STEP INDEX AND GRADED

INDEX FIBER
Made by-
Aparna Garg
Ashish Arya
Abhinav Agrawal
Aftab Ali Rai
Single mode and Multimode Fiber
Core has uniform refractive index
Refractive index of cladding is also uniform but
smaller than Core
R.I.
core
>R.I.
cladding
Step change in Refractive Index at core cladding
interface

STEP INDEX FIBER
STEP INDEX FIBER
Refractive Index variation in Step Index Fiber


Fabricated from doped silica
Normalized Frequency (V)<2.405





Low intermodal dispersion
High limits of attainable Bandwidth 10GHz km
Low attenuation

SINGLE MODE STEP INDEX FIBER


2 Types:
Matched Cladding
Depressed Cladding
Matched Cladding:
Core: Constant refractive index
Cladding: Single homogeneous layer of dielectric

SINGLE MODE STEP INDEX FIBER
Depressed Cladding:
Core: Constant Refractive Index
Cladding: Made of two regions

SINGLE MODE STEP INDEX FIBER
- Fabricated from multicomponent glass or doped Silica
- Large core diameter and numerical aperture



MULTIMODE STEP INDEX FIBER
- Normalized Frequency (V)>2.405
- Attainable bandwidth: 300MHz- 3GHz km




- High attenuation
- Numerical aperture,

MULTIMODE STEP INDEX FIBER



















GRADED INDEX MULTIMODE FIBER
Graded index fiber is an optical fiber whose core has a
refractive index that decreases with increasing radial
distance from the fiber axis.
Higher Order Modes
Larger propagation length
Travel farther into the cladding
Speed increases with distance away from the core
(decreasing index of refraction)
Relative difference in propagation speed is less






Refractive index profile





where , = Relative refractive index difference




( )

> = A
<
|
.
|

\
|
A
=
a r n n
a r
a
r
n
r n
2 1
2
1
2 1
2 1
A



- If , = Step index profile
= 2 Parabolic profile
= 1 Triangular profile
Variations in R.I. with


- Light rays follow Sinusoidal paths down the fiber.











The intermodal dispersion is smaller than for step index multimode
fiber







Shorter wavelengths of rays travelling near fiber axis





4
2
1
inter
A
=
c
n
D
g
Propagation of Ray
- Propagation through Reflection and Total Internal
Reflection
- Due to gradual decrease in cores R.I. from the center of
the fiber ray reflects many times




The ray that travels directly along the axis reaches the end of
the fiber at the same time as the higher order ray .
Modal dispersion
speed of guided light changes with fiber cores refractive index.

Farther the light goes from the centre of the fiber, the faster it is.

Speed difference compensate for the longer paths followed by
the light rays that go farthest from the centre of the fiber. This
equalizing of transit times of different modes greatly reduces
modal dispersion.

Step model of graded index fiber









- Model shows the refraction at different layers of core
- Ray refracts at higher angle at every layer and total internal
reflection occurs before it reaches at boundary of core and
cladding

NA(Numerical aperture) of graded
index fiber


- NA is at its maximum value at fiber axis
Axial Numerical Aperture [NA(0)]= n
1
(2 )

1/2

-

NA decreases with increase in r
- Becomes zero for r>a



A
No. of modes in graded index fiber

- Depends upon NA, Relative R.I. difference, Profile
parameter(alpha) and normalized frequency (V).
- Have typically over one hundred modes
- Accept less light than multimode single index fiber for same
core and delta






Basic design parameter

- Standard multimode graded index fiber core and cladding
sizes are 50/125 m, 62.5/125 m, 85/125 m and 100/400 m.
- Typical values of delta are around 0.01 to 0.02
- 62.5/125 m design with 0.02 delta offers the best overall
performance

Difference between Step index and Graded index

1. Step index fiber is of two types viz; mono mode fiber and multi mode fiber.
Graded index fiber is of only of one type that is multi mode fiber.

2. The refractive index of the core of the step index fiber is constant through
out the core.
The refractive index of the core of the graded index fiber is maximum at the
centre of the core and then it decreases towards core-cladding interface.





3. Number of modes for step index fiber N = V
2
/2, where V is cut off
frequency or normalized frequency or V- number
Number of modes for graded index fiber is N = V
2
/ 4.

4. V number can be less that 2.405 or more that 2.405 for step index
fiber
V number is always more than 2.405 for graded index fiber.
5. Step-index multimode fibers are mostly used for imaging and
illumination.
Graded-index multimode fibers are used for data communications and
networks carrying signals moderate distances - typically no more
than a couple of kilometers.