FOC MATERIAL

Introduction:-
Communication: Communication means transfer of information from one point to another
through some medium. (Exception: Electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves do not
require any medium for propagation and can travel through vacuum of outer space.)

Typically a source and a destination are required for the communication to take place.

Where, C= speed of light in m/s

V= frequency of the signal in Hz.

Length of antenna in meter

The signal which has necessary information is called modulating signal and has generally lower
frequency. From the above equation it can be worked out that for a given signal the height of the
antenna is inversely proportional to the frequency of signal. So, communication at lower
frequencies the length of antenna becomes impractical.

So, generally the modulating signal is superimposed on a higher frequency signal called carrier
signal. This is called modulation process.

What is fiber optics?

Fiber optics is a flexible transparent fiber, which is made by drawing (stretching) glass (Silica) or
plastic. The fiber optic cable has the diameter slightly greater than that of a human hair.

*Advantages of fiber optic communication.

1) Enormous potential bandwidth: Fiber optic cables can carry frequencies in the range of 1013 to
1016 Hz. Frequency of propagation can further be increased by increasing the carrier frequency.

2) Small size and weight: Optical fibers have very small diameters which are often no greater
than the diameter of a human hair. Hence, even when such fibers are covered with protective
coatings they are far smaller and much lighter than corresponding copper cables.
3) Electrical isolation: Optical fibers which are fabricated from glass, or sometimes a plastic
polymer, are electrical insulators and therefore, unlike their metallic counterparts, they do not
exhibit earth loop and interface problems. Furthermore, this property makes optical fiber
transmission ideally suited for communication in electrically hazardous environments as the
fibers create no arcing or spark hazard at abrasions or short circuits.

4) Immunity to interference and crosstalk: Optical fibers form a dielectric waveguide and are
therefore free from electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio-frequency interference (RFI), or
switching transients giving electromagnetic pulses (EMPs). Hence the operation of an optical
fiber communication system is unaffected by transmission through an electrically noisy
environment and the fiber cable requires no shielding from EMI. The fiber cable is also not
susceptible to lightning strikes if used overhead rather than underground.

** Cross-talk: Signal transmitted on one circuit of a transmission system creates undesired

effects in another circuit. This phenomenon is called cross-talk.

5) Signal security: The light from optical fibers does not radiate significantly and therefore they
provide a high degree of signal security. Unlike the situation with copper cables, a transmitted
optical signal cannot be obtained from a fiber in a noninvasive manner (i.e. without drawing
optical power from the fiber). Therefore, in theory, any attempt to acquire a message signal
transmitted optically may be detected. This feature is obviously attractive for military, banking
and general data transmission (i.e. computer network) applications.

6) Low transmission loss: The fiber optic cables have very low attenuation and transmission
losses as compared to best available copper cables. Fibers have been fabricated with losses as
low as 0.15 dB km−1 and this feature has become a major advantage of optical fiber
communications. It facilitates the implementation of communication links with extremely wide
optical repeater or amplifier spacing, thus reducing both system cost and complexity.

7) Ruggedness and flexibility: Although protective coatings are essential, optical fibers may be
manufactured with very high tensile strengths perhaps surprisingly for a glassy substance; the
fibers may also be bent to quite small radii or twisted without damage.

8) System reliability and ease of maintenance: These features primarily stem from the low-loss
property of optical fiber cables which reduce the requirement for intermediate repeaters or line
amplifiers to boost the transmitted signal strength. Hence with fewer optical repeaters or
amplifiers, system reliability is generally enhanced in comparison with conventional electrical
conductor systems. Furthermore, the reliability of the optical components is no longer a problem
with predicted lifetimes of 20 to 30 years being quite common. Both these factors also tend to
reduce maintenance time and costs.
9) Potential low cost: The glass which generally provides the optical fiber transmission medium
is made from sand – not a scarce resource. So, in comparison with copper conductors, optical
fibers offer the potential for low-cost line communication. However, the costs of high-
performance semiconductor lasers and detector photodiodes are still relatively high, as well as
some of those concerned with the connection technology (demountable connectors, couplers,
etc.). Overall system costs when utilizing optical fiber communication on long-haul links,
however, are substantially less than those for equivalent electrical line systems because of the
low-loss and wideband properties of the optical transmission medium.

