erence o% squares o% the re%racti'e indices o% the core and cladding. The quantit! is called the NUMERICAL APERTUREo% an optical %iber. The )* is a measure o% the po#er launching e%%icientl! o% an optical %iber.
-. Numerical perture9 $his parameter tells us that if we ta,e an optical fiber and put it in front of an optical source then how

much light is collected by the fiber from the source. !maller the value of 3.<" smaller the value of (ma%imum launching an and smaller is the power accepted by the fiber. 9n other words" if the light is available from various directions from the source" onl portion of light is accepted by an optical fiber and the remaining part of the light is reAected by it. :.

9f we want good light launching efficiency then should be as large as possible. !ince is related to the difference of the squares of the refractive indices of the core and the cladding" the difference of squares of the refractive indices sho be as large as possible.

!o" for good launching efficiency" should be large compared to glass" the refractive inde% of the core is practically fi%ed to about 1.>.

. !ince the material for the optical fiber has been chosen

$he only choice therefore we have is to reduce the refractive inde% of the cladding for good launching efficiency. !ince (i.e." cladding) is the minimum possible value" it suggests that the cladding is an undesirable feature. 9n the first loo, it then appears that cladding is only for mechanical support. ;. 82S35RS2ON

1. $he amount of light accepted by an optical fiber is only one of the parameters in optical communication. < more important parameter is the data rate which the fiber can handle since the primary purpose here is to send information from one poin another.

Figure (')

. (a)

<s we see from the figure '" all the rays contained within the cone

are accepted by the optical fiber.

4et us ta,e two e%treme raysB one at the lowest possible angle (along the a%is of the fiber)" and one at the highest

(b)

possible angle (

). $a,e a length 4 along the fiber a%is traveled by the rays.

(c)

4et us now transmit a narrow pulse of light. $he light pulse indicates binary information. 9f there is a pulse then a bit is

present" otherwise the bit is absent. #hen the light is switched on" all the rays are switched on at the same time. $he pulse energy therefore divided between different rays which travel by different paths inside the fiber.

(d)

$he pulse along the a%is of the optical fiber ta,es less time to travel the distance 4" than the pulse which travels at the

e%treme angle

(e) <s shown in the figure '" the distance traveled by the e%treme ray is .

$he time difference between the a%ial ray and the e%treme ray then isE

where c is velocity of light. !ince the core material is glass"

" and since

" it can lie between 1 and 1.>.

he ratio to .

then lies between 1 and 1.> only. $he time difference

per unit length therefore is more or less proportional

per ,m $he time difference

) essentially is the measure of pulse broadening on the optical fiber.

$his phenomenon is called 82S35RS2ON of an optical fiber. $he dispersion (pulse broadening) has to be small since the data rate is inversely proportional to the pulse broadening. For high speed communication (high speed does not refer to the time ta,en by data to reach the destination but it refers to the number of bits per sec) the pulse broadening and hence the dispersion should be minimal.

f)

For low dispersion ( ) should be as small as possible. !o for an optical fiber the refractive inde% of core has to be made as close to the refractive inde% of cladding as possible.

,. Contradictor& Re<uirement9 (a) (#) For higher launching efficiency (higher 3<)" should be as large as possi#le .

For high data rate (bandwidth)" should be as small as possi#le . $he two are contradictory requirements. !ince data transfer rate is rather more important in communication" permits. is made as small as the fabrication technology

!o for all practical fibers" Defractive inde% of the cladding differs from that of the core by only *.1 to 1H. ,. 8ifferent t&pes of fi#ers9 +. ST53 2N85= "2B5R

Figure (>)E Step 2nde% "i#er (Defractive inde% profile) For this fiber the refractive inde% of the core is constant (see Fig >). !ince refractive inde% profile loo,s li,e a pulse or step" this ,ind of fiber is called the ST53 2N85= "2B5R. $his structure is useful for analy)ing propagation of light inside an optical fiber. (enerally it is not used in practice because data transfer rate in this fiber is the lowest. Iust as a small e%ercise we can as," what ,ind of pulse broadening occurs in a step inde% fiber if we do not use claddingF 4et !ince us and ta,e " 17m of the optical fiber.

