Signal Degradation in

Optical Fibers

S . S. PATIL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
ADCET,ASHTA

Signal Attenuation & Distortion in

Optical Fibers
What are the loss or signal attenuation mechanism in a fiber?
Why & to what degree do optical signals get distorted as they
propagate down a fiber?
Signal attenuation (fiber loss) largely determines the maximum
repeaterless separation between optical transmitter & receiver.
Signal distortion cause that optical pulses to broaden as they
travel along a fiber, the overlap between neighboring pulses,
creating errors in the receiver output, resulting in the limitation
of information-carrying capacity of a fiber.
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Attenuation (fiber loss)

Power loss along a fiber:

Z= l

Z=0
P(0) mW

P(l ) P(0)e

P( z ) P(0)e

p z

p l

mw

[3-1]

The parameter p is called fiber attenuation coefficient in a units of for

example [1/km] or [nepers/km]. A more common unit is [dB/km] that is
defined by:

P(0)
10
[dB/km ] log
4.343 p [1 / km ]

l
P(l )
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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-2]

Fiber loss in dB/km

Z=l

z=0

P(0)[dBm]

P(l )[dBm] P(0)[dBm] [dB/km] l[km]

Where [dBm] or dB milliwat is 10log(P [mW]).

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-3]

Ideal fiber :Pout=Pin

Attenuation =0db/km
1300nm --- 0.5db/km
1550nm -0.3db/km

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Q.1 Consider a 30 km long optical fiber

that has an attenuation of 0.8 db/km at
1300 nm. Suppose we want to find the
optical output power pout if 200uwatt of
optical power is launced into the fiber, first
use to express the input power in dbm?

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Optical fiber attenuation vs. wavelength

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Attenuation measure of decay of signal strength or

loss of light power that occurs as light pulses
propagate through the length of fiber
Attenuation caused by
1)Absorption
2)scattering
3)Radiative losses

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Absorption losses relates to the

material composition and
fabrication process of fiber.
Absorption losses dissipated of
some optical power as heat in
the fiber cable.
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1)Absorptio by automic defect in

the glass composition
2)Extrinsic absorption by
impurity atoms in the glass
matts.
3)Intrinsic absorption by
constituent atom of fiber.
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Scattering losses in fiber due to

microscopic variation and
compositional fluctuation in
fiberglass is composed of
randomly connected molecular
network of molecules of several
oxides (e.g.sio2,geo2,p2o5)
these causes variation in
refractive indices of core of fiber
over distance.
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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Types of Attenuation

Absorption Loss:
Caused by the fibre itself or by impurities in the fibre,such as water and
metals.

Scattering Loss:
Intrinsic loss mechanism caused by the interaction of photons with the
glass itself.

Bending loss:
Loss induced by physical stress on the fibre.

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S . S. PATIL
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Absorption
Absorption is caused by three different mechanisms:
1- Impurities in fiber material: from transition metal ions (must
be in order of ppb) & particularly from OH ions with
absorption peaks at wavelengths 2700 nm, 400 nm, 950 nm &
725nm.
2- Intrinsic absorption (fundamental lower limit): electronic
absorption band (UV region) & atomic bond vibration band
(IR region) in basic SiO2.
3- Radiation defects

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Scattering
Scattering loss in glass arises from
microscopic variation in material density,
from compositional fluctuations, and from
structure inhomogenetics, and defect
occurring during fiber manufactures.

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Glass is connected randomly connected

molecules network. such structure consist
of molecule density is higher lower than
molecule density in the glass.

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Glass is made up of several oxides such as

SiO2,Ge2O3,P2O5 compositional
fluctuations can occur. this give rise the
variation in the refractive index of fiber
over the distance small compared with the
wavelength. These index variation causes
Rayleigh scattering of the light.

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A comparison of infrared absorption induced

by various doping material; in low loss silica fiber

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Dispersion
1)Intramodal dispersionMaterial dispersion
Waveguide dispersion
2)Intermodal dispersion
Signal degradation in intermodal dispersion
which is result of different value of group
delay for each individual mode at single
frequency.
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Group delay
The velocity at which energy in the pulse
travels along the fiber known as group
delay.

