Ex No: OPTICAL FIBER - MEASUREMENT OF ATTENUATION LOSS &

Date: NUMERICAL APERTURE

AIM
1) To determine the numerical aperture of the fiber cable and acceptance angle.
2) To study various type of losses occur in optical fibers and measure the loss in dB of two
optical fiber patch cords.

APPARATUS REQUIRED
Fiber optic LED light source, Fiber optic power meter, Fiber optic (FO) cable 1 meter,
FO cable 5 meter, In line Adaptor, NA screen and mandrel.

FORMULA
Numerical Aperture = NA = 𝐖
√(𝟒𝐋𝟐+𝐖𝟐)

Angle of Acceptance
θmax = sin–1(NA)
W – Diameter of red spot
L – Distance of the screen from fiber end

Attenuation Loss = (Pin - Pout) dB

Pin - Input power in dB
Pout - Output power in dB

PROCEDURE
Measurement of Numerical Aperture:
Step (i)
Connect one end of the 1 meter FO cable to the FO LED and the other end to the NA
as shown in fig.
Step (ii)
Plug the AC main light should appear at the end of the fiber on the NA.
Step (iii)
 Hold the wire with the 4 concentric circles (5, 10, 15, 20 & 25 mm diameter)
vertically at a suitable distance to make the red spot from the emitting fiber coincide
with the 10 mm circle. Note that, the circumference of the spot (outer most) must
coincide with the circle. A dark room with facilitate good contrast, note the distance
of the screen from fiber end (L) and diameter of the spot (W), you may measure the
W accurately with suitable scale.
Step (iv)
Repeat the experiment for 10, 15, 20, 25 mm and tabulate all readings. Calculate the
Numerical Aperture and angle of acceptance from the formula:
Numerical Aperture = NA = W
√(4L2+W2)
Angle of Acceptance = θmax = sin–1(NA)

Measurement of Attenuation:
Step 1 Connect one end of the 1 meter FO cable to the FO LED and the other end to the
FO power meter.
Step 2 Plug the AC mains. Connect the optical fiber patch cord scarcely, as shown after
relieving all twist and strains on the Fiber. Note the value on the power meter P01.
Step 3 Wind 4 turns of the fiber on the mandrel and note the new reading of the power
meter P02. Now the loss due to bending and strain on the plastic Fiber is P01 ~
P02.
Step 4 Repeat the measurement with the 5 meter cable and note the reading P03 and P04.
Now the loss due to bending and strain on the plastic fibre is P03 - P04 dB.
Note the Power meter reading P05 with inline adaptor, first cable and second cable.
P05 ~ P01 gives loss in the second cable plus the loss due to inline adaptor.
P05 ~ P03 gives loss in the first cable plus the loss due to in-line adaptor.
Assuming a loss of 1.0 dB in the adaptor, we obtain the loss in cable.

OBSERVATION
Length of fiber L (10–2 m) W (10–3 m) NA = 𝐖 θmax = sin–1(NA)
√(𝟒𝐋𝟐+𝐖𝟐)
0.2 5
1 meter 0.4 10
0.6 15
0.8 20
1 25
Mean
P01 = dB = Reading shown by the power meter with 1 m cable
P02 = dB = Reading shown by the power meter at 4 turns of the fiber on the mandrel
P03 = dB = Reading shown by the power meter with 5 m cable
P04 = dB = Reading shown by the power meter at 4 turns of the fiber on the mandrel
P05 = dB = Power meter reading with inline adaptor, 1 m cable and 2 m cable
CALCULATION

Loss due to bending and strain on the plastic fiber (for 1 meter) = P01 ~ P02 = ------------
Loss due to bending and strain on the plastic fiber (for 5 meter) = P03 ~ P04 = -----------
Loss due to in-line adaptor and the 5 m cable = P05 ~ P01 = ------------
Loss due to in-line adaptor and the 1 m cable = P05 ~ P03 =---------

RESULTS
(i) Numerical aperture of the given fiber cable for 1 meter = NA = .
(ii) Angle of acceptance = θmax = ( )o ( )’
(iii) Attenuation loss in the given Fiber optic cable
a) P01 ~ P02 = dB (loss due to strain)
b) P03 ~ P04 = dB (loss due to strain)
c) P05 ~ P01 = dB (Linear loss)
d) P05 ~ P03 = dB (Linear loss)