Waveguiding in Optical Fibers Meridional / skew rays and their vectorial characteristics Concept of linearly polarized modes Cutoff

toff condition / wavelength Selected key concepts on singlemode fibers

Reading: Senior 2.4, 2.5 Keiser 2.3 2.6

Part of the lecture materials were adopted from powerpoint slides of Gerd Keisers book 2010, Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Meridional and skew rays

A meridional ray is one that has no component it passes through the z axis, and is thus in direct analogy to a slab guide ray. Ray propagation in a fiber is complicated by the possibility of a path component in the direction, from which arises a skew ray. Such a ray exhibits a spiral-like path down the core, never crossing the z axis.

Vectorial characteristics of modes in optical fibers

TE (i.e. Ez = 0) and TM (Hz = 0) modes are also obtained within the circular optical fiber. These modes correspond to meridional rays (pass through the fiber axis). As the circular optical fiber is bounded in two dimensions in the transverse plane, => two integers, l and m, are necessary in order to specify the modes i.e. We refer to these modes as TElm and TMlm modes. x core cladding
4

core cladding

fiber axis

 Hybrid modes are modes in which both Ez and Hz are nonzero. These modes result from skew ray propagation (helical path without passing through the fiber axis). The modes are denoted as HElm and EHlm depending on whether the components of H or E make the larger contribution to the transverse field.

core

cladding

The full set of circular optical fiber modes therefore comprises: TE, TM (meridional rays), HE and EH (skew rays) modes.

Mode designation in circular cylindrical waveguide (Optical Fiber)

TE lm modes : The electric field vector lies in transverse plane. TM lm modes : The magnetic field vector lies in transverse plane. Hybrid HE lm modes :TE component is larger than TM component. Hybrid EH lm modes : TM component is larger than TE component.
y l= # of variation cycles or zeros in direction. m= # of variation cycles or zeros in r direction.

r x

Linearly Polarized (LP) modes in weakly-guided fibers ( n1 n2 << 1 )

LP0 m (HE1m ), LP1m (TE 0 m + TM 0 m + HE 0 m ) (both Ez and Hz are nearly zero)

Fundamental Mode:

LP01 ( HE 11 )

 These linearly polarized (LP) modes, designated as LPlm, are good approximations formed by exact modes TE, TM, HE and EH. The mode subscripts l and m describe the electric field intensity profile. There are 2l field maxima around the the fiber core circumference and m field maxima along the fiber core radial direction.
core fundamental mode (LP01) Electric field intensity LP11

LP21

LP02
7

Intensity plots for the first six LP modes

LP01

LP02

LP11

LP31

LP21

LP12

Two degenerate fundamental mode (LP01) in Fibers (Horizontal & Vertical HE11 Modes)

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000

Mode propagation constant as a function of frequency

Mode propagation constant, lm (, ) is the most important transmission characteristic of an optical fiber. In order to find a mode propagation constant and cut-off frequencies of various modes of the optical fiber, first we have to calculate the normalized frequency, V, defined by:

V=

2a

a: radius of the core, is the optical free space wavelength, n1 & n2 are the refractive indices of the core & cladding.

n1 n2 =
2 2

2a

NA

Plots of the propagation constant as a function of normalized frequency for a few of the lowest-order modes

Cutoff wavelength
The cutoff wavelength for any mode is defined as the maximum wavelength at which that mode propagates. It is the value of that corresponds to Vc for the mode concerns. For each LP mode, the two parameters are related c(lm) = (2a/(Vc(lm)) (n12 n22)1/2 The range of wavelengths over which mode lm will propagate is thus 0 < < c(lm). For a fiber to operate single mode, the operating wavelength must be longer than the cutoff wavelength for the LP11 mode. This is an important specification for a single-mode fiber, and is usually given the designation c. We find c by setting Vc = 2.405. The range of wavelengths for singlemode operation is 12 > c. no cutoff for the fundamental mode

Singlemode condition
For single-mode operation, only the fundamental LP01 mode exists. The cutoff normalized frequency (Vc) for the next higher order (LP11) mode in step-index fibers occurs at Vc = 2.405. => single-mode propagation of the LP01 mode in step-index fibers: V < 2.405 no cutoff for the fundamental

e.g. Determine the cutoff wavelength for a step-index fiber to exhibit single-mode operation when the core refractive index is 1.46 and the core radius is 4.5 m, with the relative index difference of 0.25 %. c = (2an1/2.405) (2)1/2 = 1214 nm. Hence, the fiber is single-mode for > 1214 nm.
13

SingleModeFibers
Singlemodefiberfeatures: Thedimensionofthecorediameterisafew wavelengths(usually812) Theindexdifferencebetweenthecoreand thecladdingissmall(0.2to1.0%) Thecorediameterisjustbelowthecutoffof thefirsthigherordermode:V<2.405
14

