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Snyder 1974
Snyder 1974
Snyder 1974
In addition to rays that lose energy by undergoing refraction, there is a large class of weakly attenuated
rays in circular optical fibers. These leaky rays are incorrectly predicted to be lossless by Fresnel's laws.
Thus, Fresnel's laws fail for the analysis of long fibers. The significance and properties of leaky rays are
discussed. A very simple attenuation coefficient is given, from which the loss of all rays is computed. This
attenuation coefficient makes it possible to extend the use of ray tracing and Snell's laws for analyzing
circular optical fibers.
It has long been widely accepted that geometric optics, in Fig. 1, and X is the wavelength in vacuum. A is the
i.e., ray tracing 'using Snell's laws and Fresnel's re- projection of the wave vector within the fiber onto
flection coefficients, provides a good approximation of the z axis, i.e.," 7
the light-acceptance and transmission properties of
optical fibers when the ratio of fiber radius to wave- /27
Ao= ( )coso", (1)
length is large. For example, on p. 36 of his authori-
tative account of fiber optics, Kapany' stated that the
geometric optics of fibers "is rigorously valid for calcu- where O is illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus, at cut off, the
lations of optical characteristics of large-diameter angle 0, equals A,, where
fibers." This assumption has led to the wide-spread
belief'-' that a ray is transmitted, unattenuated, within n2
a lossless fiber if it strikes the fiber boundaries at an coso 0=-. (2)
nl
angle equal to or greater than the critical angle neces-
sary for total internal reflection. In other words, all The angle 0, is the complement of the critical angle
the rays that fall within the generalized numerical
aperture' of the fiber are assumed to be trapped. Sup-
port for these assumptions comes, to take an example, P
from the accurate prediction by geometric optics of 2
2p
>n
the dark band across the exit end of the fiber ob-
served at steep angles when the fiber is illuminated I
with a diffuse source." 4 PR
The objectives of this paper are (i) to emphasize
that many of the so-called trapped or totally reflected
rays are in fact leaky, i.e., they lose or radiate their
energy as they propagate within the fiber, (ii) to
describe the significance and properties of these leaky RD
rays in physical problems, and (iii) to present numerical
values of their attenuation. Since leaky rays account
for a significant portion of the light-carrying capacity
of the fiber, geometric optics is useful only throughout
a length of fiber for which these rays retain most of P
their initial energy. We determine this length.
necessary for total internal reflection.' Thus, when A. Importance of Leaky Rays
applied in the appropriate asymptotic limit, bound- The power initially contained in the leaky rays
mode theory tells us that rays with 0,> 0c are not
depends on the source of illumination. Here we suppose
trapped. This agrees with geometric optics for a planar that all rays are launched with equal power, as is the
or slab waveguide.5 6' 8 However, because rays can be case for incoherent or diffuse illumination.'' 0 Our
skew to the circular-fiber axis, i.e., have 0kR?7r/ 2 in objective is to determine the power contribution of
Fig. 1, many rays with 02>00 have ON>{(ir/2)-O,}
leaky rays to the total power of rays predicted to be
and are predicted by geometric optics to be trapped.'
trapped by geometric optics. The power predicted by
Therefore, in a circular fiber, all rays with 0,>0, that
geometric optics to be trapped within the cylinder is a
are predicted by geometric optics to be trapped are
sum of the power of trapped rays PTR plus the initial
in fact not trapped, i.e., there are no bound modes
power of the leaky rays PLR-
with 0,> 0c.
The amount of power PTR transmitted by trapped
The method for determining the existence and
rays is proportional to the square of the numerical
properties of nontrapped rays is to solve -for certain
aperture of the fiber for meridional rays [Ref. 1, Eq.