Bandwidth !o if we ma,e a cladding.less optical fiber" its light launching efficiency is e%cellent but it has hardly any bandwidth. 8ven an electrical cable is better than the optical fiber. 2mportant Conclusion9 $he cladding is an essential part of an optical fiber. 9t does not Aust provide the mechanical support but increases the bandwidth of the fiber. #e can observe from the e%pression for pulse broadening that !ince B# " we get . ,eeping all other parameters constant.

2mportant9 #e can trade in the bandwidth for the length and vice versa. $hat is" we can send low bit rate signals over long distances and high bit rate signals only over short distances.

.. (a)

GR 858 2N85= "2B5R 9n a step inde% fiber since the refractive inde% is constant inside the core" the velocity of all the rays is constant and hence there is travel time difference between different rays. 9f we develop a system where the rays which travel longer distances travel with higher velocities and the rays which travel shorter distances travel with lower velocities" the pulse spread on the fiber can be reduced and consequently the bandwidth can be increased. $he ray which is at a higher angle" should speed up and the ray which is along the a%is of the fiber should travel with the slowest possible velocity. !ince velocity is inversely proportional to the refractive inde%" it can be manipulated by changing the refractive inde% of the core. $he refractive inde% of outer layers of the core should be smaller compared to that of the inner layers" so the rays that go in the outer layers" travel faster. !o we find that for reducing dispersion" the refractive inde% at the center should be ma%imum and it should gradually decrease from the center to the core.cladding interface. $he rays that go at higher angles speed up and the dispersion gets reduced.

(#)

9n this fiber we grade the refractive inde% profile of the core and consequently it is called the graded inde% fi#er. < graded inde% fiber and the ray propagation is shown in the figure CE

Figure (C)E ((raded 9nde% -rofile) (c) 9f we taper the profile optimally" we get the dispersion reduction compared to that for a step inde% fiber" even by a factor of thousand. $he data rate of a typical graded inde% fiber is typically 1* to 1** times higher compared to a step inde% fiber. $herefore" in practice" even for 4<3s" we use (9F ((raded 9nde% Fiber) instead of !9F (!tep 9nde% Fiber). ,. S2NG15 7O85 O3T2C 1 "2B5R $he light basically consists of wave fronts. < line perpendicular to a wave front is called the ray. 4ight is an electromagnetic wave and when we say it travels li,e a ray it is a collection of wavefronts which move. 4et us ta,e an optical fiber with light rays propagating in it. $he rays and the wave fronts which are perpendicular to the rays" are as shown in figure 0E

Figure (0)E :ore of optical fiber" rays with wave fronts et us consider a phase front corresponding to the ray meets the ray of the ray at point at point and passing through the point . $his phase front also

. 9n other words" the phase of the ray at

(Aust before the reflection) is same as that added with the

. $hat is to say that the phase change corresponding to the distance

phase of the reflection coefficient at points condition for the constructive interference. From simple geometric

and

should be a multiple of

. $his is what is called the

considerations

we

have

phase change from

to

is

For constructive interference the phase change should be multiple of

!implifying equations we get a condition for sustained propagation of light rays inside the core as

9t can be noted that for with for any value of

(i.e. the ray along the a%is of the fiber)" .

and the condition is satisfied

<s increases (either due to increase of the diameter of the core or refractive inde% of the core" or decrease in wavelength) more values of satisfy the condition and therefore have sustained propagation inside the fiber. $he above phase condition can be satisfied only by discrete rays entering the structure i.e. rays at finite number of angles are accepted by the optical fiber. $he ensemble of rays entering at a specific angle from the a%is of the fiber gives discrete optical intensity distributions. $hese are called the modes of an optical fiber. From the e%pression of the phase matching condition we find that as d increases" the number of rays accepted by the optical fiber increases and as d decreases the number of rays decreases. !ince the dispersion is due to presence of multiple rays (modes)" if only one ray is made to propagate inside the fiber" there is no dispersion. !o if we ta,e a value of small enough such that it satisfies the phase condition only the lowest value of " only one mode will propagate inside the fiber.