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Dispersion
1)Material dispersion/Chromatic dispersion
2)Waveguide dispersion

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1)Material dispersion/Chromatic
dispersion
Refractive index of core is a function of
wavelength
Occur in single mode fiber
Time delay different for different
wavelength components

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Waveguide dispersion
Light in cladding travel faster than the core

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Material Absorption Losses

Material

absorption is caused by absorption of photons

within the fibre.
When a material is illuminated, photons can make the valence electrons

of an atom transition to higher energy levels

Photon is destroyed, and the radiant energy is transformed into electric

potential energy. This energy can then
Be re-emitted (scattering)
Frees the electron (photoelectric effects) (not in fibers)
Dissipated to the rest of the material (transformed into heat)
In an optical fibre Material Absorption is the optical power that is

effectively converted to heat dissipation within the fibre.

Two types of absorption exist:
Intrinsic Absorption, caused by interaction with one or more of the components
of the glass
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Extrinsic Absorption, causedASSISTANT

by impurities
within the glass
PROFESSOR

Intrinsic Absorption 1
Less significant than extrinsic absorption. For a pure (no impurities) silica
fibre a low loss window exists between 800 nm and 1600 nm.
Graph shows attenuation spectrum for
pure silica glass.
Intrinsic absorption is
very low compared to
other forms of loss.
It is for this reason that
fibres are made up of silica
and optical communications
systems work between
about 800 to 1600 nm.

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Intrinsic Absorption 2
Intrinsic

absorption in the ultraviolet region is caused by

electronic absorption bands. Basically, absorption occurs when a
light particle (photon) interacts with an electron and excites it to a
higher energy level.
The main cause of intrinsic absorption in the infrared region is
the characteristic vibration frequency of atomic bonds. In silica
glass, absorption is caused by the vibration of silicon-oxygen
(Si-O) bonds. The interaction between the vibrating bond and the
electromagnetic field of the optical signal causes intrinsic
absorption. Light energy is transferred from the electromagnetic
field to the bond.
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Extrinsic Absorption (metallic ions)

Extrinsic absorption is much more significant than intrinsic

Caused by impurities introduced into the fiber material during manufacture

Iron, nickel, and chromium
Caused by transition of metal ions to a higher energy level
Modern fabrication techniques can reduce impurity levels below 1 part in 10 10.
For some of the more

common metallic impurities

in silica fibre the table shows
the peak attenuation
wavelength and the
attenuation caused by an
impurity concentration of 1 in
109
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Extrinsic Absorption (OH ions)

Extrinsic absorption caused by dissolved water in the glass, as the hydroxyl
or OH ion.
In this case absorption due to the same fundamental processes (between
2700 nm and 4200 nm) gives rise to so called absorption overtones at 1380,
950 and 720 nm.
Typically a 1 part per million impurity level causes 1 dB/km of attenuation at
950 nm. Typical levels are a few parts per billion

Absorption Spectrum for OH in

Silica
Narrow windows circa 800, 1300
nm
and 1550 nm exist which are
unaffected by
this type of absorption.

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Scattering Losses in Fibre

Scattering is a process whereby all or some of the optical power in a mode is

transferred into another mode.

Frequently causes attenuation, since the transfer is often to a mode which does not
propagate well. (also called a leaky or radiation mode).

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Types of Scattering Loss in Fibre

Two basic types of scattering exist:
Linear scattering: Rayleigh and Mie
Non-linear scattering: Stimulated Brillouin and
Stimulated Raman.
Rayleigh is the dominant loss mechanism in the low
loss silica window between 800 nm and 1700 nm.
Raman scattering is an important issue in Dense
WDM systems

Arise in glass from

Microscopic variations in the material density
From compositional fluctuations
From structural inhomogeneties
Defects occurring during
fiber manufacture
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Scattering Losses
Already we know that glass is composed of a randomly
connected network of molecules.
Due to this such structure contains inhomogeneties in
form of high or low average density.
Glass is also made up of several oxides, such as SiO2,
GeO2, P2O5 where compositional fluctuations may be
there.
These two effects give rise to refractive index variations
which occur within the glass over distances that are
small compared with the wavelength.
S . S. PATIL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Scattering Losses

The ultimate effect of refractive index variation is a

Rayleigh type scattering of the light.
Rayleigh type scattering is the same phenomenon that
scatters light from the sun in the atmosphere, thereby
giving rise to blue sky.
To express the effect is fairly complex as it includes
The random molecular nature
The various oxide constituents.

