What is an optical network?
An optical network connects computers Optical Detectors • Optical detector is an essential component of an optical receiver
(or any other device which can generate or store data in electronic form)
using optical fibers. Optical fiber is essentially very thin glass cylinders or
filaments which carry signals in the form of light (optical signals)
Why do we need optical networks?  Demand for bandwidth 2 The treme
ndous growth of connected users online 3 More and more bandwidth-inten
sive network applications: • Data browsing on the internet. • Applications
requiring large bandwidth . • Video conferencing
Advantages of optical networks 1 High speed capability (theoretically possible
to send 50 Terabits per second using a single fiber) 2Low signal attenuation 3
Low signal distortion 4Low power requirement 5 Low material usage 6 Small
space requirements 7 Low cost 8 Immunity to electrical interference
The technology of using multiple optical signals on the same fiber is called
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM).
Optical Isolator • An optical isolator is a device that allows light to propagate
through it in one direction, but not in the opposite direction. • Isolators are
useful as valves that allow propagation in only one direction. They are used in
high-power applications, for which one desires one-way transmission of light.
A basic optical circulator is a three-terminal
device as illustrated in Figure, where terminal 1 is the input port and terminal 2
is the output port, while the reflected signal back into terminal 2 will be
redirected to terminal 3 instead of terminal 1. • An optical circulator is a device
that is based on the nonreciprocal polarization of an optical signal by Faraday effect.
Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) As a resonant structure,
the FBG will act as a wavelength selective mirror.
It consists of distributed Bragg reflectors in a short
segment of optical fiber that reflects particular
wavelength light and transmits all others, Optical circulators have many applications
in optical communication systems and optical instrumentations for redirecting optical.
Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (OADM) The primary application of fiber Bragg gratings
is in optical communications systems. It is specifically used as notch filters. They are also
used inoptical multiplexers and demultiplexers with an optical circulator, or optical add-
drop multiplexer (OADM). Figure 5 shows 4 channels, depicted as 4 colours, impinging
onto a FBG via an optical circulator. The FBG is set to reflect one of the channels, here
channel 4.The signal is reflected back to the circulator where it is directed down and
dropped out of the system. Since the channel has been dropped, another signal on that
channel can be added at the same point in the network.
OTDR • It is a fiber optic instrument used to characterize, troubleshoot and maintain
optical telecommunication networks. • OTDR testing is performed by transmitting and
analyzing gpulsed laser light traveling through an optical fiber. • The measurement is
said to be unidirectional as the light is insert at extremity of a fiber optic link.
which converts received optical signal into an electrical signal. • Photodetectors can
influance the performance of a fiber optic communication link. Requirements of
Optical detector High sensitivity at the operating wavelength  High Fidelity  Large
electrical response to the optical signal  Short response time to obtain a suitable
bandwidth  A minimum noise introduced by the detector  Stability of performance
characteristics  Small Size  Low bias voltage  High reliability
Types of Optical Detector 1. PIN photodiode 2. Avalanche photodiode 3. Pn
photodiode Pn photodiode:--A reverse bias p-n junction consists of a region, known as
depletion region Electron-hole pairs are created through absorption when such p-n
junction is illuminated with light on one side Because of the large built-in electric field,
electrons and holes generated inside the depletion region accelerate opposite directions
and drift to n and p sides respectively. The resulting flow of current is proportional to the
incident optical power A reverse bias pn junction acts as a photodetector and is referred
as pn photodiode
• PIN photodiode has an intrinsic semiconductor region sandwiched between a p-doped
and an n-doped region . • PIN photodiode is reverse-biased so that intrinsic (i) region
has no free charges, its resistance is high. • Since the electric field is high in the i region,
any electron-hole pairs generated by optical radiation in this region are immediately
swept away by the field. • The resulting flow of current is proportional to the incident
optical power Advantages of the p–i–n ! Intrinsic layer is thick, so more number of
incident photons enter into this layer and generate electron hole pair, so results in the
high quantum efficiency of the device. 2 Reverse biasing voltage is small (usually 50)
because the thickness of the depletion region is controlled by the thickness of the
intrinsic layer, not by reverse voltage.
High bandwidth (Efforts to improve the bandwidth of 110 Ghz).
Avalanche photodiodes(APD) The diode which uses the avalanche method to provide
extra performance as compared to other diodes is known as avalanche photodiode.
Avalanche breakdown occurs mainly once the photodiode is subjected to maximum
reverse voltage. This voltage enhances the electric field beyond the depletion layer.
When incident light penetrates the p+ region then it gets absorbed within the
extremely resistive p region then electron-hole pairs are generated.
The reach-through avalanche photodiode (RAPD) is composed of a high-resistivity p-
type material deposited as an epitaxial layer on a pt (heavily doped p-type) substrate. A
p-type diffusion or ion implant is then made in the high-resistivity material, followed by
the construction of an nt (heavily doped n-type) layer.