DISPERSION IN OPTICAL FIBER:

The distortion or broadening of optica signa propagating aong the fiber is caed
the dispersion! In a digital communication system, the information to be transmitted is
coded in the form of pulses. These pulses are transmitted through the optical fiber and
then de-corded at the receiver end. As the time required by the light to be propagated
along the optical fiber of given length depends on the angle of incidence which may vary
from 0 to max

, therefore the light pulses entering at different angles tae different

times! consequently the pulses broaden at the output end. If broadening is larger, it
becomes quite difficult to decord the information. This pulse broadening due to light
traveling along different paths is called the pulse dispersion. It is obvious that smaller is
the pulse dispersion; greater is the information carrying capacity of the fiber.
T"pes of P#se Distortion" #ue to different factors causing pulse distortion, the
types of pulse distortion are"
$i% &a'eg#ide Dispersion: $ecause of wave guide structure, the light rays in the
fiber follow different paths and tae different times during travel of these paths.
The effective refractive index for any mode varies with wavelength, which causes
pulse spreading %ust lie the variation in refractive index does. This dispersion is
called (a'eg#ide dispersion!
$ii% Inter)oda Dispersion: A ray of light launched into a fibre follows different
&ig&ag paths. 'hen numerous modes are propagating in a fibre, they travel with
different net velocities with respect to fibre axis. (arts of the wave arrive at the
output before other parts leading to a spread of the input pulse.i.e. In multimode
fibers, the broadening of signal is caused by the spread in group velocities )i.e.,
velocities with which energy of various frequencies propagate along the axis of
the fiber*. This is *no(n as inter)oda dispersion!
$iii% Intra)oda+,ateria Dispersion or Spectra Dispersion" The refractive index
of fiber core depends on wavelength )or frequency* of light, so different
frequency components of input pulse travel with different velocities and hence
pulse broadens. This is called the )ateria dispersion or spectra dispersion!
If the pulse broadening times due to waveguide dispersion, material
dispersion and intermodal dispersion are
+
,
N m g
respectively,
then total dispersion is approximately given by
N m g
+ +
),*
In multimode fibers, the intermodal dispersion generally predominates and their relative
values are such that
g m N
> > >
)-*
In a single mode fiber, the intermodal dispersion
N

is absent, so single mode fibers
have much less dispersion and hence they can handle more information.
.alculation of #ispersion"
$a% Step Inde- Fibres: .onsider a light ray incident at an angle i

and refracted
at an angle
r
in the fiber as shown in fig. The time taen by this light rays to travel path
from A to . is given by
v
BC AB
t
+

If
,
n is refractive index of core and c is the speed of light in vacuum, then
r
r
r
c
L n
n c
L
t
L
BC AB
n
c
v

cos /
cos /
cos
,
,
,

+

)0*
The value of
r
lies between 0 and max

. 1sing 2nell3s law of refraction at core and

cladding interface, at critical angle
r
4 max

.Then
cos max

4
,
-
n
n
)5*
6aximum value of time t, t
max
4
-
-
,
cn
L n
)7*
6inimum value of t is when
r
40 or cos
r
4,.
t
min
4
c
L n
,
)8*
delay difference t4 t
max
- t
min
4
-
-
,
cn
L n
-
c
L n
,
)9*
4
-
-
,
cn
L n
, ):*
'here,
,
- ,
n
n n

<<, is relative refractive index difference.
This may approximately be expressed as
-
- ,
n
n n

);*
<ence equation )9* may be expressed as, t4
c
L n
,
),0*
As numerical aperture =A4
- / ,
,
* - ) n ),,*
2o equation ),0* may be expressed as
t4
c n
NA L
,
-
-
* )
),-*
The appropriate expressions );* and ),-* are usually employed to estimate the
maximum pulse broadening in time due to intermodal dispersion in multimode step index
fibres.
$b% .raded Inde- Fibres" .onsider an optical fiber characteri&ed by refractive index
profile defined as
-
,
,
- , * )
1
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

a
a
r
n r n
( ) [ ]
- / ,
,
- , n >or, r a
'here - for parabolic fibers and for step index fibers, r 4 radial distance from
fiber axis and,
a
radius of core,
,
n is refractive index at core axis,
-
n refractive index
of cladding medium.
The ray propagation is shown in fig. which contains two meridional ray paths
within the fiber core. It may be observed that apart from the axial ray, the meridional
rays follow sinusoidal tra%ectories of different path lengths which result from the index
grading. The local group velocity is inversely proportional to the refractive index and
therefore the longer sinusoidal paths are compensated for by higher speeds in the lower
index medium away from the axis. $y a ray theory approach, it may be shown that the
difference between minimum time )for axial ray 0 * and maximum time taen by ray,
%ust becoming parallel to core-cladding interface is given by
( )
c n
NA
c
Ln
0
,
5 -
,
min min
:
-

$c% ,ateria Dispersion: ?ight waves different wavelengths travel at different speeds in
a medium. The short wavelength waves travel slower than long wavelength waves.
.onsequently, narrow pulses of light tend to broaden as they travel down the optical
fibre. The refractive index of a material depends on wavelength. Therefore, velocity of
light in material medium
,
_

n
c
v
is different for different wavelengths, i.e. various
wavelengths in a light pulse travel with different velocities. This leads to material
dispersion.
To calculate the material dispersion consider a plane electromagnetic wave of
spectral widths , centered about wavelength is traveling through the fiber. This
wave may be expressed as
* )
0
t kx i
e E

'here propagation constant of wave

c
n
n c v
k


/
'here n is refractive index, is angular frequency )4
* -
and c is speed of light in
free space. The group velocity )i.e., the velocity with which energy propagates* is given
by
dk
d
v
g

Time taen by the light pulse to travel through a distance ? is given by

mat
4
g
v
L
d
dk
g
v

,
* )
,
c
n
v
d
d
g

@ A
, ,

d
dn
n
c v
g

mat
4
@ A

d
dn
n
c
L

mat
4

d
d
mat
Bbviously, the spectral width of the source determines the extent of material dispersion.
In multimode fibers there are two rays traveling along the core" one near the axis is
called a-ia ray while the other near the fiber surface is called the )argina ray. The
marginal ray travels longer distance than the axial ray and taes additional time. This
time delay causes distortion in the pulse and is called nor)a dispersion. It causes the
broadening of light pulse, thus reducing the transmission speed or bit rate and the
transmission band width. The individual modes do not normally propagate throughout the
length of the fibre, they intersect each other and transfer energy to ad%acent modes.

Light &a'e Co))#nication in Optica Fiber
>iber Bptics deals with communication of audio as well as video signals. The
basic elements of a fiber optical system are shown in fig.
It essentially consists of )i* a light source )ii* an optical fiber and )iii* a light
detector. The light source may be a light emitting diode )?C#* or a semiconductor laser
diode. The detector can be an avalanche photo diode )A(#* or a positive intrinsic
negative )(I=* diode. A fiber optical system simply converts an electrical signal to an
#river ?ight
2ource
connector
?ight
#etector
Amplifier
connector
infrared signal. This signal is transmitted through optical fiber and finally reconverted
into an electrical signal.
There are two types of light wave modulation )i* Analog and )ii* #igital.
An Analog modulation the light source emits a continuous beam of varying
intensity within #igital 6odulation for light flashes B= and B>> at an extremely fast
rate. 2pecial connectors are used to couple the light source to fiber and from fiber to
detector. To overcome the problem of attenuation of light waves in fibers, repeats and
employed. These amplify and regenerate light signal at regular distances.