For single component glass the scattering loss at a

wavelength resulting from density fluctuations can be
approximated by (in base e units)
scat = 83 (n2 - 1)2 kbTfT
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4
3
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Scattering Losses
In the above expression

n is the refractive index

KB is the Boltzmans constant
T is the isothermal compressibility of the material
Tf is the temperature at which the density fluctuations are
frozen in the glass.

Alternatively the relation in base units of e becomes

scat = 83 n8 p2 kbTfT
3 4
Here p is the photoelastic coefficient. To change this to
decibels units multiply this equation by 10 log e = 4.343.
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Scattering Losses
For multicomponent glass the scattering is given by

scat = 83 (n2)2 V

3 4
Where the square of the mean square refracitve index
fluctuation (n2)2 over a volume of V is
m
(n2)2 = (n / p)2 (p) + (n2 / Ci) (Ci)2
I= 1
Here p is the density fluctuation and Ci is the
concentration fluctuation of the ith glass component.
In this the magnitude of composition and density of
fluctuations are generally not known and must be
determined from experimental data.
Then scattering losses canS . S.bePATIL
calculated.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Scattering Losses
The other mechanism causing scattering include
Structural inhomogeneties
Defects created during fiber fabrication.

These defects may be in the form of

Trapped gas bubbles
Unreacted starting materials
Crystallized regions in the glass.

Thus the preform manufacturing methods that have

evolved have minimized these extrinsic effects to the
point where scattering that results from them is
negligible compared with the intrinsic Rayleigh
scattering.
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Scattering Losses
Rayleigh scattering follows a characteristics 4
dependence, it decreases dramatically with increasing
wavelength shown below

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Scattering Losses
The graph shows that for
wavelengths below about 1 m it is
the dominant loss mechanism in a
fiber and gives the attenuation
versus wavelength plot gets a
downward trend with increasing
wavelength.
At wavelengths longer than 1 m,
infrared absorption effects tend to
dominate optical signal attenuation.
Combining the infrared, ultraviolet,
and scattering losses, we get the
result shown in figure below for a
single mode fiber.
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Scattering Losses
If we consider multimode fiber the losses are on
higher side due to
Higher dopant concentrations
The accompanying larger scattering loss due togreater
compositional fluctuation in multimode fiber.

In addition, multimode fibers are subject to higher

order mode losses owing to perturbations at the core
cladding interface

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Bending Losses
Radiative losses occur whenever an optical fiber
undergoes a bend of finite radius of curvature.
Fibers can be subject to two types of bends
Macroscopic bends having radii that are larger compared
with the fiber diameter for example such as those that
occur when a fiber cable turns a corner
Random microscopic bends of the fiber axis that can arise
when the fibers are incorporated into cables.

Macrobending Losses (Bending losses) :

The high the radius, the lesser is the loss.
The loss increases exponentially with the
decreasing radius of the curvature until a certain
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point where it becomes
negligible.
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Bending Losses
If the bend radius is
made a bit smaller once
this threshold point has
been reached, the losses
suddenly become
extremely large.
The curvature loss
effects can be explained
by examining the modal
electric field
distributions as in the
diagram.
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Bending Losses
The above figure shows that any bound core mode has an
evanescent field tail in the cladding which decays
exponentially with as a function of distance from the core.
Since this field tail moves along with the field in the core,
part of the energy of a propagating mode travels in the fiber
cladding.
When a fiber is bent, the field tail on the far side of the
center of curvature must move faster to keep up with the
field in the core for the lowest order fiber mode.
At a certain critical distance xc from the center of the fiber,
the field tail would have to move faster than the speed of the
light to keep up with the core field.
Since this is not possible the optical energy in the field
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beyond xc radiates away.
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Bending Losses
The amount of optical radiation from a bent fiber
depends on
Field strength at xc
The radius of curvature R

Higher order modes are less tightly bound to the fiber

core than the lower order mode, thus the higher order
modes will radiate out of the fiber first.
Thus the total number of modes that can be supported
by a curved fiber is less than in a straight fiber.
Gloge has derived the following expression
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Bending Losses
Gloge has derived the following expression for the
effective number of modes Neff that are guided by a
curved multimode fiber of radius a:
Neff = N {1 ( + 2 / 2)[(2a / R) + (3 / 2n2kR)2/3] }
Where defines the graded index profile,
is the core-cladding index difference
n2 the cladding refractive index
k = 2 / is the wave propagation constant
N = ( / + 2 ) (n1 ka)2 is the total number of
modes in a straight fiber.
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Bending Losses
Another form of radiation
loss in optical waveguide
results from mode
coupling caused by
random microbends of the
optical fiber.
Microbends are repetitive
small-scale fluctuations in
the radius of the curvature
of the fiber axis shown in
figure.
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Bending Losses
They are caused
By non uniformities in the manufacturing of the fiber
By nonuniform lateral pressures created during the
cabling of the fiber, known as cabling or packaging
losses.