Comparison of FOC with general communication systems:

General communication system is similar to FOC except few changes. As we know that the
function of any communication system is to transfer information from one source to another over
a transmission medium.

A basic communication system can be thought to be consisting of transmitter/modulator linked

with the information source at sending end and demodulator at the receiving end through a
transmission medium. Possible transmission medium may include 1) A pair of cables. 2) Co-
axial cables. 3) Radio link through free space.

However, it must be noted that in any medium the signal is attenuated or suffer loss and is
subjected to degradation due to contamination by random signal and noise. Due to this in any
communication system there exists a maximum permissible distance beyond which the system
effectively cease to give intelligible communication.
Long-haul applications necessitate the use of repeaters or line amplifiers. Line amplifiers have
mainly two functions 1) They are intended to remove distortion & 2) They increase the signal
strength.

Fiber optic communication system.

Fiber optic communication can be considered in greater detail for better understanding.

In fiber optic communication system, the information source provides electrical signal to a
transmitter comprising of electrical stage to drive optical source to give modulation of a light
wave carrier. Electrical signal converter may comprise of semi-conductor laser or light emitting
diode.

Transmission consists of optical fibers which are connected to the optical detectors at the
receiving end.

Receivers at the receiving end are nothing but photo-detectors such as, photodiodes (PN or PiN)
and phototransistors which are used to convert optical signals to the electrical signals.

Types of optical fibers:

Optical fibers are cylinder of transparent dielectric material surrounded by second dielectric
material. Depending upon the particular usage optical fiber can be classified into various types.

1) Conical fiber: Conical fibers are used for the purpose of light condensing and magnification.

2) Multiple fibers: Multiple fibers consist of number of smaller diameter fibers. Use of this type
of fiber has made possible the availability of small fiber capable of handling high resolution.

3) Passive fiber: Passive fiber is the fiber that guides light only from any external source.

4) Lasing fiber: Lasing fibers are the fibers having small diameters where light amplification by
simulated emission of radiation takes place. Lasing fibers are capable of better mode selection,
higher efficiency and lower threshold.

5) Glass coated glass fiber: Glass coated glass fiber has a glass fiber core with coating of low
refractive index of glass.

6) Luminescent fiber: Luminescent fibers are fibers capable of emitting luminescent radiation
when excited by UV ray, X-ray or high energy particles.
Mechanical Construction:

FOC system uses passive fiber optic cable. The core in a passive fiber optic cable is made up
from glass of higher refractive index and is surrounded by cladding having lower refractive index
than that of the core to guide the light in the core.

A protective skin is provides over this assembly to protect the fiber optic cable against the
mechanical damage.

Considering fibers as dielectric wave guides they can be visualized as,

1) Mono-mode. 2) Multi-mode.
Mono-mode fiber: Mono-mode fibers have very small core diameter, up to 2 to 8 micro-meter
and refractive index profile similar to step index. This type of fiber offers minimum dispersion
losses and has highest transmission bandwidth and hence can be used for the long-haul
applications.

Multi-mode fiber: Diameter of the multi-mode fiber ranges from 50 micro-meters to 125 micro
meters. In the multimode fiber number of modes can propagate simultaneously. However, in the
multi-mode fiber considerable broadening of pulses take place resulting in higher loss of
information. This loss can be compensated by the advantages that it offers in the form of type of
optical source that can be used (Non-coherent light source can be used with the multimode fiber)
and lower tolerances required on end fiber connectors.

Ray Theory:

Total internal reflection:

Total internal reflection: To consider the propagation of light within an optical fiber using ray
theory model, it is necessary to consider refractive index of dielectric medium.

