Power Launching and Coupling

Introduction
 In implementating an optical fiber link, two of the major system questions are:
 How to launch optical power into a particular fiber from some type of luminescent source
 How to couple optical power from one fiber into another.

 To measure of the amount of optical power emitted from a source that can be coupled into a fiber is
usually given by the coupling efficiency η defind as:
power coupled into the fiber PF
 
power emitted from the sourse Ps
 Many source suppliers offer devices with short length of optical fiber (1m or less) already attached in
an optimum power coupling configuration.

 Generally referred fiber is flylead or a pigtail.

2
 Source to fiber power launching
Source Output Pattern:
To determine the optical power accepting
capability of a fiber the spatial radiation pattern of
the source must first be know.
This pattern can be fairly complex.
Fig. shows a spherical coordinate system
characterized by R, ϕ and θ with the normal to the
emitting surface being the polar axis.
The emission pattern for a lambertian source
thus follows the realtionship.
B ( ,  )  B0 cos 
Power
B
Area×Solid Angle
Spherical coordinate syatem for characterizing
B0 is the radiance along the normal to the the emission pattern from an optical source
radiating surface.
 Power coupling calculation
• To calculate the maximum optical power coupled into a fiber, consider first the case
shown in fig. for symmetric source of brightness B( As ,  s ).
• The coupled power can be found using the relationship.

P  dA  d  B( A ,  )
Af
s
f
s s s

A
rm 2
 2 
  
0 0

 0

0
B ( ,  ) sin  d d  d s rdr


As and  s : area and solid emission angle of the source

A f and  f : area and solid acceptance angle of fiber

 Power coupling calculation
A
rm 2
 2 
P  0 
0 B( ,  ) sin  d d  d s rdr
 0
0 
A
rs 2
 
P 0  2 B0 0 cos  sin  d  d s rdr
0  
rs 2
  B0    Ad s rdr
sin 2

0 0

 r 2

  B0 ( NA)   (2 )
2 s

 2

PLED,step   rs B0 ( NA)  2 rs B0 n1 
2 2 2 2 2 2
 Power coupling calculation
• Now the total optical power Ps that is emitted from the source of area A s into a
hemisphere. This is given by
2  / 2
Ps  As 
0 0
B ( ,  ) sin dd

 /2
Ps  rs 2B0  cos sin d  
2 2 2
rs B0
0

PLED,step   2 rs 2 B0 (NA) 2  2 2 rs 2 B0 n12 

 Ps ( NA ) 2 if rs  a 
 
PLED,step   a  2 

  s  P ( NA ) 2
if rs  a 
 rs  
 Power coupling calculation
• The power coupled from a surface emitting LED into graded index fiber becomes (for r s < ɑ)
A
rm 2
 2 
P  0 
0 B( ,  ) sin  d d  d s rdr
 0
0 
A
rs 2
 
P 0  2 B0 0 cos  sin  d  d s rdr
0  
rs 2
  B0    A d s rdr
sin 2

0 0
rs

 B0 (2 2 )  ( NA) 2 rdr

0
rs

PLED,graded  2 2 B0   n 2 (r )  n22  rdr

0
 Power coupling calculation
• The power coupled from a surface emitting LED into graded index fiber becomes
(for rs < ɑ)
rs

PLED,graded  2 2
B  n
0
2 2
2 
(r )  n rdr
0

 2  rs  
 2 Ps n1  1 
2
  
   2    

• When source radius is larger than the fibe core radius, the upper limit of intergration
becomes r=a, and only the radiance from the fractional area (a/rs)2 is couple into the
fiber.
Lensing schemes for coupling improvement
Thanks
Joints, Splicing and Connectors
 Fiber-to-Fiber Joints
Fiber Joints
 Source- Fiber
 Fiber- Fiber
 Fiber- Detector

