Optical Fiber Communication

(EEE 4175)

Lecture 3: Ray Theory_Part 2

Dr. A K M Baki
1

Construction Of A Fiber Optic

Cable

Cable Jacket-Theoutermostlayerofthefibercable.
Strengthening fibers- The strengthening fibers that
help protect the core against damage during
installationorfrombeingcrushed.
Coating- This layer of thicker plastic surrounds the
claddingandhelpsprotectthefibercore.
Cladding- The layer that protects the core and
causesthenecessaryreflectiontoallowlighttotravel
throughthefiber-coresegment.
Core- The physical component that transports the
opticaldatasignal,madeupofacontinuousstrandof
glass(e.g.silica).Thecore'sdiameterismeasuredin
microns.

Fiber-opticcablesarealsoavailableinflatribbonform.

Construction Of A Submarine
Fiber Optic Cable

1.Polyethylene.
2."Mylar"tape.
3.Strandedsteelwires.
4.Aluminumwaterbarrier.
5.Polycarbonate.
6.Copperoraluminumtube.
7.Petroleumjelly.
8.Opticalfibers.

Propagation Modes

Fibers With Different Indices

Reference:GovindP.Agrawal,Fiber-OpticCommunicationSystems,JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.,

Propagation Modes

Index
profile
?
Index
profile
?
Index
profile
?

Fiber Types

Silica Fiber Optic Cables

Both the core and the cladding are made from a

type of glass known as silica (SiO2) which is
almost transparent in the visible and near-IR.
If the refractive index changes in a step
between the core and the cladding, the fiber
structure is known as step-index fiber.
If the refractive index changes gradually
between the core and the cladding, the fiber
structure is known as graded-index fiber.
The higher core refractive index (~ 0.3% higher)
is typically obtained by doping the silica core
with germanium dioxide (GeO2).

Acceptance Angle

Themaximumangleatwhichexternallightraysmay
striketheair/glassinterfaceandstillpropagatedown
thefiber.
Eventuallylostbyradiation
Acceptance
cone
Conicalhalf
angle

c
a

Air
(refractiveindexna)

Core(refractiveindexn1)
Cladding(refractiveindexn2)

Acceptance Angle

10

Numerical Aperture (NA)

11

AccordingtoSnellsLaw:

Reference: John M. Senior, Optical Fiber

Communications - Principles and Practice, Prentice
Hall

Numerical Aperture (NA)

12

AcceptanceAngle:

Reference: John M. Senior, Optical Fiber

Communications - Principles and Practice, Prentice
Hall

Numerical Aperture (NA)

13

Numerical Aperture
(NA):Example

14

Example: Senior

15

Reference: John M. Senior, Optical Fiber

Communications - Principles and Practice, Prentice
Hall

Numerical Aperture (NA)

16

Developing ways for fiber to collect light efficiently was an important

earlystepindevelopingpracticalfiberopticcommunications(particularly
inthe1970s)
ItseemslogicaltohaveopticalfiberswithNAaslargeaspossible
withassmallaspossibleinordertocouplemaximumamountof
lightintothefiber.
We will find out later that such large-NA fibers tend to be multimode
and are unsuitable for high-speed communications because of a
limitationknownasmodaldispersion.
Relativelysmall-NAfibersarethereforeusedforhigh-speedoptical
communicationsystems.

Typical NA of Fibers

17

Silicafibersforlong-haultransmissionaredesignedtohave numerical
aperturesfromabout0.1to0.3.ThelowNAmakescouplingefficiency
tendtobepoor,butturnsouttoimprovethefibersbandwidth!(details
later)
Plastic,ratherthanglass,fibersareavailableforshort-haul
communications(e.g.withinanautomobile).Thesefibersarerestricted
toshortlengthsbecauseoftherelativelyhighattenuationinplastic
materials.
Plasticopticalfibers(POFs)aredesignedtohavehighnumerical
apertures(typically,0.40.5)toimprovecouplingefficiency,andso
partiallyoffsetthehighpropagationlossesandalsoenablealignment
tolerance.

Suggested Books

18

1.JohnM.Senior,OpticalFiberCommunications-
PrinciplesandPractice,PrenticeHall,LatestEdition.
2.GovindP.Agrawal,Fiber-OpticCommunicationSystems,
JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.,LatestEdition.
3.GerdKeiser,OpticalFiberCommunications,McGraw-Hill,
LatestEdition.