Refractive index is the ratio of velocity of light in a vacuum to velocity of light in the given
medium. Hence, higher the refractive index, lesser the speed of the light making the material
optically dense.
Case 1

It may be observed that the ray approaching the interface is propagating in a dielectric of
refractive index n1 at an angle Ø1 to the normal at the surface of the interface. If the dielectric
medium on the other side of the interface has refractive index of n2, which is less than n1 then
the refraction is such that the ray path in lower index medium is at an angle Ø2 to the normal of
the surface; where Ø2 > Ø1.

Ø2 & Ø1 are the angles of incidence and refraction and are related to each other by SNELL’S
LAW of refraction.

n1 sin Ø1 = n2 sin Ø2 OR

= .

It may be observed here that a small amount of light is reflected back into the originating
medium and is called as PARTIAL INTERNAL REFLECTION.

Case 2

When the angle of refraction is 90˚ the refracted ray emerges parallel to the interface between the
dielectrics, the angle of incidence must be less than 90˚. This is the limiting case of refraction
and the angle of incidence is now known as critical angle Øc as shown in fig. (b).

To find out the value of critical angle put Ø1= Øc and Ø2 = 90˚ in the Snell’s equation.

= ,

sin Øc = .

Case 3

At angles of incidence greater than the critical angle the light is reflected back into the
originating dielectric medium (total internal reflection) with high efficiency (around 99.9%).
Hence, it may be observed in Figure (c) that total internal reflection occurs at the interface
between two dielectrics of differing refractive indices when light is incident on the dielectric of
lower index from the dielectric of higher index, and the angle of incidence of the ray exceeds the
critical value.

This is the mechanism by which light at a sufficiently shallow angle (less than 90° − sin Øc) may
be considered to propagate down an optical fiber with low loss. The figure below illustrates the
transmission of a light ray in an optical fiber via a series of total internal reflections at the
interface of the silica core and the slightly lower refractive index silica cladding. The ray has an
angle of incidence Ø at the interface which is greater than the critical angle and is reflected at the
same angle to the normal.

Acceptance angle:
Having considered the propagation of light in an optical fiber through total internal reflection at
the core–cladding interface, it is useful to enlarge upon the geometric optics approach with
reference to light rays entering the fiber. Since only rays with a sufficiently shallow grazing angle
(i.e. with an angle to the normal greater than Øc ) at the core–cladding interface are transmitted
by total internal reflection, it is clear that not all rays entering the fiber core will continue to be
propagated down its length.

The geometry concerned with launching a light ray into an optical fiber is shown in figure which
illustrates a meridional ray A at the critical angle Øc within the fiber at the core–cladding
interface. It may be observed that this ray enters the fiber core at an angle θa to the fiber axis and
is refracted at the air–core interface before transmission to the core–cladding interface at the
critical angle. Hence, any rays which are incident into the fiber core at an angle greater than θ a
will be transmitted to the core–cladding interface at an angle less than Øc, and will not be totally
internally reflected.

This situation is also illustrated in the figure, where the incident ray B at an angle greater than θa
is refracted into the cladding and eventually lost by radiation. Thus for rays to be transmitted by
total internal reflection within the fiber core they must be incident on the fiber core within an
acceptance cone defined by the conical half angle θa. Hence θa is the maximum angle to the axis
at which light may enter the fiber in order to be propagated, and is often referred to as the
acceptance angle for the fiber.
Figure for Acceptance angle.

N.A or Numerical Aperture:

Defining just the acceptance angle is not enough. It is important to establish a relationship
between refractive indices of the three media involved and acceptance angle. Numerical aperture
gives the same. Numerical aperture is a measure of its light gathering capacity.
Let,

no= refractive index of air, n1= refractive index of fibre core and n2= refractive index of the cladding
Now using the SNELL’S Law at the Air-Core interface,

n0 sin θ1 = n1 sin θ2 ________________ (1)

