Communication systems in electromagnetic

spectrum

Greater the carrier frequency, larger the available transmission bandwidth

and larger the information carrying capacity
 history
•1880: invention of photo-phone by Alexander Graham Bell
•1960: Invention of laser-coherent light source
•1966: Use of dielectric waveguide for propagation of light (loss 1000dB/km)
•1976: loss is minimized to 5dB/km with suitable low loss joining techniques
•1973, 1977: lasers with suitable lifetime-1000hrs,7000hrs respectively.
Material AlGaAs for 0.8 and 0.9 μm
•Later on: Material InGaAsP for 1.1 & 1.6 μm with lifetime 25yrs @10’C and
100yrs@70’C.
•1310nm-No dispersion
•1550nm- Low loss 0.2dB/km
•Dispersion shifted and dispersion flattened fibers
•Advancement in the technologies of fiber components( joint, coupler,
connector) and opto-electronic devices( sources, detectors and amplifier)
 Major elements of an optical fiber
transmission link

(a) The general communication system. (b) The optical fiber communication
system
 Major elements of an optical fiber
transmission link

A digital optical fiber link using a semiconductor laser source and an

avalanche photodiode (APD) detector
Installation of OFC

•On poles

•In ducts

•Undersea

•Buried directly
 Advantages of ofc
•Enormous potential bandwidth: 1013 to 1016 Hz(Coaxial cable: 500MHz,
mm waves:700MHz)
•Small size and weight
•Electrical isolation: fabricated from glass or plastic polymer
•Immunity to interference and crosstalk: free from electromagnetic
interference and radio frequency interference
•Signal security: does not radiate significantly
•Low transmission loss: 0.2 dB/km@1550nm
•Ruggedness and flexibility: high tensile strength, flexible upto some
extent with protective coatings
•System reliability and ease of maintenance: Low loss property reduces the
need for repeaters, Predicted lifetime-20-30 yrs
•Potential low cost: made from sand- not a scarce resource.
Production in bulk leads to very low cost.
 Structure of a fiber

n1
n2

n1>n2
Core and Cladding are glass with appropriate optical properties while buffer
is plastic for mechanical protection
 The nature of light

• Ray Theory – Light travels along a straight line and obeys laws
of geometrical optics.

• Wave Theory – Light travels as a transverse electromagnetic

wave

• Quantum Theory – Light consists of small particles (photons)

 Reflection and refraction

Snell’s Law: n1 Sin Φ1 = n2 Sin Φ2

Critical Angle:
Sin Φc=n2/n1

Light rays incident on a high to low refractive index interface (e.g. glass–air):
(a) refraction; (b) the limiting case of refraction showing the critical ray at an
angle φc; (c) total internal reflection where φ > φc
 Total internal reflection

Lost
B
n2 <  c Cladding Maximum acceptance angle
max is that which just gives
n0 n1 >  c Propagates total internal reflection at the

A
core-cladding interface, i.e.
Fiber axis
Core when  = max then  =  c.
m a x
Rays with  > max (e.g. ray
A B) become refracted and
penetrate the cladding and ar
B
m a x eventually lost.

© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

Meridional ray representation

n n
2 2
n2
 1
2
 1
2
2n1 n1
 Skew rays representation
Along the fiber
1 3 1, 3
Meridional ray
l
(a) A meridiona ray
always crosses the
Fiber axis
fiber axis.

2 2

1 (b) A skew ray

2 1 does not have
Skew ray 2
Fiber axis
to cross the
5
3 fiber axis. It
5 zigzags around
3 4
4 the fiber axis.

Ray path along the fiber Ray path projected

on to a plane normal
to fiber axis
Illustration of the difference between a meridional ray and a skew ray.
Numbers represent reflections of the ray.

© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

 Skew rays representation

Skew rays circulate around the core and

increase the dispersion
Acceptance angle

Meridional rays

The acceptance angle θa when launching light into an optical fiber

numerical aperture

The ray path for a meridional ray launched into an optical fiber in air
at an input angle less than the acceptance angle for the fiber
 Snell’s law given by
Considering the right-angled triangle ABC indicated in Figure

where φ is greater than the critical angle at the core–cladding interface.

When the limiting case for total internal reflection is considered, φ becomes
equal to the critical angle for the core–cladding interface and θ1 becomes the
acceptance angle for the fiber θa. Combining these limiting cases
Critical Angle:
Sin Φc=n2/n1
Numerical aperture (NA)is defined as
NA may also be given in terms of the relative refractive index difference Δ
Between the core and the cladding
Hence combining the equations
 Normalized frequency
Normalized frequency may be expressed in terms of the numerical aperture NA
and the relative refractive index difference Δ,respectively, as:

a = core diameter
λ = wavelength

Modes in a planar guide

•The ray model does not predict correctly that even after total internal
reflection there will be some field in the cladding
•Inside a fiber core the optical energy gets guided i.e. the energy propagates
along the axis of the core and the fields exponentially decay in the cladding
away from the core-cladding interface.
The planar guide is the simplest form of optical waveguide. We may assume
it consists of a slab of dielectric with refractive index n1 sandwiched
between two regions of lower refractive index n2.
 Mode of a beam of electromagnetic radiation is a particular electromagnetic
field pattern of radiation.