complex roots of the eigenvalue equation.6' 9'" These (2.5)]. Thus
complex roots are associated with modes that attenuate
on lossless structures. Using the Debye asymptotic PTR = sin 200 (3)
expansion for Bessel functions, we can show that the
fields of a mode are formed by a family of rays; each where from Eq. (2)
ray of the family is incident on the boundaries at the s 12( 2
same angle to the normal. This decomposition enables sin20C= J-t- (4)
us to study ray behavior within optical fibers. The
results of this procedure are discussed here. By rays
we mean the trajectories of the normals to local plane The summed power PTOT transmitted by the leaky and
waves. See Ref. 15 for mathematical details. trapped rays is proportional to the square of the
numerical aperture of the fiber for all skew rays,
A. Rays in the Slab (Refs. 5, 6, and 8) ignoring the refracted rays [Ref. 1, Eq. (2.39), with
There are two main classes of rays in the slab, n= no]. Thus, assuming a unit power source,
(i) trapped and (ii) refracted. The rays with 0,< 0 are
PTOT= PTR+PLR
trapped by total internal reflection. The rays with
02> 0, are attenuated by the well-known mechanism of
refraction loss. = 1--[(d-62)1+(1-25) cos'lV], (5)
7r
B. Rays in the Cylinder
where we have used the notation B= 1- (n2/nl)2 . The
There are three main classes of rays in the cylinder, percent leaky-ray power (% PLR) contribution to the
(i) trapped, (ii) refracted, and (iii) leaky. The rays total power predicted to be trapped by geometric optics
with 02<00 are trapped. The rays that make an angle is
2
ON< { (7r/ )- O0 with the normal attenuate by re- PLR
fraction. The third class of rays have 0,>0,, with % PLR= 10X (6)
ON> ( (Xr/2) - }J. These rays are trapped according to PTR+PLR
geometric optics; however, we now know that they
leak a small amount of energy. We call this third class and is illustrated in Fig. 2 vs sin200 . From this figure, we
of rays leaky rays. We refer the reader having difficulty can determine the contribution of leaky rays to the total
visualizing skew-ray propagation in an optical fiber light-transmitting property of the fiber, assuming a
to Ch. 2 of Ref. 1. diffuse or incoherent illumination. When nl n2, as
it is for optical-communication fibers,3 "' nearly. 50%
PROPERTIES AND SIGNIFICANCE of the power is initially launched into the leaky rays.
OF LEAKY RAYS The PTOT curve shows that, as the difference between
nl and n2 increases, the total power-transmission
Although most of what has been stated above is in capability of the fiber increases.
the literature in one form or another,',', 7"i0 the behavior We can easily construct illumination conditions for
and significance of leaky rays and the consequence of which only leaky rays are launched. We give three
their presence in any physical problem have remained well-known examples.
unappreciated or misunderstood. The remainder of this
paper is devoted to the task of filling this gap. (i) The light accepted by an optical fiber, due to
The most-general, descriptive property of leaky rays illumination at angles 02 of incidence greater than 00
is that they are more skew to the fiber axis than the but with ON> {(7r/ 2 )-A0), is transmitted as leaky
trapped rays. rays." 4 ,12
610 SNYDER, MITCHELL, AND PASK Vol. 64
10
F/6 2
1
(lib)
0E
-27rpn1 2 3 4 5 6
V= 0-ti. (1ic) ez/ec
The angles 02 and 0, are defined by Fig. 1 and 00 is FIG. 5. Same as Fig. 4 with V= 104.
given by Eq. (7). The modulus of the Hankel function,
IHI(Q) , is a smooth decreasing function of Q. When- figures shows the effect of approaching the geometric-
ever Q or l is large, the Hankel-function product in optics limit, i.e., the effect of increasing V defined by
Eq. (10) can be replaced by I Hi(Q) 12. Eq. (11c). In particular, as V - o the attenuation of
For a given V, a/0, is determined by specifying leaky rays decreases to zero, whereas the attenuation
02/00 and 0,D. In Fig. 3 we show the ray types associated of most of the refracted rays remains unchanged.
with these two parameters. Equation (10) simplifies in The attenuation coefficient associated with the curves
the special cases to be considered next. A, B, and C in the figures can be approximated by
40 ao 0\2/0 - 0o Vlot/c-h2
-V _ (12c)
0c, 0z+0c
30 for curve C.
cos O
10
8
OC
Ec
6
ocL
4
nv
'2 22 2-4 2-6 2-8
(/e
Cos 0,
10 0-9 &8 0-7 0-6 0-5 0A4 0-3
iod' I I I II 0O8 06 0-4 0-2 0
e,0 (deg)
FIG. 9. Attenuation of leaky rays. The heavy dashed curve
represents the critical angle.
z 0 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
-c (14) 8,o (deg)
p
FIG. 11. Attenuation of rays vs 0d when V = 500. Vertical
Let us calculate this a when z is equal to 103 m and bars indicate the critical angle, as in Fig. 10.
the fiber radius is p = 10-5 m. Then,
10-s will have its power reduced by half. Rays on this
a O.7 /p\ 0.7 fiber with a/C,< 10-"1 require a length greater than
ac
Z) oc(15)
Ac 106 m to decrease to half power, so that their attenu-
ation is negligible. The p and 0Cassumed in the fore-
where we have determined a/0C because that is how the going are typical of proposed multi-mode liquid-core
results are presented in Figs. 8 and 9. Typically, optical fibers"' when V- 100.
0-0.2, so that a ray on this fiber with a/0c of order Throughout most of the leaky-ray region, the attenu-
ation coefficient, as given by Eq. (10), is accurately
approximated by
incident ray in medium 1 must also travel in medium 2. which leaky-ray attenuation is negligible. In practice,
The wave in medium 2 must remain in step with that a is well approximated by Eq. (16).
in medium 1. Consequently, when the surface is curved,
the phase velocity of the wave in medium 2 may ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
exceed the velocity of a plane wave in medium 2. At
the position where this occurs, the power disassociates We thank Peter McIntyre and Rowland Sammut for
itself from the incident ray, i.e., it radiates into space. participating in numerous discussions that helped to
This position is found from electromagnetic theory to clarify the subject of this paper. We gratefully acknowl-
be at a radial distance r from the fiber axis, where for edge financial support by the Australian Post Office
leaky rays r=p sinO, cos0o/(sin2 0,-O,2)1 and r=p for and the stimulation of their optical group, particularly
refracted rays. Mr. Graeme Kidd.
DISCUSSION REFERENCES
'N. S. Kapany, Fiber Optics (Academic, New York, 1967),
Fresnel's laws predict zero loss for all leaky rays and 2
p. 31.
give an incorrect loss for refracted rays very near the V. Maxia, M. Murgia, and K. Testa, Appl. Opt. 12, 98
(1973).
critical angle. We have found the attenuation co- 3J. P. Dakin, W. A. Gambling, H. Matsumra, D. N. Payne,
efficient for all leaky rays and those refracted rays that and H. R. D. Sunak, Opt. Commun. 7, 1 (1973).
are weakly attenuated. That attenuation coefficient 4R. J. Potter, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 51, 1079 (1961).
'R. E. Collin, Field Theory of Guided Waves (McGraw-Hill,
makes it possible to extend the use of ray tracing and New York, 1960), p. 470.
Snell's laws for analyzing optical fibers. The power of 'N. S. Kapany and J. J. Burke, Optical Waveguides
(Academic, New York, 1972), p. 7.
each ray is determined from the attenuation coefficient 7
A. W. Snyder, IEEE Trans Microwave Theory Tech. 17,
by use of Eq. (9). Thus, a given by Eq. (10) provides a 1130 (1969).
generalized attenuation coefficient that accounts com- 'D. Marcuse, Light Transmission Optics (Van Nostrand
Reinhold, New York, 1972), p. 305.
pletely for the losses of all rays on a lossless fiber when 'A. W. Snyder and D. J. Mitchell, Electron. Lett. 9, 437
0, and O are small. Although the refracted rays are (1973).
usually attenuated rapidly, many leaky rays persist '"A. W. Snyder and C. Pask, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 63, 806 (1973).
"R.
12
D. Maurer, Proc. IEEE 61, 452 (1973).
over enormous distances. Mode theory is inadequate A. W. Snyder, C. Pask, and D. J. Mitchell, J. Opt. Soc. Am.
unless all leaky rays have been significantly attenuated. 63, 59 (1973).
"F. G. Reick, Appl. Opt. 4, 1395 (1965).
On the other hand, geometric optics, using Fresnel's ' 4D. Marcuse, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 63, 1372 (1973).
laws, can be useful only for short fibers, i.e., fibers for '5A. W. Snyder and D. J. Mitchell, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 64, 599 (1974).