UNIT-V

Source-to-Fiber Power Launching

 A convenient and useful measure of the optical output
of a luminescent source is its radiance.

 Radiance is the optical power radiated into a unit solid

angle per unit emitting surface area.

 Since the optical power that can be coupled into a fiber

depends on the radiance.

 The radiance of an optical source rather than the total

output power is the important parameter when
considering source-to-fiber coupling efficiencies.
 Source Output Pattern

 Spherical coordinate system characterized by R, , and ϕ,

with the normal to the emitting surface being the polar
axis.

 The radiance may be a function of both , and ϕ, and can

also vary from point to point on the emitting surface.

 A reasonable assumption for simplicity of analysis is to

take the emission to be uniform across the source area.
Fig: Spherical coordinate system for characterizing the emission pattern
from an optical source
Surface-emitting LEDs are characterized by their
lambertian output pattern, which means the source is
equally bright when viewed from any direction.

The power delivered at an angle , measured relative to a

normal to the emitting surface, varies as cos because the
projected area of the emitting surface varies as cos with
viewing direction.

The emission pattern for a lambertian source thus follows

the relationship

where B0 is the radiance along the normal to the radiating

surface.
Fig: Radiance patterns for a lambertian source and the lateral output of
a highly directional laser diode.
Edge-emitting LEDs and laser diodes have a more complex
emission pat tern.

These devices have different radiances B(, 0°) and B(, 90°) in
the planes parallel and normal, respectively, to the emitting-
junction plane of the device.

so, the radiances

The integers T and L are the transverse and lateral power

distribution coefficients, respectively.
In general, for edge emitters, L = 1 (which is a lambertian
distribution with a 120° half-power beam width) and T is
significantly larger. For laser diodes, L can take on values
over 100.
 Power-Coupling Calculation:

To calculate the maximum optical power coupled into a fiber.

For a symmetric source of brightness B(As, Ωs), where As
and Ωs are the area and solid emission angle of the source,
respectively.

Here, the fiber end face is centered over the emitting surface
of the source and is positioned as close to it as possible.
The coupled power can be found,
where the area Af and solid acceptance angle Ωf of the fiber
define the limits of the integrals.

In this expression,
First the radiance B() from an individual radiating point
source on the emitting surface is integrated over the solid
acceptance angle of the fiber.

A is the acceptance angle of the fiber, which is related to the

numerical aperture NA.
Here the emitting surface is taken as being circular.

If the source radius rs is less than the fiber-core radius a, then

the upper integration limit rm = rs;

For source areas larger than the fiber-core area, rm = a.

Assume a surface-emitting LED of radius rs less than the
fiber-core radius a. Since this is a lambertian emitter
P

𝑟𝑠 2 π
2
¿ 𝜋 𝐵 0∫ ∫ sin 𝜃 𝐴 𝑑 𝜃 𝑠 𝑟𝑑𝑟
2

0 0

𝑟𝑠 2 π

¿ 𝜋 𝐵 0∫ ∫ 𝑁𝐴 𝑑 𝜃 𝑠 𝑟𝑑𝑟
2

0 0
For step-index fibers the numerical aperture is independent
of the positions s and r on the fiber end face,

for (rs < a)

 Power Launching versus Wavelength
 The optical power launched into a fiber does not depend
on the wavelength of the source but only on its
brightness: that is, its radiance.

 The number of modes that can propagate in a multimode

graded-index fiber of core size a and index profile α is

 For example, twice as many modes propagate in a given

fiber at 900 nm than at 1300 nm.
 The radiated power per mode, Ps/M, from a source at a
particular wave length is given by the radiance
multiplied by the square of the nominal source
wavelength.

 Thus twice as much power is launched into a given

mode at 1300 nm than at 900 nm.

 Hence, two identically sized sources operating at

different wavelengths but having identical radiances
will launch equal amounts of optical power into the
same fiber.
 Equilibrium Numerical Aperture
 To achieve a low coupling loss, this flylead should be
connected to a system fiber that has a nominally
identical NA and core diameter.

 A certain amount of optical power (ranging from 0.1 to 1

dB) is lost at this junction, the exact loss depending on
the connecting mechanism and on the fiber type.

 In addition to the coupling loss, an excess power loss

will occur in the first few tens of meters of a multimode
system fiber. This excess loss is a result of
nonpropagating modes scattering out of the fiber as the
launched modes come to an equilibrium condition.
 This loss is of particular importance for surface-emitting
LEDs, which tend to launch power into all modes of the
fiber.

 Fiber-coupled lasers are less prone to this effect because

they tend to excite fewer nonpropagating fiber modes.

 The excess power loss must be analyzed carefully in any

system design as it can be significantly higher for some
types of fibers than for others.

 At the input end of the fiber, the light acceptance is

described in terms of the launch numerical aperture NA in.
Fig. Example of the change in NA as a function of multimode fiber length
 If the light-emitting area of the LED is less than the
crosssectional area of the fiber core, then, at this point,
the power coupled into the fiber is

where NA = NAin

 When the optical power is measured in long multimode

fibers after the launched modes have come to
equilibrium, the effect of the equilibrium numerical
aperture NAeq becomes apparent.
At this point, the optical power in the fiber scales as

Where P50 is the power expected in the fiber at the 50-m

point based on the launch NA.
 Laser Diode-to-Fiber Coupling
 Edge-emitting laser diodes have an emission pattern that
nominally has a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of
30–50° in the plane perpendicular to the active-area
junction and an FWHM of 5–10° in the plane parallel to
the junction.

 Since the angular output distribution of the laser is

greater than the fiber acceptance angle, and since the
laser emitting area is much smaller than the fiber core,
spherical or cylindrical lenses or optical fiber tapers also
can be used to improve the coupling efficiency between
edge-emitting laser diodes and optical fibers.
 This also works well for vertical-cavity surface-emitting
lasers (VCSELs).

 Here, coupling efficiencies to multimode fibers of 35

percent result for mass-produced connections of laser
arrays to parallel optical fibers, and efficiencies of up to
90 percent are possible by direct (lensless) coupling from
a single VCSEL source to a multimode fiber.

 The use of homogeneous glass microsphere lenses has

been tested in a series of several hundred laser diode
assemblies.
 Spherical glass lenses with a refractive index of 1.9 and
diameters ranging between 50 and 60 mm were epoxied
to the ends of 50-mm core-diameter graded-index fibers
having a numerical aperture of 0.2.

 The measured FWHM values of the laser output beams

are as follows:
1. Between 3 and 9 mm for the near-field parallel to the
junction.
2. Between 30 and 60° for the field perpendicular to the
junction.
3. Between 15 and 55° for the field parallel to the
junction.
 Coupling efficiencies in these experiments ranged
between 50 and 80 percent.
Fig. Coupling efficiency in units of (NA)2 for a surface-emitting LED as a
function of the light emitting diameter. Coupling is to a fi ber with a
core radius a = 25 mm.
 Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)
 Wavelength Division Multiplexer (WDM) is used to
combine light with different wavelength into a fiber or
separate an optical signal into two fibers.

 We provide two types of WDM

 One is manufactured using fusion process

 The other one is based on thin film filter technology.

Both WDM have low insertion loss, high isolation and
wide wavelength range.