 Manufacturers supply Electro-optical devices (Sources and Detectors) with

fiber optic pigtail to facilitate direct fiber-fiber connection

 IMPORTANT ASPECT IS FIBER-TO- FIBER CONNECTION WITH LOW

LOSS AND MINIMUM DISTORTION
 Fiber-to-Fiber Joints
Two major categories of fiber joints:

 FIBER SPLICES: Permanent or Semi-permanent joints

 FIBER CONNECTORS: Demountable or Removable joints

 FIBER COUPLERS: Branching devices

• Splitters or Combiners
• Importance in Networks
12/05/23
 Fiber-to-Fiber Joints
 Different modal distributions of the optical beam emerging from a fiber result in different
degrees of coupling loss:
(a) When all modes are equally excited,
the output beam fill the entire output NA.
(b) For a steady state modal distribution
only the equilibrium NA is filled by the
output beam.
 Joints: Mechanical Misalignment
 Mechanical alignment is a major problem when joining two fibers owing to
their microscopic size.

 Standard multimode graded index fiber core is 50-100 micrometer in diameter.

 Single mode fibers have diameters on the order of 9 micrometer.

 Joints: Fiber Related Losses
 aR 2
 10 log( ) for aR  aE
LF ( a )   aE
0 for aR  aE

If the radii and the index profile of two coupled fibers are identical
but their axial numerical apertures are different, then
  NA R (0) 
2

10 log   for NA R (0)  NA E (0)

LF ( NA)    NA E (0) 

0 for NA R (0)  NA E (0)
Coupling loss is:
  R ( R  2)
 10 log for aR  aE
LF ( )    E ( R  2)
0 for aR  aE

 Joints: Fiber End Face Preparation
 One of the first steps that must be followed before fibers are connected or spliced to each
other is to prepare the fiber end faces properly.
 The EIA fiber optic test procedures 57 and 179 define these and other common end face
defects as follows.
 Lip
 Rolloff
 Chip
 Hankle
 Mist
 Spiral or step
 Shattering
 Fiber Splicing

Splicing: Permanent or semipermanent joint between two fibers

Requirements of Splicing:
 Splices should cause minimum power loss
 It should cause low attenuation
 It should be easy to install
 It should be strong with light weight
Splicing Techniques:
 Fusion Splicing of optical fibers
 Mechanical Splicing
• V-groove Splice
• Elastic-tube Splice
 Fiber Splicing
Splicing Techniques: Permanent or semipermanent joint between two fibers
 Fusion splicing:

 V-groove optical fiber splicing technique:

 Fiber Splicing
Splicing Techniques:
 Alignment concept for an elastic tube splice
 Fiber Splicing
Splicing single mode fibers:
 As is the case in multimode fibers inn single mode fibers the lateral offset
misalignment presents the most serious loss.
 Gaussian shaped beams the loss between identical fibers is:
where: spot size W is the mode field radius
d is the lateral displacement.
 For angular misalignment in single mode fibers, the loss at wavelength is:
where: n2 is refractive index of cladding
θ is angular misaligment in radius

 Gap loss for indentical single mode fiber splices is:

2 2
64n1 n
LSM :gap  10 log 3

n1  n3  G  4
4 2
 Optical Fiber Connectors
• Some of the principal requirements of a good connector design are as follows:
1- Low coupling losses
2- Interchangeability
3- Ease of assembly
4- Low environmental sensitivity
5- Low-cost and reliable construction
6- Ease of connection
 Connection Types
• Connectors are available in designs that screw on, twist on, or snao into place.
• Most commonly used connectors are twist on and snap on design.
• As shown in figure two alignment schemes used in fiber optic connectors:
(a) straight sleeve and (b) tapered sleeve
 Connection Types
 Figure shows expanded beam connector.
 Employs lenses on the ends of the fibers.
 These lenses either collimate the light emerging from the transmitting fiber, or focus
the expanded beam onto the core of the receiving fiber.
 Fiber to lens distance is equal to the focal length of the lens.
Thanks