$he lowest value of corresponds to the ray traveling along the a%is of the fiber. 9n fact this ray does not have any constraint on the si)e of the fiber etc" as it does not really go through the total internal reflection at the core cladding boundary. $his ray therefore always propagates. $he optical fiber in which only one ray travels along the a%is of fiber is called the single mode optical fiber . !ingle mode optical fiber is the best amongst the three types of fibers" namely the step inde% fiber" (9 fiber and the single mode fiber. n a long distance communication" we use single mode optical fiber" whereas in 4<3s we generally use graded inde% optical fiber.

Note: For single mode optical fiber however we have to use a source like laser because the diameter of the fiber is very small and without a highly collimated beam, sufficient light can not be launched inside the fiber. The three types of fibers have typical diameters as follows: OPT !"# F $%&' !O&% ( ")%T%&.
!+ (D<=8= 93=8J !$8- 93=8J

Note: The !ladding (iameter for all types of fibers has been standardi*ed to +,-.m.
1imitations of the Ra&$model

1) The ra! model gi'es an impression that during total internal re%lection the energ! is con%ined to the core onl!. +o#e'er, it is not so. ,n realit! the optical energ! spreads in cladding also. (2) The ra! model does not spea- o% the discrete %ield patterns %or propagation inside a %iber. (3) The ra! model brea-s do#n #hen the core si.e becomes comparable to the #a'elength o% light. The ra! model there%ore is not quite /usti%ied %or a S0 %iber. The limitations o% the 1a! model are o'ercome in the #a'e model discussed in the next module.
What is meant #& signal distortion > < signal is said to be undistorted if it is delayed in time and scaled version of the original signal. 4et a system has input signal and output signal . $hen for distortion.less system ........ (>.1) #here is a scaling constant and is the time delay.

What is the condition for signal distortion$less transmission > $o see the condition in the frequency domain let us ta,e the Fourier transform of 8qn (>.1). 9f is the Fourier transform

of

and

is the Fourier transform of

" we get" ........ (>. )

$hat means if a system has a frequency response then it does not produce any distortion of the signal. 9n other words for a system to be distortion.less" its frequency response must satisfy two conditions.
(1)

$he amplitude response must be constant ( phase response should be linear (

should be independent of frequency).

( )$he

should be constant)

Wh& signal gets distorted while propagating on optical fi#er >

(1)

$he loss of optical fiber is wavelength dependent. $hat ma,es fiber.

a function of frequency. $his is called the attenuation of the

( )=ifferent

wavelengths and different modes of the optical fiber travel with different speeds and therefore have delay which is wavelength dependent. $his phenomenon is called the dispersion. So? in general the signals get distorted on an optical fi#er #ecause different fre<uenc& components undergo different attenuation and different dela&s.

For an optical communication lin, the highest data rate is about 1*(H). $his translates appro%imately to a wavelength range of *.1nm. For all practical purposes" the loss of the optical fiber can be assumed constant over a bandwidth of *.1nm. $herefore" we note that uniform amplitude response condition is well satisfied for the optical fiber. $he signal depending upon the loss may reduce in amplitude but there is no distortion of the signal due the loss. $he typical optical wavelength is about 1>>*nm and the signal bandwidth is about *.1nm. $hat means the optical system is a very narrow band system" the fractional bandwidth is GG 1. One would then wonder whether over such a narrow bandwidth the linearity of the phase response be violatedK Or would the velocity differ significantly over such a narrow bandwidth to give substantial distortionK $he answer to this would be ?3O@. However before we conclude this let us loo, at the special nature of the optical signals.