Figure 2.8 The formation of a mode in a planar dielectric guide: (a) a plane wave
propagating in the guide shown by its wave vector or equivalent ray – the wave vector
is resolved into components in the z and x directions; (b) the interference of plane
waves in the guide forming the lowest order mode (m = 0)
Single mode and multi mode fiber

The refractive index profile and ray transmission in step index fibers:(a) multimode step index
fiber; (b) single-mode step index fiber
Single mode and multi mode fiber
 Cut-off wavelength
single-mode operation only occurs above a theoretical cutoff wavelength λc given
by:
where Vc is the cutoff normalized frequency.
Thus for step index fiber where Vc = 2.405, the cutoff wavelength is given by

Mode field diameter and spot size

MFD is generally taken as the distance between the opposite 1/e = 0.37
field amplitude points and the power 1/e2 = 0.135 points in relation to the
corresponding values on the fiber axis

Field amplitude distribution E(r) of the fundamental mode in a single-mode fiber illustrating
the mode-field diameter (MFD) and spot size (ω0)
 Mode coupling
Due to waveguide perturbations such as deviations of the fiber axis from
straightness,variations in the core diameter, irregularities at the core–cladding
interface and refractive index variations may change the propagation
characteristics of the fiber.

Effective refractive index

The propagation constant of an electromagnetic wave is a measure of the
change undergone by the amplitude of the wave as it propagates in a given
direction.
The rate of change of phase of the fundamental mode propagating along a
straight fiber is determined by the phase propagation constant β

neff, by the ratio of the propagation constant of the fundamental mode to that of
the vacuum propagation constant:
 Step index fiber

The refractive index profile and ray transmission in step index fibers:
(a) multimode step index fiber; (b) single-mode step index fiber
 Single mode Step index fiber
r
Buffer tube: d = 1mm

Protective polymerinc coating

Cladding: d = 125 - 150 m
n
n1 Core: d = 8 - 10 m
n2

The cross section of a typical single-mode fiber with a tight buffer

tube. (d = diameter)
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

Note: For multimode step index fiber d=50μm

 graded index fiber

The refractive index profile and ray transmission in a multimode graded

index fiber

Possible fiber refractive index profiles for different values

of α
 Step and graded index fiber
n2
n1
3 (a) Multimode step
2 index fiber. Ray paths
1 n are different so that
O
rays arrive at different
times.

n2
(b) Graded index fiber.
3 Ray paths are different
2 but so are the velocities
O 1 n along the paths so that
O' O'' 2 n1 all the rays arrive at the
3
same time.

n2
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
Comparison of fiber structures
Fiber key parameters for
multimode fiber
 Waveguide fabrication

•Good stable transmission characteristics in long lengths at a

minimum cost and with maximum reproducibility.
•Size, refractive indices and index profiles, operating wavelengths,
materials, etc., be available in order to fulfill many different system
applications.
•Should be converted into practical cables.
•The fibers and fiber cables may be terminated and connected
together ( jointed) without excessive practical difficulties and in
ways which limit the effect of this process on the fiber transmission
characteristics
 Fiber Materials
1. Plastics Fibers
The plastics offers advantages in terms of cost, ease of fabrication and
have high mechanical flexibility. They have high transmission losses and
are often useful for short distance communication. Polystyrene core
(refractive index = 1.6) and Polymethylmethaacrylate (PMMA)
cladding (refractive index = 1.49) => NA=0.583 and acceptance angle
=35.66 deg.
Two main type of materials are there for making optical fibers.
Polymethylmethaacrylate core (refractive index = 1.49) and Polymer
cladding
2. Glasses Fibers
Mainly two types of glass fibers are there based on the
(i) Silica glass (SiO2)
(ii) Soft glasses such as Sodium borosilicates, Sodium calcium silicates,
and Lead silicates. These are high purity low loss optical fibers.
(refractive index = 1.40) => NA=0.51 and acceptance angle = 30.66
degrees.
Obvious requirement of the material is that it must be possible to vary
the refractive index by addition of other impurities.

Pure Silica has refractive index =1.46 at 1 micron.

Other dopants like (Fluorine, Boron, Phosphorus, Germanium,

Aluminium and Titanium are added to it to change its refractive index.
Glass fibers can be made with a relatively wide range of refractive
index but the control of impurity content is more difficult than with
silica where it can be controlled up to 1ppb level.
 Materials for waveguide fabrication

The variation in the refractive index of silica using various dopants.

