941 U0460 678 303

Step-Index Optical Fiber 3.1 THE STRUCTURE OF OPTICAL FIBERS 3.2 MODES OF AN OPTICAL FIBER 3.3 NUMERICAL APERTURE AND ACCEPTANCE ANGLE 3.4 DISPERSION IN OPTICAL FIBERS 3.5 SINGLE-MODE FIBERS: MODE PROFILE, MODE-FIELD DIAMETER, AND SPOT SIZE 3.6 NORMALIZED FREQUENCY, NORMALIZED PROPAGATION CONSTANT, AND CUTOFF WAVELENGTH
Typically the core of a singlesingle-mode fiber will be of the order of 2-10 m.

Figure 3.1 The structure of the step-index optical fiber

Graded-Index Optical Fiber r n r = n1 1 2 r a a

n(r ) = n1 1 2

TElm or TMlm modes

= n1 n2 n1

ra

Communications fibers fall into this category with usually being less than 3 % For many applications, = 2 is the optimum (i.e. a parabolic profile)

The integer l represents the fact that there will be 2l field maxima around the circumference of the field distribution. The integer m refers to the m field maxima along a radius.

Figure 3.2 Refractive index profile of the graded-index optical fiber core

Meridional rays The propagation angles of the skew rays are such that it is possible for components of both the E and H fields to be transverse to the fiber axis. HElm or EHlm depending on whether the E or H field dominates the transverse field. In weakly guiding fibers, the exact modal solutions are usually approximated by Linearly Polarized modes, designated LPlm modes

Consider a graded-index fiber with a parabolic refractive index profile (i.e. = 2)

r n r = n1 1 2 a
n(r ) = n1 1 2

ra ra

Figure 3.3 Propagation constant of the exact fiber modes plotted against normalized frequency.

Figure 3.4 Intensity profiles of the three lowest-order LP modes. Figure 3.5 Structure of the gradedindex optical fiber

Reproduced from G.P. Agrawal (1997) Fiber Optic Communica-tions Systems, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, New York by permission of John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Table 3.1 Relationship between approximate LP modes and exact modes. Source: Optical Fiber Communications, Principles and Practice, 2nd edn, J M Senior, Pearson Education Limited. Reproduced by permission of Pearson Education

Linearly polarized LP01 LP11 LP21 LP02 LP31 LP12 LPlm LPlm(l 0 or 1)

Exact modes HE11 HE21, TE01, TM01 HE31, EH11 HE12 HE41, EH21 HE22, TE02, TM02 HE2m, TE0m, TM0m HEl+1,m, EHl-1,m
Figure 3.6 Total internal reflection in a graded-index fiber. Source: Optical Fiber Communications, Principles and Practice, 2nd edn, J M Senior, Pearson Education Limited. Reproduced by permission of Pearson Education

NUMERICAL APERTURE AND ACCEPTANCE ANGLE

Critical angle c, Acceptance angle a.

na sina = n1 sin 90 c = n1 cosc = n1 1 sin2 c
sin c = n2 n1

Figure 3.7 Mode trajectories in graded-index fiber. Source: Optical Fiber Commu-nications, Principles and Practice, 2nd edn, J M Senior, Pearson Education Limited. Reproduced by permission of Pearson Education

Figure 3.8 Acceptance angle of an optical fiber

NUMERICAL APERTURE AND ACCEPTANCE ANGLE

Numerical Aperture
2 2 na sina = n1 1 n2 / n12 = n12 n2

2 NA = na sin a = n12 n2

NA = n1 2

Figure 3.8 Acceptance angle of an optical fiber

NUMERICAL APERTURE AND ACCEPTANCE ANGLE

For skew rays

2 NA = na sin a cos = n12 n2

Dispersion in optical fibers means that parts of the signal propagate through the fiber at slightly different velocities, resulting in distortion of the signal.
Fiber Digital signal Emitter Information
t Input Intensity Input Output Output Intensity

Photodetector Information

1/2 t
1/2 ~2

Figure 3.9 The acceptance angle of skew rays. Source: Optical Fiber Communications, Principles and Practice, 2nd edn, J M Senior, Pearson Education Limited. Reproduced by permission of Pearson Education

Very short light pulses 0 T

0 ~2

For a given pulse broadening, . If pulses are not to overlap, then the maximum pulse broadening must be a maximum of half of the transmission period, T .

1 2T
The bit rate BT, is 1/T

BT

1 2

Some texts use a more conservative rule of thumb, making BT For a gaussian pulse, with an r.m.s. r.m.s. width . A typical rule of thumb is BT 0.2/

The fastest and slowest modes possible in such a fiber will be the axial ray, and the ray propagating at the critical angle c. ( sinc = n2/n1 )

Figure 3.10 The origin of modal dispersion

Intermodal dispersion is a result of the different propagation times of different modes (different m) within a fiber.
High order mode Low order mode

In a multimode fiber, generally

Light pulse Intensity

Cladding Core

Broadened light pulse Intensity Axial Spread, t

t min =

distance L Ln = = 1 velocity c / n1 c L / sin c L n1 = c / n1 c sin c

t max =
or

t 0

Schematic illustration of light propagation in a slab dielectric waveguide. Light pulse entering the waveguide breaks up into various modes which then propagate at different group velocities down the guide. At the end of the guide, the modes combine to constitute the output light pulse which is broader than the input light pulse.