An increase in attenuation results from

microbending because the fiber curvature causes
repetitive coupling of energy between the guided
modes and the leaky or nonguided modes in the
fiber.
One method of minimizing microbending losses is
by extruding a compressible jacket over the fiber.
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Core and Cladding Losses

Upon measuring the propagation losses in an actual
fiber, all the dissipative and scattering losses will be
manifested simultaneously.
Since the core and cladding have different indices of
refraction and therefore differ in composition, the
core and cladding generally have different
attenuation coefficients, denoted by 1 and 2 resp.
If the influence of modal coupling is ignored, the loss
for a mode of order (v, m) for a step-index
waveguide is
vm = 1 (Pcore / P) + 2 (Pclad / P)
Where Pcore / P and Pclad / P are the fractional power for
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several order modes.

Core and Cladding Losses

But we know already that Pclad / P = 1 - Pcore / P thus
the above expression becomes
vm = 1 + (2 1 ) (Pclad / P)
The total loss of the waveguide can be found by
summing over all modes weighted by the fractional
power in that mode.
For graded index fiber the situation is more complex.
In this both the attenuation coefficients and the
modal power tend to be functions of the radial
coordinate.
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Core and Cladding Losses

At a distance r from the core axis the loss is
(r) = 1 + ( 2 1) (n2(0) n2(r)/n2(0)-n22)
Where 1 and 2 are the axial and cladding attenuation
coefficients resp.
n terms are modes of graded index fiber.
The loss is given by
gi = int ( (r) p(r) r) dr / int (p(r) r) dr
Where p(r) is the power density of that mode at r.
The complexity of the multimode waveguide has
prevented an experimental correlation with a model.
However it has generally been observed that the loss
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increases with increasing
mode number.
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Rayleigh Scattering (I)

Dominant scattering mechanism in silica fibres
Scattering causes by inhomogeneities in the glass, of a size smaller than
the wavelength.
Inhomogeneities manifested as refractive index variations, present in the
glass after manufacture.
Difficult to eliminate with present manufacturing methods
Rayleigh loss falls off as a function of the fourth power of wavelength:

in this empirical formula is expressed in microns (m)

The Rayleigh scattering coefficient Ar is a constant for a given material.
For 1550 nm the loss is approximately 0.18 dB per km.
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Rayleigh Scattering (II)

The Rayleigh scattering coefficient Ar depends:
-The fibre refractive index profile
-The doping used to achieve a given core refractive index
For a step index germanium doped fibre Ar is given by:
Ar = 0.63 + 2.06.NA dB/km
For a graded index near-parabolic profile fibre Ar is given by:
Ar = 0.63 + 1.75.NA dB/km
Exercise: Show that for a graded index fibre with a numerical
aperture of 0.275 operating at 1330 nm the Rayleigh scattering loss
is approximately 0.36 dB/km.
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Bending Loss (Macrobending & Microbending)

Macrobending
Loss:
The
curvature of the bend is much
larger than fiber diameter.
Lightwave suffers sever loss due
to radiation of the evanescent
field in the cladding region. As
the radius of the curvature
decreases, the loss increases
exponentially until it reaches at a
certain critical radius. For any
radius a bit smaller than this
point, the losses suddenly
becomes extremely large. Higher
order modes radiate away faster
than lower order modes.
Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000

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Microbending Loss

Microbending Loss:
microscopic bends of the fiber
axis that can arise when the
fibers are incorporated into
cables. The power is dissipated
through the microbended fiber,
because of the repetitive
coupling of energy between
guided modes & the leaky or
radiation modes in the fiber.

