Introduction

Most optical fibers are used for transmitting information over long
distances.
Two major advantages of fiber:
1. Wide bandwidth &
2. Low loss.

But sometimes these characteristics

(Advantages) are hampered by

Dispersion (For Bandwidth)

&
Attenuation (For Low Loss)

(A) Attenuation cause mainly by absorption and scattering.

(B) Bandwidth is limited by an effect called dispersion.

(A)ATTENUATION
Major causes of attenuation in
fiber
=>
Attenuation mainly due to material absorption, material scattering,
bending
losses, mode coupling losses and losses due to leaky modes.

=>

And also due to the losses at connectors and splices.

Attenuation reduces the optical power available, increasing the

error probability.

Attenuation
Attenuation is the ratio of the input (transmitted) optical power into the fiber
to output (received) optical power from the fiber

[dB]

[dB]/Km

Types of Attenuation
1- Material Absorption
losses
- Intrinsic Absorption
of Absorption
- Extrinsic Types
Absorption
2- Scattering loss (Linear
and nonlinear)
3- Bending loss

1. Material Absorption Losses

Related to the material composition and the fabrication

process for the fiber.

Results in the dissipation of some of the transmitted

optical power as heat in the waveguide.

The absorption of the light may be intrinsic or

extrinsic

12/21/2016

Intrinsic Absorption

Caused by interaction with one or more of the components

of the glass.
Intrinsic absorption is a natural property of glass & it is

strong in the UV region and in IR region of the EM

spectrum.
However both these considered insignificant since optical

communication systems are normally operated outside

this region.

12/21/2016

Intrinsic Absorption
Low
intrinsic
absorption window over
the 0.8 to 1.7 m
wavelength range.
Effects of UV & IR may
be minimized by suitable
choice of both core and
cladding compositions.

Intrinsic Absorption

Extrinsic Absorption
A major source of signal attenuation caused from transition

metal element impurities (Impurities within the glass).

Table : Absorption losses caused by some of the more common

metallic ion impurities in glasses, together with the absorption
peak wavelength.
12/21/2016

Extrinsic Absorption
There are two types are the main sources of impurity absorption
:
-Transition metal ions Dopants
-OH ions (hydroxyl) water dissolved in the glass.

Transition metals (e.g : copper, iron, etc) absorbs strongly in

the region of interest and so must not exceed a few parts per
billion to ensure losses are kept below 20dB/km
OH absorption occurs because of excess water content and
peak absorption occurs at 2.73um (resonant wavelength for
absorption).
10

Extrinsic Absorption
These hydroxyl groups are bonded into the glass structure and have

fundamental stretching vibrations =2.7m & 4.2m.

The fundamental vibrations give rise to overtones appearing almost

harmonically at 1.38, 0.95 and 0.72 m.

12/21/2016

11

Extrinsic Absorption
Some impurities namely chromium and copper can cause

attenuation in excess of 1 dB km1 in the near IR region.

Transition element contamination may be reduced to

acceptable levels (i.e. one part in 1010) by glass refining

techniques such as vapor-phase oxidation which largely
eliminates the effects of these metallic impurities.
A- Extrinsic Absorption (OH ions):

B- Extrinsic Absorption (metallic ions):

**Extrinsic absorption is
much
more significant than
intrinsic

12/21/2016

12

Extrinsic Absorption
Some impurities namely chromium and copper can cause

attenuation in excess of 1 dB km1 in the near IR region.

Transition element contamination may be reduced to

acceptable levels (i.e. one part in 1010) by glass refining

techniques such as vapor-phase oxidation which largely
eliminates the effects of these metallic impurities.
A- Extrinsic Absorption (OH ions):

B- Extrinsic Absorption (metallic ions):

**Extrinsic absorption is
much
more significant than
intrinsic

12/21/2016

13

2. Scattering Loss (Linear & NonLinear)

Occurs due to Microscopic variations in

the
MATERIAL
DENSITY
and
COMPOSITION.

Glass is composed of randomly connected

network of molecules and several oxides (e.g.