#ook at the Figure. The Figure gives the spectra of modulating signal and the carrier for two types of communication, radio communication and the optical communication. There is marked difference between the two cases which can be summari*ed as follows:
(1)For

radio communication the intrinsic spectral width of the carrier is very small compared to the spectral width of the modulating signal. $herefore the bandwidth of the modulated signal is almost equal to the B# of the modulating signal. (twice if the signal is simple <+). <lso the shape of the spectrum of the modulated signal is almost same as that of the modulating signal. !o in radio communication" the spectrum of the modulating signal is preserved" e%cept that it is shifted by the carrier frequency. ( )For optical communication the scenario is quite opposite. < typical optical source li,e 48= has an intrinsic spectral width of &*. C*nm (appro%imately '*** to 1***(H))" and a source li,e a laser diode has a spectral width of .&nm (appro%imately >* to '** (H)). $hat means for optical communication the spectral width of the carrier is much greater than the spectral width of the data. $he bandwidth of the modulated signal then is almost equal to the bandwidth of the carrier with hardly any signature of the data. !o" in optical communication the spectrum cannot be used to recover the data. $he demodulation therefore has to be done only in time domain. $his is possible only by <+ scheme where the signal can be recovered by a primitive technique of envelop detection.

The optical communication system hence cannot be treated on line similar to that used for normal radio communication link. "lso since the modulated signal has a spectral width of few nm, the fractional bandwidth is not as small as it appeared earlier.

$he optical communication system can be loo,ed as a parallel multiple channel transmission of carriers spreading over the bandwidth of the carrier. One can then say that the distortion of the signal in optical communication is due to differential delay of the signal riding over different carriers within the spectral width of the carrier.

he signal pulse then goes on spreading as it travels along the optical fiber. $he pulse broadening is proportional to the distance and it is also proportional to the spectral width of the carrier. $his phenomenon is the dispersion .

So we conclude that when a signal pulse travels on an optical fiber it goes on broadening due to dispersion and goes on reducing in amplitude due to attenuation as shown in Fig. After certain distance the pulse shape is completely distorted not to resemble with the original pulse shape.

$he signal on optical attenuates due to following mechanisms E 1) 9ntrinsic loss in the fiber material.
( )!cattering (')Bending

due to micro irregularities inside the fiber. losses due to micro.deformation of the fiber.

(&)+icro.bending

or radiation losses on the fiber.

$he first two losses are intrinsically present in any fiber and the last two depend on the environment in which the fiber is laid.

)"T%& "# #O''

(a)8ue

to impurities9 $he material loss is due to the impurities present in glass used for ma,ing fibers. 9nspite of best purification efforts" there are always impurities li,e Fe" 3i" :o" <l which are present in the fiber material. $he Fig. shows attenuation due to various molecules inside glass as a function of wavelength. 9t can be noted from the figure that the material loss due to impurities reduces substantially beyond about 1 **nm wavelength. (b)8ue to O4 molecule9 2n addition? the O4 molecule diffuses in the material and causes a#sorption of light. The O4 molecule has main a#sorption pea@ somewhere in the deep infra$red wa!elength region. 4owe!er? it shows su#stantial

loss in the range of +((( to .(((nm. to infra$red a#sorption 9 Glass intrinsicall& is a good infra$red a#sor#er. red loss increases rapidl&. !:<$$8D93( 4O!!
(c)8ue

s we increase the wa!elength the infra$

$he scattering loss is due to the non.uniformity of the refractive inde% inside the core of the fiber. $he refractive inde% of an optical fiber has fluctuation of the order of over spatial scales much smaller than the optical wavelength.

$hese fluctuations act as scattering centres for the light passing through the fiber. $he process is"

Rayleigh

Scattering . < very tiny fraction of light gets scattered and therefore contributes to the loss.

$he Dayleigh scattering is a very strong function of the wavelength. $he scattering loss varies as . $his loss therefore rapidly reduces as the wavelength increases. For each doubling of the wavelength" the scattering loss reduces by a factor of 1C. 9t is then clear that the scattering loss at 1>>*nm is about factor of 1C lower than that at 1**nm. .