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

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Dispersion in Optical Fibers

Dispersion: Any phenomenon in which the velocity of propagation of any
electromagnetic wave is wavelength dependent.
In communication, dispersion is used to describe any process by which any
electromagnetic signal propagating in a physical medium is degraded
because the various wave characteristics (i.e., frequencies) of the signal
have different propagation velocities within the physical medium.
There are 3 dispersion types in the optical fibers, in general:

1- Material Dispersion
2- Waveguide Dispersion
3- Polarization-Mode Dispersion
Material & waveguide dispersions are main causes of Intramodal
Dispersion.
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Group Velocity
Wave Velocities:
1- Plane wave velocity: For a plane wave propagating along z-axis in an
unbounded homogeneous region of refractive index n1 , which is
represented by exp( jt jk1 z ) , the velocity of constant phase plane is:
v

k1 n1

[3-4]

2- Modal wave phase velocity: For a modal wave propagating along z-axis
represented byexp( jt jz) , the velocity of constant phase plane is:

vp
[3-5]

3- For transmission system operation the most important & useful type of
velocity is the group velocity, V g . This is the actual velocity which the
signal information & energy is traveling down the fiber. It is always less
than the speed of light in the medium. The observable delay experiences by
the optical signal waveform & energy, when traveling a length of l along
the fiber is commonly referred to as group delay.
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Group Velocity & Group Delay

The group velocity is given by:

d
Vg
d

[3-6]

The group delay is given by:

l
d
g l
Vg
d

[3-7]

It is important to note that all above quantities depend both on frequency

& the propagation mode. In order to see the effect of these parameters on
group velocity and delay, the following analysis would be helpful.

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Chromatic dispersion
The combination of material dispersion
and waveguide dispersion is called as
chromatic dispersion.
These losses primarily concern the
spectral width Tx and choice of the
correct wavelength

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The graph of effective refractive

index vs wavelength
Material dispersion and waveguide
dispersion effect vary in opposite senses
as the wavelength increased , but at an
optimum wavelength around 1300nm , two
effect almost cancel each other and
chromatic dispersion is at minimum.
Attenuation is minimum at 1300nm a
highly attractive optical wavelength.
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Modal dispersion
As only certain number of modes can
propagate down the fiber , each of these
modes carries the modulation signal and
each one is incident on the boundary at
different angle, they will each have their
own individual propagation times . The net
effect is spreading of pulse , this form of
dispersion is called modal dispersion.
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Polarization mode dispersion

Different frequency component of a pulse
acquires different polarization states .This
result in pulse broadening is known as
polarization mode dispersion.

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Pulse broadening in graded

index fiber
The core refractive index varies radially in case of
graded index fiber , hence it supports multimode
propagation with a low intermodal delay distortion and
high data rate over long distance is possible.
The higher order modes travelling in outer regions of the
core , will travel faster than the lower order modes
travelling in high refractive index region.
If the index of profile is carefully controlled , then the
transit times of the individual modes will be identical, so
eliminating modal dispersion.
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Mode coupling
After certain initial length , the pulse
distortion increases less rapidally because
of mode coupling. The energy from one
mode is coupled to other mode because of
Structure imperfection
Fiber diameter variation
Refractive index variation
Micro bend in cable
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Design optimization
Feature of single mode fiber
Longer life
Low attenuation
Signal transfer quality is good
Mode noise is absent
Larger BW-distance product

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Basic design optimisation

Cut off wavelength

Dispersion
Mode field diameter
Bending loss
Refractive index profile

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S . S. PATIL
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Input/Output signals in Fiber Transmission

System
The optical signal (complex) waveform at the input of fiber of length l is
f(t). The propagation constant of a particular modal wave carrying the
signal is (). Let us find the output signal waveform g(t).

is the opticalsignal bandwidth.

Z=l

z-=0

f (t )

~
f ( )e jt d

[3-8]

g (t )

~
f ( )e jt j ( ) l d

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[3-9]

If c
d
( ) ( c )
d

g (t )

1 d 2
( c )
2
2
d

c / 2

~
jt j ( ) l
f
(

)
e
d

c / 2

e j ( c ) l

c / 2

~
f ( )e

j ( t l

d
d

c / 2

~
f ( )e

( c ) 2 ...