SiO2, GeO2 and P2O5)
These two effects results to variation in
12/21/2016

14

2. Scattering Loss
Transfer of some or all of the optical power contained within one

propagating mode to be transferred linearly into a different

mode.
This process tends to result in ATTENUATION of the transmitted

light as the transfer may be to a leaky or radiation mode which

does not continue to propagate within the fiber core, but is
radiated from fiber.

Resulted from the Non-Ideal physical properties of the manufactured

fiber which are difficult to correct and, in certain cases, impossible to
eradicate.
12/21/2016

15

Linear Scattering Loss

Nearly 90% of total attenuation
is attributed to Raleigh
Scattering

Dominant intrinsic loss mechanism in the low-absorption window

between the UV & IR absorption tails.

These inhomogeneities (Irregularities) cause refractive index fluctuations and

arise from density and compositional variations.

The compositional variations

may be reduced by improved

fabrication.
But the index fluctuations

caused by density inhomogeneities

are fundamental and cannot be
avoided.

2/21/2016

Linear Scattering Loss

The scattering due to the density fluctuations, in all directions,

produces an attenuation proportional to

Rayleigh scattering formula.

1/4

following the

For a single-component glass this is given by :

Where ;
R => Rayleigh scattering coefficient
=> Optical wavelength
n => Refractive index of the medium
p => Average photoelastic coefficient
c => Isothermal compressibility at TF
K =>Boltzmanns constant.
The fictive temperature (TF) is defined as the temperature at which the glass
can reach a state of thermal equilibrium and is closely related to the anneal
temperature.
12/21/2016

Linear Scattering Loss

Rayleigh scattering coefficient is related to the transmission loss factor

(transmissivity) of the fiber given by :

Where ;
L => Length of
the fiber.

From the fundamental component of Rayleigh scattering (Equation) is strongly

reduced by operating at the longest possible wavelength.

2/21/2016

Linear Scattering Loss

Results from the nonperfect cylindrical structure of the waveguide.

May be caused by fiber imperfections such as irregularities in the core

cladding interface, corecladding R.I differences along the fiber length,

diameter fluctuations, strains and bubbles.
When the scattering irregularity size is > /10, the scattered intensity

has an angular dependence can be very large.

The scattering created by such inhomogeneities is mainly in the

forward direction and is called Mie scattering.

Depending upon the fiber material, design and manufacture, Mie

2/21/2016

scattering can cause significant losses

Linear Scattering Loss

The inhomogeneities may be reduced by:

(a) Removing imperfections due to the glass manufacturing process;

(b) Carefully controlled extrusion and coating of the fiber;

(c) Increasing the fiber guidance by increasing the relative refractive index
difference.

Adapting these steps can reduce MIE SCATTERING to insignificant levels.

2/21/2016

Non-Linear Scattering Loss

SBS & SRS are usually

only observed at high
optical power densities
in long single-mode
fibers.

Causes the optical power from one mode to be transferred in either the

forward or backward direction to the same, or other modes, at a different

frequency.
It depends critically upon the optical power density (High Power

Levels)within the fiber and hence only becomes significant above threshold
power levels.

These scatterings give optical gain but with a shift in frequency, thus contributing
to attenuation for light transmission at a specific wavelength.
But such nonlinear phenomena can also be used to give optical amplification in
the context of integrated optical techniques.

2/21/2016

21

Non-Linear Scattering Loss

Brillouin scattering is only

significant above a threshold
power density

SBS may be regarded as the modulation of light through thermal molecular

vibrations within the fiber.
The scattered light appears as upper and lower sidebands which are separated
from the incident light by the modulation frequency.
The frequency shift is a maximum in the backward direction, reducing to zero
in the forward direction, making SBS a mainly backward process.

2/21/2016

22

Non-Linear Scattering Loss

Brillouin scattering is only

significant above a threshold
power density

Threshold power PB is given by :

Where;
d

dB

=> Fiber core diameter

=> Operating wavelength,
=> Fiber attenuation in dB/Km
=> Source bandwidth in gigahertz.

Above equation tell us the threshold optical power which must be

launched into a single-mode optical fiber before SBS occurs.

