Optical Fiber

Optical Fiber
A thin flexible wire with a glass core through which light signals can be sent with
very little loss of strength is known as optical fiber.
The use of thin flexible fibers of glass or other transparent solids to transmit light
signals, swiftly for telecommunication or for internal inspection of the body is
known as fiber optics.

Basic Elements
The three basic elements of fiber optics are the core, cladding and coating(jacket).
1.Core: The light transmission area of the fiber, either glass or plastic. The larger
the core, the lighter will be transmitted into fiber.
2.Cladding: The function of cladding is to provide a lower refractive index at the
core interface in order to cause reflection within the core so that light waves are
transmitted through the fiber.
3.Coating: Coatings are usually multi layers of plastic applied to preserve the fiber
strength, absorb shock and provide extra fiber protection. These buffer coatings
are available from 250 microns to 500 microns.
Fiber Size:
The size of optical fiber is completely referred to by the outer diameter of its core,
cladding and coating. For example: 50/125/250 indicates a fiber with 50 microns,
cladding of 125 microns and coating of 250 microns. The coating is always
removed when joining or connecting fibers. A micron is equal to a millionth of a
meter. 25 microns are equal to 0.0025cm.

Construction
Fiber optics technology relies on the fact its possible to send a light beam along a
thin fiber suitable created. It consists of a very thin fiber of silica or glass or plastic
of a high refractive index called the core. The core has a diameter of 10 μm to 100
μm. The core is enclosed by a cover of glass or plastic called cladding. The
refractive index of the cladding is less than that of the core (which is a must
condition for the working of the optical fiber). The difference between the two
indices is very small of order 10-3. The core and the cladding are enclosed in an
outer protective jacket made of plastic to provide strength to the optical fiber.
The refractive index can change from core to cladding abruptly (as in step-index
fiber) or gradually (as in graded-index fiber).

Types
There are different types of fiber optics cable that can be used and there are a
number of ways in which types maybe differentiated. There are two major
categories.
1.Step Index Optical Fiber
In step index optical fiber, the refractive index of the core μ1 is fixed and that of
the cladding μ2 is also fixed. The refractive index of the core is always higher than
that of the cladding. Therefore, there is a noticeable boundary between the core
and the cladding. In such fiber, there is high transmission loss due to splitting of
light signals. The step index optical fiber transmit light by reflection in general.
2.Gradede Index Optical Fiber
A graded-index or gradient-index fiber is an optical fiber whose core has a refractive
index that decreases with increasing radial distance from the optical axis of the
fiber.
Because parts of the core closer to the fiber axis have a higher refractive index than
the parts near the cladding, light rays follow sinusoidal paths down the fiber. The
most common refractive index profile for a graded-index fiber is very nearly
parabolic. The parabolic profile results in continual refocusing of the rays in the
core, and minimizes modal dispersion.
A. Single Mode fiber
In fiber-optic communication, a single-mode optical fiber (SMF), also known as
fundamental- or mono-mode, is an optical fiber designed to carry only a single
mode of light - the transverse mode. Modes are the possible solutions of the
Helmholtz equation for waves, which is obtained by combining Maxwell's
equations and the boundary conditions. These modes define the way the wave
travels through space, i.e., how the wave is distributed in space. Waves can have
the same mode but have different frequencies. This is the case in single-mode
fibers, where we can have waves with different frequencies, but of the same mode,
which means that they are distributed in space in the same way, and that gives us
a single ray of light. Although the ray travels parallel to the length of the fiber, it is
often called transverse mode since its electromagnetic oscillations occur
perpendicular (transverse) to the length of the fiber.
A typical single-mode optical fiber has a core diameter between 8 and 10.5 µm and
a cladding diameter of 125 µm. There are a number of special types of single-mode
optical fiber which have been chemically or physically altered to give special
properties, such as dispersion-shifted fiber and nonzero dispersion-shifted fiber.
Data rates are limited by polarization mode dispersion and chromatic dispersion.
As of 2005, data rates of up to 10 gigabits per second were possible at distances of
over 80 km (50 mi) with commercially available transceivers. By using optical
amplifiers and dispersion-compensating devices, state-of-the-art DWDM optical
systems can span thousands of kilometers at 10 Gbit/s, and several hundred
kilometers at 40 Gbits.
B. Multimode fiber
Multi-mode optical fiber is a type of optical fiber mostly used for communication
over short distances, such as within a building or on a campus. Multi-mode links
can be used for data rates up to 100 Gbit. Multi-mode fiber has a fairly large core
diameter that enables multiple light modes to be propagated and limits the
maximum length of a transmission link because of modal dispersion.
Multi-mode fibers are described by their core and cladding diameters. Thus,
62.5/125 μm multi-mode fiber has a core size of 62.5 micrometers (μm) and a
cladding diameter of 125 μm. The transition between the core and cladding can be
sharp, which is called a step-index profile, or a gradual transition, which is called a
graded-index profile. The two types have different dispersion characteristics and
thus different effective propagation distance. Multi-mode fibers may be
constructed with either graded or step-index profile.
Because of its high capacity and reliability, multi-mode optical fiber generally is
used for backbone applications in buildings. An increasing number of users are
taking the benefits of fiber closer to the user by running fiber to the desktop or to
the zone. Standards-compliant architectures such as Centralized Cabling and fiber
to the telecom enclosure offer users the ability to leverage the distance capabilities
of fiber by centralizing electronics in telecommunications rooms, rather than
having active electronics on each floor.