Now, considering the right angle triangle ABC,

θ2 + Ø + 90˚ = 180˚,

Ø = (π/2) - θ2 _______________________ (2)

where φ is greater than the critical angle at the core–cladding interface. Substituting the value of Ø in
equation (1) it becomes:

n0 sin θ1 = n1 cos φ, __________________(3)

Using the trigonometrical relationship sin2 φ+ cos2 φ= 1, may be written in the form:

n0 sin θ1 = n1(1– sin2φ )1/2 _____________ (4)

When the limiting case for total internal reflection is considered, φ becomes equal to the critical angle for
the core–cladding interface and is given by Also in this limiting case θ1 becomes the acceptance angle for
the fiber θa. Combining these limiting cases into Equation (5) gives,

n0 sin θa = (n12 – n22)1/2 ________________ (5)

Equation (5) apart from relating the acceptance angle to the refractive indices, serves as the basis for the
definition of the important optical fiber parameter, the numerical aperture (NA). Hence the NA is defined
as:

N.A. =n0 sin θa = (n12 – n22)1/2

Since the NA is often used with the fiber in air where n0 is unity, it is simply equal to sin θa. It may also be
noted that incident meridional rays over the range 0 ≤ θ1 ≤ θa will be propagated within the fiber.

The NA may also be given in terms of the relative refractive index difference Δ between the core and the
cladding which is defined as:

∆= (n12 – n22 /2*n12 ) _______________ (6)

* Sometimes another parameter Δn = n1 − n2 is referred to as the index difference and Δn/n1 as the fractional

index difference. Hence Δ also approximates to the fractional index difference.

∆≈ (n1 – n2 )/ n1 (for Δ<<1)

Substituting the equation (5) into equation (6) we would get,

n0 sin θa= n1(2∆)1/2 _______________ (7)

The relationships given in Equations (5) and (7) for the numerical aperture are a very useful measure of
the light-collecting ability of a fiber. They are independent of the fiber core diameter and will hold for
diameters as small as 8 μm.

NUMERICAL
A silica optical fiber with a core diameter large enough to be considered by ray theory analysis has a core
refractive index of 1.50 and a cladding refractive index of 1.47. Determine: (a) the critical angle at the
core–cladding interface; (b) the NA for the fiber; (c) the acceptance angle in air for the fiber.

(A) Φc= sin-1 (n2 /n1) = sin-1 (1.47/1.50)

= 78.5°

(B) NA =n0 sin θa = (n12 – n22) ½ =(1.502 – 1.472 ) ½ = (2.25 – 2.16) ½

= 0.30

(C) Considering the equation (5) acceptance angle in air θa is given by:

θa = sin−1 NA = sin−1 (0.30) = 17.4°

FIBER SPLICING
What is fiber splice? A permanent joint formed between two individual optical fiber in the field or factory
is known as fiber splicing.

Splicing can be broadly classified into two categories, 1) Fusion Splicing , 2) Mechanical Splicing.

Fusion Splicing: Fusion splicing is accomplished by localized heating (by flame/arc) at the interface
between two butted, prealigned fiber end causing them to soften andu fuse together.

Mechanical splicing: In the mechanical splicing thwo fibers are held in alignment by some mechanical
means. Tubes or V-grooves may be used to achieve this. Further to reduce the insertion losses at the
joints, index matching gel is used at the joints.
OPTICAL FIBER END PREPARATION:

Scoring and breaking using curved mandrel

It is necessary that the fibers intended for splicing to have smooth end-faces. This can be achieved using a
suitable tool as shown in the figure. This process is oftenly called as scribe and break or score and
break, as it it involves scoring the surface under tension with a cutting tool.( Generally, sapphire
diamond, tungsten carbide blades are used for this purpose.)

Straight pull, scribe and break tools are also available which arguably give better results with end angles
less than 1˚.

FUSION SPLICING:
The fusion splicing involves heating of two prepared fiber ends to their fusing point with the applicaton of
suffucient axial oressure between two optical fibers. It is necessaary that prepared cables are adequately
positioned and aligned in order to achieve good contuinity of the transmission medium at the junction
point.