9t is interesting to see that in the presence of various losses" there is a natural window in the optical spectrum where the loss is as low as *. .*.&dB67m. $his window is from 1 **nm to 1C**nm. $here is a local attenuation pea, around 1'**nm which is due to OH absorption. $he low.loss window therefore is divided into sub.windows" one around 1&**nm and other around 1>>*nm. 9n fact these are the windows which are the 99 and 999 generation windows of optical communication. +9:DO.B83=93( 4O!!8! #hile commissioning the optical fiber is subAected to micro.bending as shown in Fig.

$he analysis of micro.bends is a rather comple% tas,. However" Aust for basic understanding of how the loss ta,es place due to micro.bending" we use following arguments. 9n a fiber without micro.bends the light is guided by total internal reflection (9$D) at the core.cladding boundary. $he rays which are guided inside the fiber has incident angle greater than the critical angle at the core.cladding interface. 9n the presence of micro.bends however" the direction of the local normal to the core.cladding interface deviates and therefore the rays may not have angle of incidence greater than the critical angle and consequently will be lea,ed out. < part of the propagating optical energy therefore lea,s out due to micro.bends. =epending upon the roughness of the surface through which the fiber passes" the micro.bending loss varies. $ypically the micro.bends increase the fiber loss by *.1.*. dB67m. D<=9<$9O3 OD B83=93( 4O!! #hile laying the fiber the fiber may undergo a slow bend. 9n micro.bend the bending is on micron scale" whereas in a slow bend the bending is on cm scale. < typical e%ample of a slow bend is a formation of optical fiber loop. $he loss mechanism due to bending loss can be well understood using modal propagation model. <s we have seen" the light inside a fiber propagates in the form of modes. $he modal fields decay inside the cladding away from the core cladding interface. $heoretically the field in the cladding is finite no matter how far away we are from the core.cladding interface. 3ow loo, at the amplitude and phase distribution for the fibers which are straight and which are bent over an circular arc as shown in Fig.

9t can be noted that for the straight the phase fronts are parallel and each point on the phase front travels with the same phase velocity.

However" as soon the fiber is bent (no matter how gently) the phase fronts are no mor parallel. $he phase fronts move li,e a fan pivoted to the center of curvature of the bent fiber (see Fig.). 8very point on the phase front consequently does not move with same velocity. $he velocity increases as we move radially outwards the velocity of

the phase front increases. Lery quic,ly we reach to a distance greater than the velocity of light in the cladding medium.

from the fiber where the velocity tries to become

!ince the velocity of energy can not be greater than velocity of light" the energy associated with the modal field beyond gets detached from the mode and radiates away. $his is called the bending or the radiation loss.

Following important things can be noted about the bending loss E

(1)The ( )

radiation loss is present in e!er& #ent fi#er no matter how gentle the #end is. . reduces as the radius of

Radiation loss depends upon how much is the energ& #e&ond

(&)

"or a gi!en modal field distri#ution if reduces? the radiation loss increases. The cur!ature of the #ent fi#er reduces? that is the fi#er is sharpl& #ent.
(')

"or a gi!en that is for a gi!en fi#er #ent? if the field spreads more in cladding? the #end loss increases. We @now from the modal field anal&sis that the lower order modes are more confined to the core? that is their fields deca& rapidl& in the cladding? and the higher order modes ha!e more slowl& deca&ing energ& in the cladding . The higher order modes hence are more suscepti#le to the radiation loss compared to the lower order modes.
(>)The

num#er of modes therefore reduces in a multimode fi#er in presence of #ends.

=ispersion is a phenomenon related to the variation in velocity of different frequencies (wavelengths) or different modes. $he velocity of different frequencies can be different due to intrinsic properties of the medium or due to dispersive nature of the bound structure li,e the optical fiber. =ue to dispersion when the optical pulses travel along the fiber they broaden as shown in Fig. <s the pulses travel on the fiber due to broadening" slowly they start overlapping with each other. :onsequently" the <: content of the signal reduces and the =: content of the signal increases. <fter certain distance the pulses barely remain distinguishable. 9f the signal propagates further the pulses lose their identity and the data is lost. For given distance" to avoid overlap of the pulses" the pulse separation is to be increased that means the data rate is to be reduced. <lternatively" for a given data rate" that is for given bit separation" the distance has to be less than certain limit. $he dispersion therefore has direct impact on the data rate. NOT59 2t is not the data rate #ut the 8ata rate$8istance product which is go!erned #& the dispersion.