2/21/2016

Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs) reduces the SBS threshold (in

Watts) by the number of amplifiers.
23

Non-Linear Scattering Loss

Brillouin scattering is only

significant above a threshold
power density.
(Greater than SBS)

Threshold optical power for SRS PR in a long single-mode fiber is given

by:

Shorter wavelengths are ROBBED of power

and fed to longer wavelengths.

2/21/2016

24

Where;
d
=> Fiber core diameter

=> Operating wavelength,

dB
=> Fiber attenuation in
dB/Km

3. Fiber bend loss

The sharp bend of a fiber causes significant radiative losses and there is

also possibility of mechanical failure.

Optical fibers suffer radiation losses at bends or curves. At that

curvature most of the lower and higher order modes will incident at
an angle less the critical, which let them out in the cladding,
providing more power loss in the fiber

12/21/2016

25

3. Fiber bend loss

Mode which is on the outside of the bend is required to

travel faster than that on the inside so that a wave-front

perpendicular to the direction of propagation is
maintained.
That is the cladding needs to travel faster than the velocity

of light in that medium.

As this is not possible, the energy associated with this part

of the mode is lost through radiation.

12/21/2016

26

3. Fiber bend loss

12/21/2016

27

3. Fiber bend loss

The loss can generally be represented by a radiation

attenuation coefficient :
Where;
R => Radius of curvature of the fiber bend & c1, c2 => Constants which are independent
of R.

3. Fiber bend loss

Large bending losses tend to occur in MULTIMODE FIBERS at a

critical radius of curvature Rc which may be estimated by :

The critical radius of curvature for a SINGLE-MODE FIBER Rcs

can be given by :

Where;
c = > Cutoff wavelength for the
single-mode fiber

12/21/2016

29

3. Fiber bend loss

Fiber bending with diameters on the

order of centimeters is Usually
unnoticeable if the radius of the bend is
larger than 10 cm.

3. Fiber bend loss

Macro bend are bends that are large enough to be seen

by the human eye.

Generally more at the cable level or for fibers, the

bends necessary to fit fibers inside splice closures or

patch panels
Macro bending testing is done by wrapping the fiber

or cable around a mandrel of a specified diameter.

12/21/2016

31

3. Fiber bend loss

Macro bending losses can be reduced by :
Designing fibers with large relative refractive index

difference
Operating at the possible shortest wavelength

12/21/2016

32

3. Fiber bend loss

Result of
microscopic
imperfections in
the geometry of the
fiber

Micro bend loss refers to small scale "bends" in the fiber, often

from pressure exerted on the fiber itself as when it is cabled and

the other elements in the cable press on it .
These are generally a manufacturing problem. For example if the

fiber gets too cold, the outer layers will shrink and get shorter. If
the core/cladding shrinks at a slower rate, it is likely to kink and
cause a micro bend.
There is no real test for micro bending.

12/21/2016

33

(B) BANDWIDTH
The bandwidth of the fiber is limited by the SIGNAL

DISPERSION within the fiber.

Once the attenuation is reduced to acceptable levels,

we focus towards the dispersive properties of the

fiber.

DISPERSION

Spreading / Scattering of light pulses in a

fiber.
Limits Bandwidth.

DISPERSION
During an optical transmission of a digitally modulated signal,

dispersion with the fiber cause BROADENING OF THE

TRANSMITTED LIGHT PULSES AS THEY TRAVEL ALONG THE
CHANNEL.
As a result if we have a stream of digital pulses , each pulse

broadens and overlapped with its neighbours and becomes

indistinguishable at the receiver input.

DISPERSION
Since the broadening increases with the distance

travelled along the fiber, we define the parameter:

BandWidth x LENGTH OF THE FIBER

TYPICAL VALUES:
20 MHz km (MMSI)
1 GHz km (MMGI)
100 MHz km (SMSI)

DISPERSION
Consider the input digital pattern to the fiber shown and notice

the output at a DISTANCE L1 and further DISTANCE L2.

(a) fiber input

(b) fiber output at a

distance L1

(c) fiber output at a

distance L2 > L1

DISPERSION
For no overlapping of light pulses down on an optical fiber link

the digital bit rate BT must be less than the reciprocal of the
broadened (through dispersion) pulse duration (2).

This assumes that the pulse broadening due to dispersion on the

channel is which dictates the input pulse duration which is also

.
A conservative estimate of the maximum bit rate that may be

obtained on an optical fiber link as 1/2.

DISPERSION
Another more accurate estimate way is by considering the light

pulses at the output to have a GAUSSIAN SHAPE WITH AN RMS

WIDTH OF .
This analysis allows for the existence of a certain amount of signal

overlap on the channel.

This formula gives a reasonable good approximation for other

pulse shapes which may occur on the channel resulting from

various dispersive mechanisms within the fiber and may be
on the
assumed to represent the RMS impulse response for Depends
the channel.
Conversio
n

Digital Coding
Format used.

DISPERSION
Binary 1 level is held for the whole bit period => .
Hence the maximum
bandwidth B is one-half
the maximum data rate

Binary 1 level is held for one half

and the Binary 0 level is held for
another half of bit period => .

Hence the maximum

bandwidth B is one full
period of the maximum
data rate

Illustration of the relationships of the bit rate to wavelength for digital

LED

LASER

Since optical sources do not emit just a single frequency but a band of
frequencies.
There may be propagation delay differences between the different spectral
components of the transmitted signal.
This causes BROADENING OF EACH TRANSMITTED MODE and hence
INTRAMODAL DISPERSION.
The delay differences may be
caused
by
the
dispersive
properties of the waveguide
material (material dispersion)
and also guidance effects within
the fiber structure (waveguide
dispersion).

 Occurs due to finite spectral line width of the optical source.

The optical source emits a band of frequencies (Laser Diodes emits fraction
percent of the central frequency while LED emits significant percentage) .
There will be a propagation delay differences between the different spectral
components of the transmitted signal which in turn causes broadening of each
transmitted mode and hence INTRAMODAL DISPERSION.

 Is the broadening due to different group velocities of the various spectral

components launched from the source into the fiber.
It occurs when the phase velocity of the plane wave in the dielectric medium
varies nonlinearly with the wavelength (d2n/d20), i.e., due to atomic structure.
Exists in all fibers and is a function of the source line width.

We can observe from the graph of material dispersion of Silica that , to

MINIMIZE THE MATERIAL DISPERSION, we can either :-

OPERATE at Longer wave length around 1.3m is used because it

gives
low material dispersion tends to zero .

USE Laser Diodes with

narrow spectral is used
rather than LEDs.

 Pulse broadening due to material dispersion results from the different group velocities of
the various spectral components launched into the fiber from the optical source.

A material is said to exhibit material dispersion when the SECOND DIFFERENTIAL of

the REFRACTIVE INDEX WITH RESPECT TO WAVELENGTH IS NOT ZERO

(i.e. d2n/d2 0).

The pulse spread due to material dispersion may be obtained by considering the group

delay g in the optical fiber which is the reciprocal of the group velocity g
1
The group delay is given by :

 Its the broadening due to variation in the group velocity with wavelength for
a particular mode .

It occurs when (d2/d20) , where => Phase Constant

Exists in MULTIMODE FIBERS but can be SIGNIFICANT IN SINGLE MODE
FIBERS.

Due to propagation delay differences between modes within the fiber. It has a
greatest effect of pulse broadening in STEP INDEX MULTIMODE FIBERS

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.

 Due to the propagation delay differences between the modes within a multimode
fiber.
MMSI fiber exhibits a large amount of mode dispersion which gives the greatest
pulse
broadening.
The single mode operation DOES NOT GIVE INTERMODAL DISPERSION and

MM SIF exhibits the

greatest dispersion
of a transmitted
light.

MM GIF gives
considerably
improved
performance.