Attenuation within an Optical Fiber:

Although fiber optics cables provide a far superior performance to that which can
be achieved with other forms of cable, they nevertheless suffer from some level of
attenuation. This is caused by several effects.
1.Loss Associated with impurities:
There will always be some level of impurity in the core of the optical fiber. One
major impurity is the water that remains within the fiber.
2.Loss associated with Cladding:
When light reflects of the interface between the cladding and the core, the light
will actually travel into core a small distance before being reflected back. This
process causes a small but significant level of loss and is one of the main
contributors to all over attenuation of the signal along on fiber optics cable.
3.Loss Associated with Wavelength
It is found that the level of signal attenuation in the fiber optics cable depends on
the wavelength used. The level increases at certain wavelengths as a result of
certain impurities.
Despite the fact that attenuation is an issue it is nevertheless possible to transmit
data along the single mode fibers for considerable distances. Line carrying data
rates up to 50 Gbps are able to cover distances of 100 km without the need of
amplification.

Materials used for optical fiber

There are two main types of material used for optical fibers. These are glass and
plastic. They offer widely different characteristics and therefore fibers made from
the substances find uses in very different applications.

Principle of Light Propagation Through a Fiber

1.Total Internal Reflection
a. Index of Refractions
This is the measuring of speed of light in respective medium. It is calculated by
dividing speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in material. The refractive
index for vacuum is 1, for the cladding material of the optical fiber is 1.46, the core
value of refractive index is 1.48, the core RI must be more than cladding material
RI for transmission, it means signal will travel around 200 million meters per
second.
b. Snell’s Law
In order to understand propagation of fibers, Snell’s law is used.
 From above figure, n1 sinθ1=n2 sinθ2
i.e. n1 sin I =n2 sin r
Where n represents the refractive index of material and θ1 and θ2 are angles of
refractive medium. Higher refractive index means denser medium.

2. Acceptance Angle
The maximum incidence angle below which the ray undergoes the total internal
reflection is called Acceptance angle.

Fig: Light propagation in optical fiber

From Snell’s law, n1 sin I =n2 sin r
Now, the angle of incidence is I is the critical angle when angle of refraction r is
right angle;
n1 sin c = n2 sin 90
sin c=n2/n1………………………(i)
Consider a ray of incident on optical fiber making an angle I with the axis from
outside. The refractive index of outside air is n1 and cladding is n2 respectively.
Again, from the Snell’s law, for ray from air to core
n0 sin I = n1 sin θ……………….(ii)
for ray from core to cladding;
n1 sin C =n2 sin 90……………..(iii)
from equn (ii)
(n0/n1) sin I = sin θ
(n0/n1) sin I = sin(90-C)
(n0/n1) sin I = cos C………….(iv)
Squaring and adding equn (i) and (iv), we get
(Sin I )^2=(n1)^2-(n2)^2
So I = sin-1 (√((n1)^2-(n2)^2))
i.e. I = sin-1 (NA)
where NA=(√((n1)^2-(n2)^2))
i.e. NA = n1√2Δ
where Δ is a fractional refractive index.
Applications
1. Communication Systems
2. Medical Equipment
3. Fairy Lights
4. Internet
5. Surgery and Dentistry
6. Computer Networking
7. Automotive Industry
8. Telephone
9. Inspection Devices
10. Military Applications
11. Space Applications
12. Cable Television