 Methods of fabrication
(a) conventional glass refining techniques: melting methods
(b) vapor-phase deposition methods
Liquid-phase (melting) techniques
Preparation:
•Preparation of ultrapure material powders: 1 in 109 or 20 in 109 impurity
level.(Purification may include fine filtration and precipitation, followed
by solvent extraction before re crystallization and final drying in a
vacuum to remove any residual OH ions).
•These high-purity, powdered, low-melting-point glass materials to form
a homogeneous, bubble-free multi component glass @900°C to 1300°C.
RF furnace can be used to avoid inhomogeneities in the structure.
•Glass is alsohomogenized and dried by bubbling pure gases through the
melt, while protecting against any airborne dust particles either
originating in the melt furnace or present as atmospheric contamination.
•After the melt has been suitably processed, it is cooled and formed into
long rods (cane) of multi component glass.
 Fiber drawing: Making preforms

Glassmaking furnace for the production of

high-purity glasses

High-purity melting using a radio-frequency

induction furnace
The double-crucible method for fiber drawing
 Vapor-phase deposition techniques

Schematic illustration of the vapor-phase deposition techniques used in the

preparation of low-loss optical fibers
•The starting materials are volatile compounds such as SiCl4, GeCl4,
SiF4, BCl3, O2, BBr3 and POCl3 which may be distilled to reduce the
concentration of most transition metal impurities to below one part in
109.
•Can produce low attenuation (0.18 dB km−1 at 1.55 μm) and low
dispersion (i.e. Less than 3.5 ps nm−1 km−1 between 1.285 and 1.330
μm) fiber.
•Types: flame hydrolysis and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods
•The process is governed by following chemical reactions:
 Outside vapor-phase oxidation process
• required glass composition is deposited laterally from a ‘soot’
generated by hydrolyzing the halide vapors in an oxygen–hydrogen
flame.
•Oxygen is passed through the appropriate silicon compound (i.e. SiCl4)
which is vaporized, removing any impurities.
•Dopants such as GeCl4 or TiCl4 are added and the mixture is blown through
the oxygen–hydrogen flame

Schematic diagram of the OVPO process for the preparation of optical fibers: (a) soot
deposition: (b) preform sintering; (c) fiber drawing.
 •The preform may contain both core and cladding glasses by properly
varying the dopant concentrations during the deposition process.
•Several kilometers (around 10 km of 120 μm core diameter fiber have
been produced.
•Fine control of the index gradient for graded index fibers may be
achieved using this process as the gas flows can be adjusted at the
completion of each traverse of the burner.
Vapor axial deposition (VAD)
•The vaporized constituents are injected from burners and react to form
silica soot by flame hydrolysis.
•This is deposited on the end of the starting target in the axial direction
forming a solid porous glass preform.
•The preform which is growing in the axial direction is pulled upwards at a
rate which corresponds to the growth rate. It is initially dehydrated by
heating with SOCl2 using the reaction:
The fabrication of extremely low-
attenuation pure silica core single-mode
fiber with a median attenuation (for more
than 2000 km of fiber) of 0.35 dB km−1 and
0.21 dB km−1 at wavelengths of 1.30 μm
and 1.55 μm respectively while also
exhibiting a minimum loss of 0.154 dB
km−1 over the wavelength range 1.55 to
1.56 μm

The VAD process

 Modified chemical vapor deposition
•MCVD process is an inside vapor-phase oxidation (IVPO) technique which
takes place inside a silica tube.
•Reduces the OH impurity concentration.
•minimum losses of 0.34 dB km−1 with multimode fiber at a wavelength of
1.55 μm. 2.8, 0.45 and 0.35 dB km−1 at wavelengths of 0.82, 1.3 and 1.5 μm
respectively for 100-200km link length

Schematic diagram showing the MCVD method for the preparation of optical fibers: (a)
deposition; (b) collapse to produce a preform; (c) fiber drawing
Plasma-activated chemical vapor deposition
(PCVD)
•The essential difference between this technique and the MCVD process
is the stimulation of oxide formation by means of a nonisothermal
plasma maintained at low pressure in a microwave cavity (2.45 GHz)
which surrounds the tube.
•High deposition efficiency allows the composition of the layers to be
accurately varied by control of the vapor-phase reactants
•low-pulse dispersion of less than 0.8 ns km−1, for fibers with
attenuations of between 3 and 4 dB km−1, at a wavelength of 0.85 μm

The apparatus utilized in the PCVD process

 Self study
Compare all the fiber types for the following parameters-

Structure
Core diameter:
Cladding diameter:
Buffer jacket diameter:
Numerical aperture:
Figure:
Performance characteristics
Attenuation:
Bandwidth:
Applications: