ChapterTwentyFour:

FiberOptics

Introduction
Anopticalfiberisessentiallyawaveguideforlight
Itconsistsofacoreandcladdingthatsurroundsthecore
Theindexofrefractionofthecladdingislessthanthatofthecore,
causingraysoflightleavingthecoretoberefractedbackintothecore
Alightemittingdiode(LED)orlaserdiode(LD)canbeusedforthe
source
Advantagesofopticalfiberinclude:

Greaterbandwidththancopper
Lowerloss
Immunitytocrosstalk
Noelectricalhazard

OpticalFiber&Communications
System

OpticalFiber
Opticalfiberismadefromthinstrandsofeither
glassorplastic
Ithaslittlemechanicalstrength,soitmustbe
enclosedinaprotectivejacket
Often,twoormorefibersareenclosedinthesame
cableforincreasedbandwidthandredundancyin
caseoneofthefibersbreaks
Itisalsoeasiertobuildafullduplexsystemusing
twofibers,onefortransmissionineachdirection

TotalInternalReflection
Opticalfibersworkontheprincipleoftotal
internalreflection
Withlight,therefractiveindexislisted
Theangleofrefractionattheinterfacebetween
twomediaisgovernedbySnellslaw:
n1 sin1 n2 sin 2

Refraction&TotalInternalReflection

NumericalAperture
Thenumericalapertureofthe
fiberiscloselyrelatedtothecritical
angleandisoftenusedinthe
specificationforopticalfiberand
thecomponentsthatworkwithit
Thenumericalapertureisgivenby
theformula:

N . A. n n
2
1

2
2

Theangleofacceptanceistwice
thatgivenbythenumericalaperture

ModesandMaterials
Sinceopticalfiberisawaveguide,lightcanpropagateinanumber
ofmodes
Ifafiberisoflargediameter,lightenteringatdifferentangleswill
excitedifferentmodeswhilenarrowfibermayonlyexciteonemode
Multimodepropagationwillcausedispersion,whichresultsinthe
spreadingofpulsesandlimitstheusablebandwidth
Singlemodefiberhasmuchlessdispersionbutismoreexpensive
toproduce.Itssmallsize,togetherwiththefactthatitsnumerical
apertureissmallerthanthatofmultimodefiber,makesitmore
difficulttocoupletolightsources

TypesofFiber

Bothtypesoffiberdescribedearlierareknownasstepindexfibersbecause
theindexofrefractionchangesradicallybetweenthecoreandthecladding
Gradedindexfiberisacompromisemultimodefiber,buttheindexof
refractiongraduallydecreasesawayfromthecenterofthecore
Gradedindexfiberhaslessdispersionthanamultimodestepindexfiber

Dispersion
Dispersioninfiberopticsresultsfromthefactthatinmultimode
propagation,thesignaltravelsfasterinsomemodesthanitwouldinothers
Singlemodefibersarerelativelyfreefromdispersionexceptfor
intramodaldispersion
Gradedindexfibersreducedispersionbytakingadvantageofhigherorder
modes
Oneformofintramodaldispersioniscalledmaterialdispersionbecauseit
dependsuponthematerialofthecore
Anotherformofdispersioniscalledwaveguidedispersion
Dispersionincreaseswiththebandwidthofthelightsource

ExamplesofDispersion

Losses
Lossesinopticalfiberresultfromattenuationinthematerialitself
andfromscattering,whichcausessomelighttostrikethecladding
atlessthanthecriticalangle
Bendingtheopticalfibertoosharplycanalsocauselossesby
causingsomeofthelighttomeetthecladdingatlessthanthe
criticalangle
Lossesvarygreatlydependinguponthetypeoffiber
PlasticfibermayhavelossesofseveralhundreddBperkilometer
Gradedindexmultimodeglassfiberhasalossofabout24dB
perkilometer
Singlemodefiberhasalossof0.4dB/kmorless

TypesofLosses

FiberOpticCables
Therearetwobasictypesoffiberopticcable
Thedifferenceiswhetherthefiberisfreetomoveinsideatube
withadiametermuchlargerthanthefiberorisinsidearelatively
tightfittingjacket

Theyarereferredtoasloosetubeandtightbuffercables
Bothmethodsofconstructionhaveadvantages
Loosetubecablesallthestressofcablepullingistakenupbythe
cablesstrengthmembersandthefiberisfreetoexpandand
contractwithtemperature
Tightbuffercablesarecheaperandgenerallyeasiertouse

FiberOpticCableConstruction

SplicesandConnectors
Infiberopticsystems,thelossesfromsplicesandconnectionscanbemorethaninthe
cableitself
Lossesresultfrom:
Axialorangularmisalignment
Airgapsbetweenthefibers
Roughsurfacesattheendsofthefibers

FiberOpticConnectors

Couplingthefibertosourcesand
detectorscreateslossesaswell,
especiallywhenitinvolves
mismatchesinnumericalaperture
orinthesizeofopticalfibers
Goodconnectionsaremorecritical
withsinglemodefiber,duetoits
smallerdiameterandnumerical
aperture
Aspliceisapermanentconnection
andaconnectorisremovable

OpticalCouplersandSwitches
Aswithcoaxialcableand
microwavewaveguides,itis
possibletobuildpowersplitters
anddirectionalcouplersforfiber
opticsystems
Itismorecomplexandexpensive
todothiswithfiberthanwith
copperwire
Opticalcouplersarecategorizedas
eitherstarcoupleswithmultiple
inputsandoutputsorastees,
whichhaveoneinputandtwo
outputs

CouplerConstruction
Opticalcouplerscanbemadeinmanydifferentways:
Anumberoffiberscanbefusedtogethertomakea
transmissivecoupler
Areflectivecouplerallowsasignalenteringonanyfiberto
exitonallotherfibers,sothecouplerisbidirectional

OpticalSwitchesandRelays
Occasionally,itisnecessarytoswitch
opticalsignalsfromonefibertoanother
Thesimplesttypeofopticalswitchmoves
fiberssothataninputfibercanbe
positionednexttotheappropriateoutput
fiber
Anotherapproachisdirecttheincoming
lightintoaprism,whichreflectsitintothe
outgoingfiber.Bymovingtheprism,the
lightcanbeswitchedbetweendifferent
outputfibers
Lensesarenecessarywiththisapproachto
avoidexcessivelossoflight

OpticalEmitters
Opticalemittersoperateontheideathatelectromagnetic
energycanonlyappearinadiscreteamountknownasa
quantum.Thesequantaarecalledphotonswhenthe
energyisradiated
Energyinonephotonvariesdirectlywiththefrequency
Typicalopticalemittersinclude:
LightEmittingDiodes
LaserDiodes

LightEmittingDiodes
AnLEDisformofjunctiondiodethatisoperatedwithforwardbias
InsteadofgeneratingheatatthePNjunction,lightisgeneratedand
passesthroughanopeningorlens
LEDscanbevisiblespectrumorinfrared

LaserDiodes
Laserdiodesgeneratecoherent,intenselightofa
verynarrowbandwidth
Alaserdiodehasanemissionlinewidthofabout2
nm,comparedto50nmforacommonLED
LaserdiodesareconstructedmuchlikeLEDsbut
operateathighercurrentlevels

LaserDiodeConstruction

OpticalDetectors
Themostcommonopticaldetectorusedwithfiberopticsystemsis
thePINdiode
ThePINdiodeisoperatedinthereversebiasmode
Asaphotodetector,thePINdiodetakesadvantageofitswidedepletion
region,inwhichelectronscancreateelectronholepairs
ThelowjunctioncapacitanceofthePINdiodeallowsforveryfastswitching

AvalanchePhotodiode

Theavalanchephotodiode(APD)isalsooperatedinthereverse
biasmode
Thecreationofelectronholepairsduetotheabsorptionofaphoton
ofincominglightmaysetoffavalanchebreakdown,creatingupto
100morepairs
ThismultiplyingeffectgivesanAPDveryhighsensitivity