PREFUSION:
This process known as “PREFUSION” involves the rounding of the fiber ends with a low-energy
discharge before pressing the fibers together and fusing with a stronger arc. This technique removes the
requirement for fiber end preparation which has a distinct advantage in the field environment.
 Fusion splicing

Problems are faced when the diameters of the fibers to be fused are less than 5-10 μm, this is because
maximum allowable lateral offset is 1 μm in order to achieve low loss joints.

Self alignment phenomenon.

Self-alignment

Self-alignment, illustrated in above Figure, is caused by surface tension effects between the two fiber ends
during fusing. Mean splice losses of as low as 0.06 dB have also been obtained with a fully automatic
single-mode fiber fusion splicing machine.
Another major drawback of fusion method of splicing is that it weakens the fiber in the viscinity of the
splice. Tensile strenght reduces by 30% to that of uncoated fiber before strength. Fiber fracture generally
occurs in the zone adjacent to the fused joint.

Mechanical splices:
A numbe rof mechanical splicing techniques have been developed in the ewcwnt years. The most
common method is the usage of an accurately produced rigid alignment tube into which the prepared fiber
ends are permanently bonded. Seramic or glass capillary may be used with the diameter just wide enough
to accept the fiber.

Transparent adhesive (epoxy resin) is injected through a transverse bore in the capillary to gove
mechanical sealing and index matching of the splice. Average insertion losses as low as 0.1dB have been
obtained with multimode graded index fibers.

Mechanical splicing 1) Snug tube splicing, 2) Loose tube splicing.

V – groove splicing:
Other common mechanical splicing techniques involve the use of grooves to secure the fibers to be
jointed. A simple method utilizes a V-groove into which the two prepared fiber ends are pressed. The V-
groove splice which is illustrated in gives alignment of the prepared fiber ends through insertion in the
groove. The splice is made permanent by securing the fibers in the V-groove with epoxy resin. Jigs for
producing Vgroove splices have proved quite successful, giving joint insertion losses of around 0.1 dB.
V-groove splices formed by sandwiching the butted fiber ends between a V-groove glass substrate and a
flat glass retainer plate, as shown in Figure have also proved very successful in the laboratory. Splice
insertion losses of less than 0.01 dB when coupling single-mode fibers have been reported using this
technique.
 V- groove splicing

Elastomeric splice:
A further variant on the V-groove technique is the elastic tube or elastomeric splice shown in Figure. The
device comprises two elastomeric internal parts, one of which contains a V-groove. An outer sleeve holds
the two elastic parts in compression to ensure alignment of the fibers in the V-groove, and fibers with
different diameters tend to be centered and hence may be successfully spliced. Although originally
intended for multimode fiber connection, the device has become a widely used commercial product which
is employed with single-mode fibres, albeit often as a temporary splice for laboratory investigations. The
splice loss for the elastic tube device was originally reported as 0.12 dB or less but is generally specified
as around 0.25 dB for the commercial product. In addition, index-matching gel is normally employed
within the device to improve its performance.

Elastomeric splice
Skew rays:

Skew rays

We have considered the propagation of meridional rays in the optical waveguide. However, another
category of ray exists which is transmitted without passing through the fiber axis. These rays, which
greatly outnumber the meridional rays, follow a helical path through the fiber, as illustrated in Figure and
are called skew rays. It is not easy to visualize the skew ray paths in two dimensions, but it may be
observed from Figure (b) that the helical path traced through the fiber gives a change in direction of 2 γ at
each reflection, where γ is the angle between the projection of the ray in two dimensions and the radius of
the fiber core at the point of reflection. Hence, unlike meridional rays, the point of emergence of skew
rays from the fiber in air will depend upon the number of reflections they undergo rather than the input
conditions to the fiber. When the light input to the fiber is nonuniform, skew rays will therefore tend to
have a smoothing effect on the distribution of the light as it is transmitted, giving a more uniform output.
The amount of smoothing is dependent on the number of reflections encountered by the skew rays.