#e can have general formulation for the dispersion as follows

(1) ( ) (&) (')

First get the group velocity of the pulse. $hen we find the group delay which is pulse delay per unit distance. Find delay over the spectral width and pulse broadening. (et dispersion" pulse broadening per unit distance per unit spectral width of the source.

9n an optical fiber we find two types of dispersions

(1)2ntra$modal

or Chromatic dispersion (present in single mode an multimode optical fiber). $his dispersion is due to finite bandwidth of the signal. $he 9ntra.modal dispersion consists of two partsE dispersion9 $his is due to intrinsic properties of the material" glass.

(a)7aterial

(b)Wa!eguide

dispersion9 $his is due dispersive nature of the bound medium. 9n a bound medium li,e the optical fiber" the velocity is a function of frequency. dispersion (present in only multimode optical fiber). $his dispersion is due to change in velocity from one mode to

( )2nter$modal

other.

$he dispersion is a rather wea, phenomenon. #hat that means is the pulses slowly broaden as they travel along the optical fiber. t is therefore appropriate to investigate one type of dispersion at a time. $hat is when we investigate waveguide dispersion we assume the fiber material to be non dispersive" and when we investigate material dispersion" we assume the medium to be unbound. +aterial =ispersion $he material dispersion is due intrinsic property of the material. (lass is a dispersive medium. #e can recall from our high school physics that glass has different refractive inde% for different colors. !ince the velocity of light is

=ifferent colors (wavelengths) have different velocity in glass. <s mentioned above while calculating the material we assume that there is no waveguide dispersion" that is fiber has infinite radius. $he medium then is an unbound medium with refractive inde% wavelength" . " which is a function of

ince the medium is unbound" the propagation constant of light is

!ubstituting for in above general e%pression for dispersion" we get material dispersion as

$he material dispersion therefore is proportional to second derivative of the refractive inde% with respect to the wavelength.

!ince the second derivative denotes the curvature of the function ? the material dispersion is proportional to the cur!ature of the refracti!e inde% function. 3oteE 9f the refractive inde% varies linearly with " the curvature is )ero and therefore the dispersion is )ero. <t this point it is worthwhile to loo, at the variation of refractive inde% of glass as a function of frequency. #aveguide =ispersion $he waveguide dispersion is due to the bound structure of the optical fiber. #hile analy)ing waveguide dispersion we assume that the material dispersion is absent" that is the refractive indices of the core and the cladding are independent of wavelength. For analy)ing waveguide dispersion we need relation. <s we have seen in lecture & and '" that the whole e%ercise of for a particular mode at a particular frequency. $here is no

analy)ing modal propagation was to obtain the phase constant analytical e%pression which can describe

relation. $his relation is rather e%pressed in the form a numerical plot. which can substitute and respectively.

(enerally we define two normali)ed parameters" $num#er and $hese parameters are characteristic parameters of a fiber. 9nter.+odal =ispersion

$he inter.modal dispersion is due to difference in velocity of different modes inside a fiber. Obviously" the inter.modal dispersion ta,es place in a multi.mode fiber. 9t has been shown earlier that the optical rays launched at different angles give different modal fields. $he inter.modal dispersion can therefore be appro%imately calculated using the ray model. 48= . 9 < light emitting diode (48=) is a device which converts electrical energy to light energy. 48=s are preferred light sources for short distance (local area) optical fiber networ, because theyE are ine%pensive" robust and have long life (the long life of an 48= is primarily due to its being a cold device" i.e. its operating temperature being much lower than that of" say" an incandescent lamp)" can be modulated (i.e. switched on and off) at high speeds (this property of an 48= is also due to its being a cold device as it does not have to overcome thermal inertia)" couple enough output power over a small area to couple to fibers (though the output spectrum is wider than other sources such as laser diodes).