t max

L / sin c L n12 = = c / n1 c n2

 is the relative refractive index (n1-n2)/n1

t si = t max t min =
For n1 n2

Ln Ln L n n1 n2 L n 1= = c n c n2 c c n2 n 1 2
2 1 2 1 2 1

For gradedgraded-index multimode fiber, the velocity of the ray is inversely proportional to the local refractive index, it can be shown that

t si =

Ln1 c

Ln12 t gi = 8c
If we let = 0.01 and n1 = 1.49. Hence = 62 ps/km. ps/km. The maximum bit rate becomes

If we let = 0.01 and n1 = 1.49. Hence = 49.6 ns/km. The maximum bit rate becomes

BT =

1 2

BT =

1 2

8 Gbit/s Gbit/skm

10 Mbit/skm

n2 n1
O
3 2 1

(a) Multimode step index fiber. Ray paths are different so that rays arrive at different times.

n2
3 2 1 2 3

O'

O''

n1 n2

(b) Graded index fiber. Ray paths are different but so are the velocities along the paths so that all the rays arrive at the same time.

Different spectral components of the light source may have different propagation delays, and hence pulse broadening may occur, even if transmitted by a single mode.
Input Emitter Very short light pulse v g ( 1 ) v g ( 2 )

y
Cladding

For 1 <2

Vp1 Vp2

1 > c
v g1
Core

2 > 1
v g2 > v g1

1 2
Vg 1 & 2

1 < cut-off
E(y )
Cladding Core

2 < 1
Cladding

Output

1 2
Spread,

Intensity Spectrum,

Intensity

Intensity

1 & 2
t

For 1 <2 Zero dispersion D = 0, Vp1 = Vp2 (Light Packet at the same speed Vg = Vp)

Phase velocity Group velocity

vp = / v g = /
Normal dispersion D < 0, Vp1 < Vp2 (Slow Light Packet Vg < Vp)

Traveling time required for each frequency (wavelength) component = L / vg Hence

1 =L vg 2 =L 2

Anomalous dispersion D > 0, Vp1 > Vp2 (Fast Light Packet Vg > Vp)

Thus

Delay time for a pulse with a specific frequency bandwidth

2 ch = = L 2

Total chromatic dispersion D is the sum of the material dispersion DM and the waveguide dispersion Dw. There is zero dispersion close to 1.31 m (ZD) in glass optical fiber.

Group velocity dispersion (GVD) parameter, D ps/(kmnm).

2c 2 D= 2 2
Thus

ch = D L
Figure 3.11 The variation in chromatic dispersion with wavelength.

Intramodal (Chromatic) Dispersion in DispersionDispersion-modified SingleSingle-mode Optical Fiber

There are two main contributions to chromatic dispersion:

Material dispersion. The refractive index of any medium is a function of wavelength, and hence different wavelengths that see different refractive indices will propagate with different velocities, resulting in intramodal dispersion. Waveguide dispersion. Even if the refractive index is constant, and material dispersion eliminated, the propagation constant would vary with wavelength for any waveguide structure, resulting in intramodal dispersion.

The contribution of waveguide dispersion is dependent on fiber parameters such as refractive indices and core diameter. Dispersion shifted fibers: shift ZD typically to 1.55 m, where the optical loss of optical fiber is a minimum. Dispersion flattened fibers: the total chromatic dispersion is relatively small over the wavelength range 1.31.3-1.6 m.

Figure 3.12 Dispersion-shifted and dispersion-flattened fibers.

Intramodal (Chromatic) Dispersion in Single-mode Optical Fiber

For dispersion flattened single-mode optical fiber, operated near ZD , e.g. D = 1 ps/(nmkm)

BT =

ch

500 Gbit/skm

Comparison SI MM fiber BT 10 Mbit/skm GI MM fiber BT 8 Gbit/skm SI SM fiber BT 500 Gbit/skm

SINGLE-MODE FIBERS: MODE PROFILE, MODE-FIELD DIAMETER, AND SPOT SIZE

Cylindrical coordinates (r, and z)
exp jz exp jm Jm(r), Km(r) E LP = Elm (r , ) exp j (t lm z )

Cartesian coordinates (x, y and z)

exp jz exp jmx or indep. indep. of x cos kymy, exp -kymy Em = Em ( y ) exp j (t m z )

Figure 3.13 (a) Variation of the first four Bessel functions. (b) Variation of the first two modified Bessel functions.

MODE PROFILE
J0(r), K0(r)

Figure 3.14 Field shape of the fundamental mode of a step-index fiber, for normalized frequencies of V = 1.5 and V = 2.4.

Mode Field Diameter = 2w0 Spot size = w0

V +1 2w0 = 2a V

Normalized Frequency: V number

V=

2 a n12 n2 =

an1 2

Normalized propagation constant: b

b=

2 / k 0 2 n2 2 n12 n2

2 / k0 2 n2

2n12

a: fiber core radius

Figure 3.15 Approximation to the fundamental mode, showing the mode-field diameter (MFD) and the spot size w0

: relative refractive index difference 0 operating wavelength

2.405

Figure 3.16 Propagation constant of the exact fiber modes plotted against normalized frequency.

Fitting curve for LP01

0.996 b 1.1428 V

(1.5 < V < 2.5)

Cut-off Condition for Single Mode Fiber Vc = 2.405 for step-index fibers

c =
c/0 = V/Vc.

2 an1 2 Vc
V0 2.405

c =