Intermode Dispersion (MMF)

Low order mode High order mode

Cladding
Core
Light pulse
t
0
t
Spread, (X
Broadened
light pulse
Intensity
Intensity
Axial

(X !
L
v
gmin

L
v
gmax
v
gmin
< c/n
1
. (Fundamental)
v
gmax
< c/n
2
. (Highest order mode)
(X
L
<
n
1
n
2
c
(X/L < l0 - 50 ns / km
Depends on length!
Group Delay X = L / v
g
Intramode Dispersion (SMF)
Group Delay X = L / v
g
Group velocity v
g
depends on
Refractive index = n() Material Dispersion
V-number= n() Waveguide Dispersion
( = (n
1
n
2
)/n
1
= (() Profile Dispersion
X
t
Spread, X
t
0

Spectrum,

1

2

o
Intensity
Intensity Intensity
Cladding
Core
Emitter
Very short
light pulse
v
g
(
2
)
v
g
(
1
)
Input
Output
Dispersion in the fundamental mode
Material Dispersion
All excitation sources are inherently non-monochromatic and emit within a spectrum of
wavelengths. Waves in the guide with different free space wavelengths travel at different
group velocities due to the wavelength dependence of n
1
. The waves arrive at the end of
the fiber at different times and hence result in a broadened output pulse.
X
t
Spread, X
t
0

Spectrum,

1

2

o
Intensity
Intensity Intensity
Cladding
Core
Emitter
Very short
light pulse
v
g
(
2
)
v
g
(
1
)
Input
Output
(X
L
! D
m
(
D
m
= material dispersion coefficient, ps nm
-1
km
-1
Waveguide Dispersion
Waveguide dispersion: The group velocity v
g
(01) of the fundamental mode depends
on the V-number which itself depends on the source wavelength , even if n
1
and n
2
were constant. Even if n
1
and n
2
were wavelength independent (no material dispersion),
we will still have waveguide dispersion by virtue of v
g
(01) depending on V and V
depending inversely on . Waveguide dispersion arises as a result of the guiding
properties of the waveguide which imposes a nonlinear -
lm
relationship.
X
t
Spread, X
t
0

Spectrum,

1

2

o
Intensity
Intensity Intensity
Cladding
Core
Emitter
Very short
light pulse
v
g
(
2
)
v
g
(
1
)
Input
Output
(X
L
! D
w
(
D
w
= waveguide dispersion coefficient
D
w
depends on the waveguide structure, ps nm
-1
km
-1
0
1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.1
-30
20
30
10
-20
-10
(m)
Dm
Dm + Dw
D
w

0
Dispersion coefficient (ps km
-1
nm
-1
)
Chromatic Dispersion
Material dispersion coefficient
(D
m
) for the core material
(taken as SiO
2
), waveguide
dispersion coefficient (D
w
) (a =
4.2 m) and the total or
chromatic dispersion coefficient
D
ch
(= D
m
+ D
w
) as a function
of free space wavelength,
(X
L
!(D
m
+ D
w
)(
Chromatic = Material + Waveguide
Material and waveguide dispersion coefficients in an
optical fiber with a core SiO
2
-13.5%GeO
2
for a = 2.5
to 4 m.
0
10
10
20
1.2 1.3
1.4 1.5 1.6
20
(m)
D
m
D
w
SiO
2
-13.5%GeO
2
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
a (m)
Dispersion coefficient (ps km
-1
nm
-1
)
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
Core
z
n
1x
// x
n
1y
// y
E
y
E
x
E
x
E
y
E
(X = Pulse spread
Input light pulse
Output light pulse
t
t
(X
Intensity
Polarization Dispersion
n different in different directions due to
induced strains in fiber in manufacturing,
handling and cabling. on/n 10
-6
(X ! D
pol
L D
pol
= polarization dispersion coefficient
Typically D
pol
= 0.1 - 0.5 ps nm
-1
km
-1/2
Self-Phase Modulation Dispersion : Nonlinear Effect
At sufficiently high light intensities, the refractive index of glass n'is
n'= n + CI
where C is a constant and I is the light intensity. The intensity of light
modulates its own phase.

Light intensity
A Gaussian light intensity spectrum and variation of
refractive index due to self-phase modulation.

n'
n
n
(
(I
n'
I
max
I
min
For (X < 1 ps km
-1
(I
max
< 3-l0
7
W cm
-2
.
(n is 3-10
-7
.
2a < 10 m,
A < 7.85-10
-7
cm
2
.
Optical power < 23.5 W in
the core
Zero Dispersion Shifted Fiber
Total dispersion is zero in the
Er-optical amplifier band
around 1.55 m
0
1.2 m 1.4 m
1.6 m
Zero at 1.55 m
Material
Dispersion
Total Dispersion
Dispersion

Waveguide Dispersion
Zero-dispersion
shifted fiber
Disadvantage: Cross
talk (4 wave mixing)
Outer Core
Outer Cladding
Inner Core
Inner Cladding
End View of Fiber
(Not to Scale)
Fiber Axis
Refractive
Index
Nonzero Dispersion Shifted Fiber
For Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) avoid 4 wave mixing: cross talk.
We need dispersion not zero but very small in Er-amplifer band (1525-1620 nm)
D
ch
= 0.1 - 6 ps nm
-1
km
-1
.
Nonzero dispersion shifted fibers
Wavelength (nm)
+10
-10
1300 1400
1500
1600
Dispersion (ps/nm-km)
Standard single mode
Nonzero dispersion-shifted
Reduced Slope
Nonzero dispersion-shifted
Zero dispersion-shifted
Nonzero Dispersion Shifted Fiber
Wavelength (nm)
+10
-10
1300 1400
1500
1600
Dispersion (ps/nm-km)
Standard single mode
Nonzero dispersion-shifted
Reduced Slope
Nonzero dispersion-shifted
Zero dispersion-shifted 1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
-0.1
-25 -15 -5 15 25 5 0
Radius (m)
Refractive Index change (%)
Nonzero dispersion shifted fiber (Corning)
0.6%
0.4%
Fiber with flattened
dispersion slope
20
-10
-20
-30
10
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
0
30
(m)
D
m
D
w
D
ch
= D
m
+ D
w

1
Dispersion coefficient (ps km
-1
nm
-1
)

2
n
r
Thin layer of cladding
with a depressed index
Dispersion Flattened Fiber
Dispersion flattened fiber example. The material dispersion
coefficient (D
m
) for the core material and waveguide dispersion
coefficient (D
w
) for the doubly clad fiber result in a flattened
small chromatic dispersion between
1
and
2
.
t
0
Emitter
Very short
light pulses
Input Output
Fiber
Photodetector
Digital signal
Information
Information
t
0
~2 X
l/2
T
t
Output Intensity
Input Intensity
X
l/2
Dispersion and Maximum Bit Rate
B <
0.5
(X
1/ 2
Return-to-zero (RTZ) bit rate or data rate.
Nonreturn to zero (NRZ) bit rate = 2 RTZ bitrate
t
Output optical power
(X
l/2
T = 4o
1
0.5
0.61
2o
A Gaussian output light pulse and some tolerable intersymbol
interference between two consecutive output light pulses (y-axis in
relative units). At time t = o from the pulse center, the relative
magnitude is e
-1/2
= 0.607 and full width root mean square (rms)
spread is (X
rms
= 2o.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
Dispersion and Maximum Bit Rate
B <
0.25
o
!
0.59
(X
1/ 2
(X
1/ 2
L
! D
ch
(
1/ 2
Maximum Bit Rate
Dispersion
BL <
0.25L
o
!
0.25
D
ch
o

!
0.59
D
ch
(
1/ 2
Bit Rate = constant
inversely proportional to dispersion
inversely proportional to line width of laser
(single frequency lasers!)
t
0
P
i
= Input light power
Emitter
Optical
Input
Optical
Output
Fiber
Photodetector
Sinusoidal signal
Sinusoidal electrical signal t
t
0
f
1 kHz
1 MHz
1 GHz
P
o
/ P
i
f
op
0.1
0.05
f = Modulation frequency
An optical fiber link for transmitting analog signals and the effect of dispersion in the
fiber on the bandwidth, f
op
.
P
o
= Output light power
Electrical signal (photocurrent)
f
el
1
0.707
f
1 kHz 1 MHz 1 GHz
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
Example: Bit rate and dispersion
Consider an optical fiber with a chromatic dispersion coefficient 8 ps km
-1
nm
-1
at an operating
wavelength of 1.5 m. Calculate the bit rate distance product (BL), and the optical and electrical
bandwidths for a10 km fiber if a laser diode source with a FWHP linewidth (
1/2
of 2 nm is used.
Solution
For FWHP dispersion,
(X
1/2
/L = |D
ch
|(
1/2
= (8 ps km
-1
nm
-1
)(2 nm) = 16 ps km
-1
Assuming a Gaussian light pulse shape, the RTZ bit rate - distance product (BL) is
BL = 0.59L/(t
1/2
= 0.59/(16 ps km
-1
) = 36.9 Gb s
-1
km.
The optical and electrical bandwidths for a 10 km distance is
f
op
= 0.75B = 0.75(36.9 Gb s
-1
km) / (10 km) = 2.8 GHz.
f
el
= 0.70f
op
= 1.9 GHz.
Dispersed pulse shape (X
1/2
=
FWHM width
B
(RZ)
B'
(NRZ)
f
op
f
el
Gaussian with rms
deviation o
o = 0.425(X
1/2
0.25/o 0.5/o 0.75B = 0.19/o 0.71f
op
= 0.13/o
Rectangular with full
width (T
o = 0.29(T =
0.29(X
1/2
0.25/o 0.5/o 0.69B = 0.17/o 0.73f
op
= 0.13/o
Relationships between dispersion parameters, maximum bit rates and bandwidths. RZ = Return
to zero pulses. NRZ = Nonreturn to zero pulses. B'is the maximum bit rate for NRZ pulses.
Combining intermodal and intramodal dispersions
Consider a graded index fiber with a core diameter of 30 m and a refractive index of 1.474 at the
center of the core and a cladding refractive index of 1.453. Suppose that we use a laser diode emitter
with a spectral linewidth of 3 nm to transmit along this fiber at a wavelength of 1300 nm. Calculate,
the total dispersion and estimate the bit-rate - distance product of the fiber. The material dispersion
coefficient D
m
at 1300 nm is 7.5 ps nm
-1
km
-1
. How does this compare with the performance of a
multimode fiber with the same core radius, and n
1
and n
2
?
Solution
The normalized refractive index difference ( = (n
1
n
2
)/n
1
= (1.474 1.453)/1.474 =
0.01425. Modal dispersion for 1 km is
o
intermode
= Ln
1
(
2
/[(20)(3
1/2
)c] = 2.9-10
-11
s
1
or 0.029 ns.
The material dispersion is
(X
1/2
= LD
m
(
1/2
= (1 km)(7.5 ps nm
-1
km
-1
)(3 nm) = 0.0225 ns
Assuming a Gaussian output light pulse shaper,
o
intramode
= 0.425(X
1/2
= (0.425)(0.0225 ns) = 0.0096 ns
Total dispersion is
o
rms
! o
intermode
2
+o
intramode
2
! 0.029
2
+ 0.0096
2
! 0.030 ns
B = 0.25/(X
rms
= 8.2 Gb
Property Multimode step-index
fiber
Single-mode step-index Graded Index
( = (n
1
n
2
)/n
1
0.02 0.003 0.015
Core diameter (m) 100 8.3 (MFD = 9.3 m) 62.5
Cladding diameter (m) 140 125 125
NA 0.3 0.1 0.26
Bandwidth - distance or
Dispersion
20 - 100 MHz km. < 3.5 ps km
-1
nm
-1
at 1.3 m
> 100 Gb s
-1
km in common
use
300 MHz km - 3 GHz km
at 1.3 m
Attenuation of light 4 - 6 dB km
-1
at 850 nm
0.7 - 1 dB km
-1
at 1.3 m
1.8 dB km
-1
at 850 nm
0.34 dB km
-1
at 1.3 m
0.2 dB km
-1
at 1.55 m
3 dB km
-1
at 850 nm
0.6 - 1 dB km
-1
at 1.3 m
0.3 dB km
-1
at 1.55 m
Typical light source Light emitting diode
(LED)
Lasers, single mode
injection lasers
LED, lasers
Typical applications Short haul or subscriber
local network
communications
Long haul communications Local and wide-area
networks. Medium haul
communications
Comparison of typical characteristics of multimode step-index, single-mode step-index, and
graded-index fibers. (Typical values combined from various sources; 1997
Dispersion Compensation
Very short
light pulse
Input Output
L
t
Transmission Fiber
X ! D
t
L
t
L
t
Dispersion Compensating
Fiber
Input
Output
X ! D
t
L
t
+ D
c
L
c

D
t

D
c
Transmission Fiber Dispersion Compnesating Fiber
Total dispersion = D
t
L
t
+ D
c
L
c
= (10 ps nm
-1
km
-1
)(1000 km) +
(100 ps nm
-1
km
-1
)(80 km)
= 2000 ps/nm for 1080 km or 1.9 ps nm
-1
km
-1
Dispersion Compensation and Management
Compensating fiber has higher attenuation.
Doped core. Need shorter length
More susceptible to nonlinear effects.
Use at the receiver end.
Different cross sections. Splicing/coupling losses.
Compensation depends on the temperature.
Manufacturers provide transmission fiber spliced to
inverse dispersion fiber for a well defined D vs.
Dispersion Managed Fiber
The inverse dispersion slope of dispersion managed fiber cancels the detrimental
effect of dispersion across the a wide spectrum of wavelength. More DWDM
channels expected in ultralong haul transmission. (Courtesy of OFS Division of
Furukawa.)
Attenuation
Medium
k
Attenuation of light in the
direction of propagation.
z
E
Attenuation = Absorption + Scattering
Attenuation coefficient is defined as the fractional decrease in
the optical power per unit distance. is in m
-1
.
P
out
= P
in
exp(L)

dB
!
1
L
10log
P
in
P
out

'

+
'

dB
!
10
ln(10)
! 4.34
z
A solid with ions
Light direction
k
E
x
Lattice absorption through a crystal. The field in the wave
oscillates the ions which consequently generate "mechanical"
waves in the crystal; energy is thereby transferred from the wave
to lattice vibrations.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
Lattice Absorption (Reststrahlen Absorption)
Rayleigh Scattering
Scattered waves
Incident wave
Through wave
A dielectric particle smaller than wavelength
Rayleigh scattering involves the polarization of a small dielectric particle or a region
that is much smaller than the light wavelength. The field forces dipole oscillations in
the particle (by polarizing it) which leads to the emission of EM waves in "many"
directions so that a portion of the light energy is directed away from the incident beam.

R
<
8x
3
3
4
n
2
1
)
2

T
k
B
T
f

1
= isothermal compressibility (at T
f
)
T
f
= fictive temperature (roughly the
softening temperature of glass) where
the liquid structure during the cooling
of the fiber is frozen to become the
glass structure
Example: Rayleigh scattering limit
What is the attenuation due to Rayleigh scattering at around the = 1.55 m window
given that pure silica (SiO
2
) has the following properties: T
f
= 1730C (softening
temperature);
T
= 7-10
-11
m
2
N
-1
(at high temperatures); n = 1.4446 at 1.5 m.
Solution
We simply calculate the Rayleigh scattering attenuation using

R
<
8x
3
3
4
(n
2
1)
2

T
k
B
T
f

R
<
8x
3
3(1.55 -10
6
)
4
(1.4446
2
1)
2
(7 -10
11
)(1.38 -10
23
)(1730 + 273)

R
= 3.276-10
-5
m
-1
or 3.276-10
-2
km
-1
Attenuation in dB per km is

dB
= 4.34
R
= (4.34)(3.735-10
-2
km
-1
) = 0.142 dB km
-1
This represents the lowest possible attenuation for a silica glass core fiber at
1.55 m.
0.05
0.1
0.5
1.0
5
10
0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Lattice
absorption
Rayleigh
scattering
Wavelength (m)
Illustration of a typical attenuation vs. wavelength characteristics
of a silica based optical fiber. There are two communications
channels at 1310 nm and 1550 nm.
OH
-
absorption

peaks
1310 nm
1550 nm
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
Corning low-water-peak fiber has no OH
-
peak
E-band is available for communications with this fiber
[Photonics Spectra, April 2002 p.69]
Escaping wave

'

>
c '
Microbending
R
Cladding
Core
Field distribution
Sharp bends change the local waveguide geometry that can lead to waves
escaping. The zigzagging ray suddenly finds itself with an incidence
angle ' that gives rise to either a transmitted wave, or to a greater
cladding penetration; the field reaches the outside medium and some light
energy is lost.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
Bending Loss
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Radius of curvature (mm)
l0
1
l0
2
l0
l
l
l0
l0
2

B
(m
-1
) for 10 cm of bend
= 633 nm
= 790 nm
V ! 2.08
V ! 1.67
Measured microbending loss for a 10 cm fiber bent by different amounts of radius of
curvature R. Single mode fiber with a core diameter of 3.9 m, cladding radius 48 m,
( = 0.00275, NA = 0.10, V ! 1.67 and 2.08 (Data extracted and replotted from A.J.
Harris and P.F. Castle, IEEE J. Light Wave Technology, Vol. LT14, pp. 34-40, 1986; see
original article for discussion of peaks in
B
vs. R at 790 nm).
exp
R
R
c

'

+
'
exp
R
(
3/ 2

'

+
'

Microbending Loss
Example: Microbending loss It is found that for a single mode fiber with a cut-off
wavelength
c
= 1180 nm, operating at 1300 nm, the microbending loss reaches 1 dB m
-1
when the radius of curvature of the bend is roughly 6 mm for ( = 0.00825, 12 mm for ( =
0.00550 and 35 mm for ( = 0.00275. Explain these findings?
Solution: Maybe later?
Bending loss for three different fibers. The cut-off wavelength is 1.2 m. All three
are operating at = 1.5 m.
WDM Illustration
Modulator
Modulator
Non-linear fiber and
amplifiers introduce
Intermodulation
Modulator
Modulator
Eight Carriers
100 GHz
Spacing
Number of carriers and power level must be limited and this reduces range.