SM Fibers gives the

minimum
pulse
broadening
Fig : Illustrating the pulse broadening due to intermodal dispersion in each

 SM Fibers gives the minimum pulse broadening and thus is capable of the greatest
transmission BW & are currently in GHz range.
Transmission via MM SIF is usually limited to BW of a few 10s of MHz.
For a given optical fiber link the restriction on usable bandwidth is dictated by
the distance between regenerative repeaters (i.e. the distance the light pulse

In Ray theory; Consider two rays in a perfectly structured step index fiber

Fastest propagating mode ray => AXIAL RAY

Slowest propagating mode ray => EXTREME MERIDIONAL RAY
The DELAY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO RAYS when travelling in the
fiber core allows ESTIMATION OF THE PULSE BROADENING from intermodal
dispersion within the fiber.
The delay difference is directly related to their respective path lengths within
the fiber

 The time taken for the axial ray to travel along a fiber of length L gives the
minimum delay Time given by Tmin :

1
The extreme meridional ray exhibits the maximum delay time given by TMax
where:
2

Using Snells law at the corecladding interface:

4
Substituting in Equation 2 for cos gives :

When the optical input to the fiber is a pulse pi(t) of unit area
given by :

The RMS pulse broadening at the fiber output due to intermodal dispersion for the
multimode step index fiber s (i.e. the standard deviation) may be given in terms

of the variance 2s as :

Where; M1 => Mean value of the pulse

M2 => Mean square value of the pulse.

Assuming M1 mean value to be zero and since

pi(t) = (1/ Ts) for - Ts/2 to

Ts/2

From equation 9 , we have ,

we get:

using this in the above equation

Above equation gives the estimation of the RMS impulse response of a MM SIF if it is
assumed that intermodal dispersion dominates and there is a uniform distribution of light

 Intermodal dispersion in MM GIF is minimized & has substantial

bandwidth improvement over MM SIF.
The MM GIF fiber shown has a parabolic index profile ( = 2) with a
maximum at the core axis.

The index profile is given by

 The Meridional rays follow sinusoidal trajectories of different path

lengths which result from the index grading.
The axial ray (ray in the centre) which travels exclusively in the highindex region at the core axis, and at the slowest speed.
The dramatic improvement in MM GIF with a parabolic or near-parabolic
RI profile reduces the delay difference between the fastest and slowest
modes for this graded index fiber Tg.
Using a ray theory approach the delay difference is given by :

Accurate analysis using EM mode theory gives an absolute temporal width at

the fiber output of :

 The RMS pulse broadening of a near-parabolic index profile GIF g is

reduced compared with similar broadening for the corresponding SIF s
RMS pulse broadening for a GIF with an optimum characteristic R.I
profile for the core op of:

Thus he RMS pulse broadening of a

near-parabolic index profile GIF g is
given by :

 Disturbances along the fiber such as vibrations, discontinuities,

connectors, splices and source/detector coupling may cause fluctuations
in the speckle patterns and hence modal noise.
The conditions which give rise to modal noise are therefore specified as:
(a) A coherent source with a narrow spectral width and long coherence
length (propagation velocity multiplied by the coherence time);
(b) Disturbances along the fiber which give differential mode delay or
modal and spatial filtering;
(c) Phase correlation between the modes.
The coherence time for a source with uncorrelated source frequency
width f is simply 1/f.

Modal-noise-free transmission may be obtained by the following :

The use of a BROAD SPECTRUM SOURCE in order to eliminate the

modal interference effects.
USE OF FIBERS WITH LARGE NA support the transmission of a large
number of modes giving a greater number of speckles, and hence
REDUCE THE MODAL NOISE GENERATING EFFECT OF INDIVIDUAL
SPECKLES.

The use of single-mode fiber which does not support the transmission
of different modes and thus there is no intermodal interference.
The removal of disturbances along the fiber.

Multimode fibers
The overall dispersion in multimode fibers comprises both chromatic
and intermodal terms. The total RMS pulse broadening T is by :
Where;
c =>Intramodal or chromatic broadening.
n =>Intermodal broadening caused by delay differences between the modes
(s for MM SIF & g for MM GIF.

c => Pulse broadening due to both material and waveguide dispersion.

However, since waveguide dispersion is generally negligible compared
with material dispersion in MULTIMODE FIBERS, then

c ~= m.