[3-10]

jt j [ ( c )

d
d

( c )]l

c / 2
)
c

c / 2

j ( c ) l

d
f (t l
d

) e j ( c )l f (t g )

[3-11]

d
g l
d

V
S.S.
c PATIL g

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-14]

Intramodal Dispersion
As we have seen from Input/output signal relationship in optical fiber, the
output is proportional to the delayed version of the input signal, and the
delay is inversely proportional to the group velocity of the wave. Since the
propagation constant, () , is frequency dependent over band width
sitting at the center frequency c , at each frequency, we have one
propagation constant resulting in a specific delay time. As the output signal
is collectively represented by group velocity & group delay this
phenomenon is called intramodal dispersion or Group Velocity
Dispersion (GVD). This phenomenon arises due to a finite bandwidth
of the optical source, dependency of refractive index on the
wavelength and the modal dependency of the group velocity.

In the case of optical pulse propagation down the fiber, GVD causes pulse
broadening, leading to Inter Symbol Interference (ISI).

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Dispersion & ISI

A measure of information
capacity of an optical fiber for
digital transmission is usually
specified by the bandwidth
distance product BW L
in GHz.km.
For multi-mode step index fiber
this quantity is about 20
MHz.km, for graded index fiber
is about 2.5 GHz.km & for single
mode fibers are higher than 10
GHz.km.

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

How to characterize dispersion?

Group delay per unit length can be defined as:

d
1 d
2 d

L
d
c dk
2c d

[3-15]

If the spectral width of the optical source is not too wide, then the delay
d
difference per unit wavelength along the propagation path is approximately g
d
For spectral components which are apart, symmetrical around center
wavelength, the total delay difference over a distance L is:
d g

2
L
d
2 d
2

2
d
2c
d
d

d
d

d
d

V
g

d 2
L
d 2

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[3-16]

d 2
2
d 2

is called GVD parameter, and shows how much a light pulse

broadens as it travels along an optical fiber. The more common parameter
is called Dispersion, and can be defined as the delay difference per unit
length per unit wavelength as follows:

1 d g
d 1
D

L d
d V g

2c 2
2

[3-17]

In the case of optical pulse, if the spectral width of the optical source is
characterized by its rms value of the Gaussian pulse , the pulse
spreading over the length of L, g can be well approximated by:

d g
d

DL

D has a typical unit of [ps/(nm.km)].

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-18]

Material Dispersion
Cladding

Input

v g ( 1 )

Emitter
Very short
light pulse

v g ( 2 )

Core

Intensity

Intensity

Output

Intensity

Spectrum,
Spread,

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 n1. The waves arrive at the end of the fiber at different times and hence result in
a broadened output pulse.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics(Prentice Hall)
S . S. PATIL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Material Dispersion
The refractive index of the material varies as a function of wavelength,n( )
Material-induced dispersion for a plane wave propagation in homogeneous
medium of refractive index n:

mat

d
2 d
2
d 2

L
n
(

d
2c d
2c d

L
dn
n

c
d

[3-19]

The pulse spread due to material dispersion is therefore:

d mat
L d 2 n
g

2 L Dmat ( )
d
c
d
Dmat ( ) is material dispersion
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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-20]

Material Dispersion Diagrams

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

Waveguide Dispersion
Waveguide dispersion is due to the dependency of the group velocity of the
fundamental mode as well as other modes on the V number. In order to
calculate waveguide dispersion, we consider that n is not dependent on
wavelength. Defining the normalized propagation constant b as:

/ k n2
2

n1 n2
2

/ k n2
n1 n2

[3-21]

solving for propagation constant:

n2 k (1 b)

[3-22]

Using V number:

V ka(n n2 )
2
1

2 1/ 2

kan2 2

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[3-23]

Waveguide Dispersion
Delay time due to waveguide dispersion can then be expressed as:

wg

L
d (Vb )
n2 n2
c
dV

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

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

[3-24]

Waveguide dispersion in single mode fibers

For single mode fibers, waveguide dispersion is in the same order of
material dispersion. The pulse spread can be well approximated as:

wg

d wg

n2 L d 2 (Vb )

L Dwg ( )
V
d
c
dV 2
Dwg ( )

S . S. PATIL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

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

[3-25]

Polarization Mode dispersion

Intensity
t

Output light pulse

n1 y // y

n1 x // x

Ey

Ex

Core
Ex

Ey

= Pulse spread

t
E
Input light pulse

Suppose that the core refractive index has different values along two orthogonal
directions corresponding to electric field oscillation direction (polarizations). We can
take x and y axes along these directions. An input light will travel along the fiber with
and Ey polarizations having different group velocities and hence arrive at the output at
different times
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectr onics(P rentice Hall)