Gaussian approximation for the LP01 mode field

The LP01 mode intensity varies with radius as J02(ur/a) inside the core and as K02(wr/a) in the cladding. The resultant intensity profile turns out to closely fits a Gaussian function having a width w0, known as the mode-field radius. This is defined as the radial distance from the core center to the 1/e2 point of the Gaussian intensity profile. A similar Gaussian approximation can be applied to the fundamental symmetric slab waveguide mode. E(r) = E(0) exp (-r2 / w02) => I(r) = I(0) exp(-2r2/w02)
15

Mode-field diameter (MFD) = 2w0 (rather than the core diameter) characterizes the functional properties of single-mode fibers. (w0 is also called the spot size.)

ncore nclad core dia. Corning SMF-28 single-mode fiber has MFD: 9.2 m at 1310 nm 10.4 m at 1550 nm core diameter: 8.2 m MFD > core diameter MFD
16

ModalFieldPatterns
Electric field distributions of lower-order guided modes in a planar dielectric slab waveguide (or cross-sectional view of an optical fiber along its axis)

Evanescent tails extend into the cladding

Zeroth order mode

First order mode

Second order mode 17

Zeroth-order mode = Fundamental mode A single-mode fiber carries only the fundamental mode

Mode-field diameter vs. wavelength

11 m c ~ 1270 nm = 1550 nm = 1320 nm 1550 nm core

Mode-field intensity distribution can be measured directly by near-field imaging the fiber output. Why characterize the MFD for single-mode fibers?
18

ModeFieldDiameter
Themodefielddiameter (MFD)canbedeterminedfromthe modefielddistributionofthefundamentalfibermodeand isafunctionoftheopticalsourcewavelength TheMFDisusedtopredictfiberspliceloss,bendingloss, cutoffwavelength,andwaveguidedispersion TofindMFD:(a)measurethefarfieldintensitydistribution E2(r)(b)calculatetheMFDusingthePetermannIIequation

19

Mismatches in mode-field diameter can increase fiber splice loss. e.g. Splicing loss due to MFD mismatch between two different SMFs ~ dB loss per splice 10 m SMF1 8 m splicing SMF2
20

(A related question: why do manufacturers standardize the cladding diameter?)

Fiber birefringence
In ideal fibers with perfect rotational symmetry, the two modes are degenerate with equal propagation constants (x = y), and any polarization state injected into the fiber will propagate unchanged. In actual fibers there are imperfections, such as asymmetrical lateral stresses, noncircular cores, and variations in refractive-index profiles. These imperfections break the circular symmetry of the ideal fiber and lift the degeneracy of the two modes. Because of asymmetries the refractive indices for the two degenerate modes (vertical & horizontal polarizations) are different. This difference is referred to as

birefringence
B = |ny nx|
22

Real optical fiber geometry is by no means perfect.

Corning SMF-28 single-mode fiber glass geometry 1. cladding diameter: 125.0 0.7 m 2. core-cladding concentricity: < 0.5 m

3. cladding non-circularity: < 1% [1- (min cladding dia./max clad dia.)]

23

Fiber Beat Length

In general, a linearly polarized mode is a combination of both of the degenerate modes. As the modal wave travels along the fiber, the difference in the refractive indices would change the phase difference between these two components & thereby the state of the polarization of the mode. However after certain length referred to as fiber beat length, the modal wave will produce its original state of polarization. This length is simply given by:

2 Lp = kB f

 State-of-polarization in a constant birefringent fiber over one beat length. Input beam is linearly polarized between the slow and fast axes. 2 3/2 /2 fast axis slow axis
th g n le t a Be

Lbeat = / B ~ 1 m (B ~ 10-6)

24

Multi-Mode Fiber
Total number of modes, M, supported by a multi-mode fiber is approximately (When V is large) given by:

V2 M 2
Power distribution in the core & the cladding: Another quantity of interest is the ratio of the mode power in the cladding, P to the total clad optical power in the fiber, P, which at the wavelengths (or frequencies) far from the cut-off is given by:

Pclad 4 P 3 M

The total number of guided modes M for a step-index fiber is approximately related to the V number (for V > 20) as follows, M V2 / 2

e.g. A multimode step-index fiber with a core diameter of 80 m and a relative index difference of 1.5 % is operating at a wavelength of 0.85 m. If the core refractive index is 1.48, estimate (a) the normalized frequency for the fiber; (b) the number of guided modes. (a) V = (2/) a n1 (2)1/2 = 75.8 (b) M V2 / 2 = 2873 (i.e. nearly 3000 guided modes!)
11

GradedIndexFiberStructure
Thecoreindexdecreaseswithincreasingdistancer fromthe centerofthefiberbutisgenerallyconstantinthecladding. Themostcommonlyusedconstructionfortherefractiveindex variationinthecoreisthepowerlawrelationship:
A typical value of is 2.0

The local numerical aperture is defined as

25

Different Structures of Optical Fiber

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000