PHY : 307

Refractive Index of Glass Slab and

Numerical Aperture of Optical Fibre
Pritam Pandit 18065
–

1 Objective
1. To determine the refractive index of glass slab.

2. To determine numerical aperture of optical fiber.

2 Apparatus used
1. PMMA (Polymethyl methacrylate) rod with mount (Refractive index: 1.48.
Dimensions: 20 cm X 2.5 cm X 2.5 cm)

2. Diode Laser source (650 nm)

3. Optical fibre

4. Laser fiber coupler with multi axis translation stage

5. Measurement scale

6. Pinhole photodetector

3 Theory
3.1 Refractive index
Refractive index of a material is ratio speed of light in vacuum to speed of light in medium.

speed of light in vacuum

n=
speed of light in medium
Refractive index depends on wavelength of light and gives us a measure of degree of bending
of ray of light entering one medium from another.

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3.2 Snell’s law PHY : 307

3.2 Snell’s law

Snell’s law gives relation of angle of incidence and angle of refraction for a ray of light going
through 2 medium. Snell’s law states, the ratio of refractive indices of 2 media is inversely
equal to the ratio of sines of angle of incidence and angle of refraction.

n1 sinθ1 = n2 sinθ2

Figure 1: Light betwen two media

3.3 Critical angle and total internal reflection

As light goes from denser to rarer medium, angle of incidence is less than angle of refraction.
After a certain angle (Critical angle), the angle of refraction is greater than 90o , so the
incident ray is reflected back.
Critical angle is given by:

 
−1 n1
θc = sin
n2

Figure 2: Total internal reflection

This concept of total internal reflection is used in fibre optics technology.

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3.4 Optical fibres PHY : 307

3.4 Optical fibres

Optical fibres are generally plastic fibre which propagate light through the principle of total
internal reflection. This technology is used to transfer data, in medical instruments etc.
Numerical aperture is the light gathering ability of optical fibre, which depends mainly
on the thickness of fibre. It also refers to the maximum incident angle accepted. Acceptance
angle can be defined as:

 
−1 D
θa = tan
Z

Here, D is diameter of far field intensity at 5% intensity level of the maximum attainable
intensity; Z is the distance between optical fibre end and detector.

Figure 3: pictorial representation of optical fibre

Numerical Apperture:

N A = sin(θa )

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 PHY : 307

4 Observations and Calculations

4.1 Refractive index of glass slab

Angle of incidence(i) a(cm) b(cm) r = tan−1 [ ab ] sin i sin r sin i

n = sin r
30 6.5 2.4 0.3537031461 0.3463740828 0.5 1.443526017
32.5 3.8 1.5 0.3759609539 0.3671665347 0.537 1.462551592

Therefore, mean refractive index, n = 1.45.

4.2 Numerical aperture of optical fibre

X distance(mm) Detector output (mA) X distance(mm) Detector output (mA)

LSR CSR Total LSR CSR Total

12 40 12.4 0 9.5 50 10 15.3
12 30 12.3 0.1 9.5 40 9.9 32.4
12 20 12.2 0.1 9.5 30 9.8 92.5
12 10 12.1 0.1 9.5 20 9.7 300
11.5 50 12 0.1 9.5 10 9.6 1000
11.5 40 11.9 0.2 9 50 9.5 2100
11.5 30 11.8 0.2 9 40 9.4 3700
11.5 20 11.7 0.2 9 30 9.3 5400
11.5 10 11.6 0.3 9 20 9.2 6900
11 50 11.5 0.4 9 10 9.1 8000
11 40 11.4 0.4 8.5 50 9 8400
11 30 11.3 0.5 8.5 40 8.9 7900
11 20 11.2 0.5 8.5 30 8.8 6600
11 10 11.1 0.6 8.5 20 8.7 5100
10.5 50 11 0.7 8.5 10 8.6 3500
10.5 40 10.9 0.8 8 50 8.5 2000
10.5 30 10.8 0.9 8 40 8.4 1100
10.5 20 10.7 1.1 8 30 8.3 500
10.5 10 10.6 1.3 8 20 8.2 200
10 50 10.5 1.6 8 10 8.1 72.4
10 40 10.4 2.1 7.5 50 8 43.4
10 30 10.3 2.9 7.5 40 7.9 25.8
10 20 10.2 4.6 7.5 30 7.8 14.8
10 10 10.1 8.4 7.5 20 7.7 8.9

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4.2 Numerical aperture of optical fibre PHY : 307

X distance(mm) Detector output (mA) X distance(mm) Detector output (mA)

LSR CSR Total LSR CSR Total

7.5 10 7.6 5.3 6 50 6.5 0.3
7 50 7.5 3.4 6 40 6.4 0.2
7 40 7.4 2.3 6 30 6.3 0.2
7 30 7.3 1.7 6 20 6.2 0.1
7 20 7.2 1.3 6 10 6.1 0.1
7 10 7.1 1 5.5 50 6 0.1
6.5 50 7 0.8 5.5 40 5.9 0
6.5 40 6.9 0.7
6.5 30 6.8 0.5
6.5 20 6.7 0.4
6.5 10 6.6 0.3

Plotting this, we get:

Figure 4: X distance vs Detector output

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 PHY : 307

Cutting to the part of interest:

Figure 5: X distance vs Detector output

5 Results
From the graph:
maximum intensity Imax (µA) = 8400 µA
Distance between detector and fibre end (Z) = 2 mm
Level of maximum attainable intensity, D = (DR - DL )/2 = (9.9 - 8.1)/2 = 0.9 mm

D 0.9
θa = tan−1 [ ] = tan−1 [ ] = 24.22o
Z 2
Therefore,

N A = sin θa = 0.41.

6 Discussion
6.1 Refractive index of glass slab