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Ex

Polarization Mode dispersion

The effects of fiber-birefringence on the polarization states of an optical are
another source of pulse broadening. Polarization mode dispersion (PMD)
is due to slightly different velocity for each polarization mode because of
the lack of perfectly symmetric & anisotropicity of the fiber. If the group
velocities of two orthogonal polarization modes are vgx and vgy then the
differential time delay pol between these two polarization over a
distance L is

pol

L
L

v gx v gy

[3-26]

The rms value of the differential group delay can be approximated as:

pol DPMD L
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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-27]

Chromatic & Total Dispersion

Chromatic dispersion includes the material & waveguide dispersions.

Dch ( ) Dmat Dwg

ch Dch ( ) L

[3-28]

Total dispersion is the sum of chromatic , polarization dispersion and other

dispersion types and the total rms pulse spreading can be approximately
written as:

Dtotal Dch D pol ...

total DtotalL
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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-29]

Total Dispersion, zero Dispersion

Fact 1) Minimum distortion at wavelength about 1300 nm for single mode silica fiber.
Fact 2) Minimum attenuation is at 1550 nm for sinlge mode silica fiber.
Strategy: shifting the zero-dispersion to longer wavelength for minimum attenuation and dispersion.

S . S. PATIL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

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

Optimum single mode fiber &

distortion/attenuation characteristics
Fact 1) Minimum distortion at wavelength about 1300 nm for single mode
silica fiber.
Fact 2) Minimum attenuation is at 1550 nm for sinlge mode silica fiber.
Strategy: shifting the zero-dispersion to longer wavelength for minimum
attenuation and dispersion by Modifying waveguide dispersion by
changing from a simple step-index core profile to more complicated
profiles. There are four major categories to do that:
1- 1300 nm optimized single mode step-fibers: matched cladding (mode
diameter 9.6 micrometer) and depressed-cladding (mode diameter about 9
micrometer)
2- Dispersion shifted fibers.
3- Dispersion-flattened fibers.
4- Large-effective area (LEA) fibers (less nonlinearities for fiber optical
amplifier applications, effective cross section areas are typically greater
than 100m 2 ).
S . S. PATIL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

S . S. PATIL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Single mode fiber dispersion

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

Single mode fiber dispersion

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

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

Single mode Cut-off wavelength & Dispersion

2a
Fundamental mode is HE11 or LP01 with V=2.405 and c
V
Dispersion:

d
D ( )
Dmat ( ) Dwg ( )
d
D( ) L
For non-dispersion-shifted fibers (1270 nm 1340 nm)
For dispersion shifted fibers (1500 nm- 1600 nm)

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

n1 n2
2

[3-30]

[3-31]
[3-32]

Dispersion for non-dispersion-shifted fibers

(1270 nm 1340 nm)
S0
0 2
( ) 0 (
)
8

0 is relative delay minimum at the zero-dispersion wavelength 0

2

[3-33]

, and

is the value of the dispersion slope in ps/(nm .km).

S 0 S (0 )

dD
d 0

S0

0 4
D ( )
1 ( )

4

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-34]

[3-35]

S0

Dispersion for dispersion shifted fibers (1500

nm- 1600 nm)
S0
( ) 0 ( 0 ) 2
2

D ( ) ( 0 ) S 0

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

[3-36]

[3-37]

Example of dispersion
Performance curve for
Set of SM-fiber

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

Example of BW vs wavelength for various optical sources for

SM-fiber.

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

MFD

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

Bending Loss

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

Bending effects on loss vs MFD

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

Bend loss versus bend radius

a 3.6 m; b 60m
n n
3.56 103 ; 3 2 0.07
n2

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

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

Kerr effect
Temporal changes in a narrow optical pulse that is subjected to Kerr nonlinearity in
A dispersive medium with positive GVD.

n n0 n2 I

Kerr nonlinearity in fiber, where I is the intensity of

Optical wave.
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First-order Soliton

Temporal changes in a medium with Kerr nonlinearity and negative GVD. Since dispersion tends to broaden the pulse, Kerr
Nonlinearity tends to squeeze the pulse, resulting in a formation of optical soliton.

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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR