Kishori Sharan Mathur Research Scholar, JJT University, Jhunjhunu 333001, Rajasthan, India kishorimathur@hotmail.

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Fiber Nonlinearities
As long as optical power within an optical fiber is small, the fiber can be treated as a linear medium; that is the loss and refractive index are independent of the signal power When optical power level gets fairly high, the fiber becomes a nonlinear medium; that is the loss and refractive index depend on the optical power

FIBER NONLINEARITIES
Nonlinearities effects in optical fiber arose due to (i) Increase in optical power levels. (ii) Increase in transmitted wavelengths (DWDM systems) (iii) Increase in data rate. (iv) Increase in transmission distances.
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Nonlinear effects
Response of fiber to optical power is nonlinear. Nonlinear effects appear when the power launched into fiber is high.

- Change of Refractive index : Self-Phase Modulation (SPM) Cross-Phase Modulation (XPM) Four-Wave Mixing (FWM) - Stimulated Scattering: Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)
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FIBER NONLINEARITIES
Table 1 Single chanel Multichanel Self phase modulation (SPM) Cross phase modulation (XPM), Four wave mixing (FWM) Stimulated brilloun scattering Stimulated raman (SBS) scattering(SRS)

Refractive index related

Scattering related

KERR EFFECTS
KERR EFFECTS CONSIST OF THREE DIFFERENT PHENOMENA. IN AN OPTICAL FIBER, THE CORE HAS A SPECIFIC REFRACTIVE INDEX THAT DETERMINES HOW LIGHT TRAVELS THROUGH IT. DEPENDING ON HOW INTENSE IS THE LIGHT TRAVELING THROUGH THE CORE, THIS INDEX CAN CHANGE. THIS INTENSITY-DEPENDENCE, KNOWN AS THE KERR EFFECT, CAN CAUSE THE FOLLOWING ISSUES: SELF PHASE MODULATION THIS OCCURS WHEN A WAVELENGTH CAN SPREAD INTO ADJACENT WAVELENGTHS ON ITS OWN. CROSS PHASE MODULATION THIS OCCURS WHEN SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS IN A WDM SYSTEM CAN CAUSE EACH OTHER TO SPREAD OUT. FOUR WAVE MIXING THIS OCCURS WHEN TWO OR MORE WAVELENGTHS CAN INTERACT TO CREATE AN ENTIRELY NEW WAVELENGTH.
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SCATTERING EFFECTS
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF NONLINEAR SCATTERING EFFECTS TO BE AWARE OF IN OPTICAL NETWORKS. STIMULATED RAMAN SCATTERING THIS OCCURS WHEN LIGHT LOSES ENERGY TO MOLECULES IN THE FIBER AND IS REEMITTED AT A LONGER WAVELENGTH. THIS IS DUE TO THE LOSS OF ENERGY. STIMULATED BRILLOUIN SCATTERING THIS OCCURS WHEN LIGHT WITHIN THE FIBER CREATES ACOUSTIC WAVES. THIS CAN SCATTER THE LIGHT INTO DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS AND DISRUPT THE SIGNAL. BECAUSE OF NONLINEAR EFFECTS, LIKE SCATTERING AND KERR EFFECTS, DATA CAN BE LOST OR CORRUPTED

STIMULATED BRILLOUIN SCATTERING (SBS)

SBS ARISES WHEN STRONG OPTICAL SIGNAL GENERATES AN ACOUSTIC WAVE WHICH PRODUCES VARIATIONS IN THE REFRACTIVE INDEX. THESE PERIODIC VARIATIONS IN REFRACTIVE INDEX, CAUSED BY HIGH POWER INCIDENT LIGHT WAVE, CAUSES BACK REFLECTIONS SIMILAR TO THE EFFECT OF BRAGG GRATINGS . THE BACK SCATTERING CAUSES LOSS OF SIGNAL POWER.

THE SBS EFFECT IS CONFINED WITHIN A SINGLE WAVELENGTH CHANNEL IN A DENCE WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (DWDM) SYSTEM SBS SETS AN UPPER LIMIT ON THE AMOUNT OF OPTICAL POWER THAT CAN BE LAUNCHED INTO AN OPTICAL FIBER.

STIMULATED BRILLOUIN SCATTERING (SBS)

IT IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT TO CONTROL SBS IN HIGH SPEED TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS USING EXTERNAL MODULATORS AND CONTINUOUS WAVE (CW) LASER SOURCES.

The phenomenon of SBS threshold effects

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STIMULATED BRILLOUIN SCATTERING (SBS) THE SBS THRESHOLD IS STRONGLY DEPENDENT ON THE OPTICAL SOURCES LINE WIDTH

FIG SHOWS HOW THE SBS THRESHOLD INCREASES PROPORTIONALLY AS THE OPTICAL SOURCE LINE WIDTH INCREASES.

BROADENING THE EFFECTIVE SPECTRAL WIDTH OF AN OPTICAL SOURCE RESULTS IN MINIMIZING THE SBS, BUT BROADENING OF LINE WIDTH OF TRANSMITTER INCREASES THE DISPERSION SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THE TRANSMITTER, PRIMARILY A CONCERN WHEN OPERATING AT 1550 nm OVER NON DISPERSION SHIFTED SINGLE MODE FIBERS.
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STIMULATED BRILLOUIN SCATTERING (SBS)

VARIOUS SCHEMES ARE AVAILABLE FOR REDUCING THE POWER PENALTY EFFECTS OF SBS AS FOLLOWS:

I) KEEPING THE OPTICAL POWER OF WDM CHANNELS BELOW THE SBS THRESHOLD. FOR LONG HAUL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, THIS MAY REQUIRE A REDUCTION IN No. OF OPTICAL AMPLIFIER .
(

(ii) INCREASING THE LINE WIDTH OF THE SOURCE. THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED THROUGH DIRECT MODULATION OF SOURCE (AS OPPOSED TO EXTERNAL MODULATION) SINCE THIS CAUSES THE LINE WIDTH TO BROADEN BECAUSE OF CHIRPING EFFECTS. BUT IT MAY RESULT IN LARGE DISPERSION PENALTY. (III) SLIGHTLY DITHERING THE LASER O/P IN FREQUENCY, ROUGHLY AT 100TO 200 MHZ TO RAISE THE BRILLOUIN THRESHOLD.
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STIMULATED RAMAN SCATTERING (SRS)

STIMULATED RAMAN SCATTERING IS AN INTERACTION BETWEEN LIGHT WAVES AND THE VIBRATIONAL MODES OF SILICA MOLECULES. BUT SINCE THE THRESHOLD OF SRS IS CLOSE TO 1 WATT I.E. NEARLY THOUSAND TIMES HIGHER THAN SBS IT IS MUCH LESS A PROBLEM THAN SBS. BUT THE THRESHOLD LIMIT DROPS PROPORTIONALLY BY THE NUMBER OF OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS IN SERIES. HENCE A FIBER OPTICAL LINK THAT INCLUDE THREE SUCH OPTICAL AMPLIFIER WILL REACH THIS LIMITS AS EDFAS GIVES OPTICAL POWER OUTPUT OF 500 mw (27dbm) AND IN FUTURE THIS OUTPUT WILL GO EVEN HIGHER.

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STIMULATED RAMAN SCATTERING (SRS)

SIX CHANNEL DWDM TRANSMITTED OPTICAL SPECTRUM

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STIMULATED RAMAN SCATTERING (SRS)

SRS EFFECT ON SIX CHANNEL DWDM TRANSMITTED OPTICAL SPECTRUM

FOR A SINGLE CHANNEL SYSTEM THRESHOLD IS AROUND 500 mw NEAR 1550 nm FOR A 20 CHANNEL SYSTEM THRESHOLD PTH EXCEEDS 10 mw AND IT IS AROUND 1 mw FOR A 70 CHANNEL SYSTEM.

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STIMULATED RAMAN SCATTERING (SRS)

TO UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISM OF SRS LET US CONSIDER A PHOTON OF ENERGY h1 IS INCIDENT ON A MOLECULE HAVING A VIBRATIONAL FREQUENCY M, THIS MOLECULE CAN ABSORB SOME ENERGY FROM PHOTON. IN THIS INTERACTION, THE PHOTON IS SCATTERED THEREBY ATTAINING THE LOWER FREQUENCY 2 AND A LOWER ENERGY hV2. THE MODIFIED PHOTON IS CALLED A STOKES PHOTON. THE OPTICAL SIGNAL WAVE THAT IS INJECTED INTO A FIBER IS OFTEN CALLED PUMP WAVE, SINCE IT SUPPLIES POWER TO THE GENERATED WAVE. THIS PROCESS GENERATES SCATTERED LIGHT AT A WAVELENGTH LONGER THAN THAT OF THE INCIDENT LIGHT.

IF ANOTHER SIGNAL IS PRESENT AT THIS LONGER

WAVELENGTH, THE SRS PHENOMENON WILL AMPLIFY IT AND THE PUMP WAVELENGTH SIGNAL WILL DECREASE IN POWER.
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STIMULATED RAMAN SCATTERING (SRS)

1) Effect and consequences
SRS causes a signal wavelength to behave as a pump for longer wavelengths, either other signal channels or spontaneously scattered Raman-shifted light. The shorter wavelengths is attenuated by this process, which amplifies longer wavelengths SRS takes place in the transmission fiber

2) SRS could be exploited as an advantage

By using suitable Raman Pumps it is possible to implement a Distributed Raman Amplifier into the transmission fiber. This helps the amplification of the signal (in co-operation with the localized EDFA). The pumps are depleted and the power is transferred to the signal

Transmission Fiber

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SELF PHASE MODULATION (SPM)

THE REFRACTIVE INDEX OF MANY OPTICAL MATERIALS CAN BE GIVEN BY N = NO+N2 I = NO+N2 P/AEFF WHERE, NO IS THE ORDINARY REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THE MATERIAL AND N2 IS THE NONLINEAR INDEX COEFFICIENT. FOR SILICA, THE FACTOR N2 IS ABOUT 2.6 X 10-8 m2/w. THIS NONLINEARITY IN THE REFRACTIVE INDEX IS KNOWN AS KERR NONLINEARITY. THE NONLINEARITY PRODUCES A CARRIER BASED PHASE MODULATION OF THE PROPAGATING WAVE WHICH IS CALLED KERR EFFECT. IN SINGLE WAVELENGTH LINKS, THIS GIVES RISE TO SELF PHASE MODULATION (SPM) WHICH CONVERTS OPTICAL POWER FLUCTUATIONS IN A PROPOGATING LIGHT WAVE TO SPURIOUS PHASE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE SAME WAVE. SPM RESULTS IN DIFFERENT WAY IF ACTING ALONE OR WHEN COUPLED WITH DISPERSION OF THE FIBER.
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SELF PHASE MODULATION (SPM)

THE COMBINATION OF SPM AND DISPERSION RESULTS IN TWO PHENOMENONS WITH MANY CONSEQUENCES FOR REAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS. (I) IT RESULTS IN MODULATION INSTABILITY. (II) SOLITONS

THE SPM EFFECTS CAN BE NEGLIGIBLE WHEN THE PEAK POWER IS BELOW 166 mW OR 18 dbm AVERAGE POWER.
BY USING DISPERSION COMPENSATING FIBERS (DCF), SPM CAN BE REDUCED.
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SELF PHASE MODULATION (SPM)

AS AN OPTICAL PULSE TRAVELS DOWN THE FIBER, THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE PULSE CAUSES THE REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THE FIBER TO RISE, RESULTING IN BLUE SHIFT IN FREQUENCY (TOWARDS HIGHER FREQUENCIES OR SHORTER WAVELENGTHS). THE LEADING EDGE OF THE PULSE DECREASES THE REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THE FIBER CAUSING A RED SHIFT (TOWARDS LOWER FREQUENCIES OR LONGER WAVELENGTHS). THESE RED AND BLUE SHIFTS INTRODUCE A FREQUENCY CHIRP ON EACH EDGE WHICH INTERACTS WITH FIBER'S DISPERSION TO BROADEN THE PULSE AS SHOWN IN FIG

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SELF PHASE MODULATION (SPM)

IN FACT IN CASE OF NORMAL DISPERSION REGION OF THE FIBER WHERE CHROMATIC DISPERSION IS NEGATIVE THE RED LIGHT WHICH HAS LONGER WAVELENGTH AND SEES LOWER REFRACTIVE INDEX RESULTS IN RED LIGHT TRAVELLING FASTER THAN BLUE LIGHT SEEING HIGHER REFRACTIVE INDEX.
HENCE BOTH RED AND BLUE MOVES AWAY FROM THE CENTRE OF PULSE. HENCE CHIRPING RESULTS IN PULSE BROADENING. BUT IN ANOMALOUS REGION WHERE CHROMATIC DISPERSION IS POSITIVE THE RED SHIFTED LEADING EDGE OF THE PULSE TRAVELS SLOWER THAN TRAILING EDGE.

THUS BOTH MOVES TOWARDS THE CENTRE OF THE PULSE.

IN THIS CASE SPM CAUSES THE PULSE TO NARROW, HENCE PARTLY COMPENSATING FOR CHROMATIC DISPERSION AND UNDOING THE FREQUENCY CHIRP.

IN ADVANCE NETWORK DESIGNS, SPM CAN BE USED TO PARTLY COMPENSATE FOR THE EFFECTS OF CHROMATIC DISPERSION. THIS PHENOMENON ALSO RESULTS IN FORMATION OF SOLITON PULSES.
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EFFECTS OF NONLINEARITES

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NON LINEAR EFFECTS: CROSS PHASE MODULATION (XPM)

XPM acts as a crosstalk penalty, which increases with increasing channel power level and system length and with decreasing channel spacing XPM causes a spectral broadening of the optical pulses and thus reduces the dispersion tolerance of the system At 10 Gbps, its penalty is minimized by distributing dispersion compensation at each line amplifier site If dispersion is compensated only at the terminal ends, there will be a residual penalty due to XPM

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CROSS PHASE MODULATION (XPM) IN CASE OF CROSS PHASE MODULATION REFRACTIVE INDEX NONLINEARITIES CONVERTS OPTICAL INTENSITY FLUCTUATIONS IN A PARTICULAR WAVELENGTH CHANNEL TO PHASE FLUCTUATIONS IN ANOTHER CO PROPAGATING CHANNEL. IN FACT, SPM IS ALWAYS PRESENT WHEN XPM OCCURS. TO AVOID THE XPM FOR TWO CHANNEL SYSTEM THE LIMITING CHANNEL POWER IS AROUND 56 mw (17.5 dbm). FOR A TEN CHANNEL WAVELENGTH SYSTEM THE LIMIT IS AROUND 10 mw. IN FACT SEPARATION BETWEEN DWDM CHANNELS ALSO AFFECTS THE XPM. AN INCREASE IN THE SEPARATION WILL DECREASE THE PENALTY OF POWER DUE TO XPM. FOR DIRECT DETECTION OPTICAL FIBER SYSTEMS THE IMPACT OF XPM IS LESS WHEREAS THE XPM COULD BE A PROBLEM FOR HIGH RATE DWDM SYSTEMS AND WHEN COHERENT DETECTION SCHEMES ARE USED.
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FOUR WAVE MIXING (FWM)

GENERALLY SYSTEMS THAT CARRY A NUMBER OF SIMULTANEOUS WAVELENGTHS, SUCH AS DWDM SYSTEMS, EXHIBIT FOUR WAVE MIXING. IT OCCURS DUE TO HIGH LAUNCH POWER AND LOW DISPERSION IN DWDM CHANNELS. FWM IS CLASSIFIED AS THIRD ORDER DISTORTION PHENOMENON. THIS THIRD ORDER DISTORTION MECHANISM GENERATES THIRD ORDER HARMONICS IN THE SYSTEMS WITH ONE CHANNEL. IN MULTI CHANNEL SYSTEMS, THIRD ORDER MECHANISMS GENERATE THIRD ORDER HARMONICS AND A GAMUT OF CROSS PRODUCTS. THESE CROSS PRODUCTS RESULTS IN CROSS TALK WHEN THEY FALL NEAR OR ON TOP OF THE DESIRED SIGNALS.
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NON LINEAR EFFECTS: FOUR WAVE MIXING (FWM)

) Effect and consequences FWM is the generation of new optical waves (at frequencies which are the mixing products of the originator signals). This is due to interaction of the transmitted optical waves. The created mixing products interfere with the signal channels causing consequent eye closing and BER degradation Decreasing channel spacing and chromatic dispersion will increase FWM N channels N2(N-1)/2 side bands are created, causing Reduction of signals Interference Cross talk 2) Counteractions Avoid use of ITU-T G.653 (DSF) fiber, Use of ITU-T G.652 (SMF) fiber and ITU-T G.655 (NZDSF) fiber Unequal channel spacing will cause the mixing products to be created at different frequencies which do not interfere with the signal channels
1

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FOUR WAVE MIXING (FWM)

THE MAGNITUDE OF FWM PRODUCTS, REFERRED TO AS THE FWM MIXING EFFICIENCY IS AFFECTED BY FOLLOWING MAJOR FACTORS. CHANNEL SPACING FIBER DISPERSION SIGNAL POWER MIXING EFFICIENCY INCREASES DRAMATICALLY AS THE CHANNEL SPACING BECOMES CLOSER AND CLOSER. IN CASE OF FIBER DISPERSION, MIXING EFFICIENCY IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO TO THE FIBER DISPERSION, BEING STRONGEST AT THE ZERO DISPERSION POINT. FWM EFFICIENCY IS EXPRESSED IN dB AND MORE NEGATIVE VALUES ARE PREFERRED. SINCE THEY INDICATE LOWER MIXING EFFICIENCY.
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FOUR WAVE MIXING (FWM)

FWM EFFICIENCY IN SINGLE MODE FIBERS

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FOUR WAVE MIXING (FWM)

IN AN OPTICAL DWDM SYSTEM DESIGN USES NON DISPERSION SHIFTED FIBER (NDSF) E.G., STANDARD G652 SINGLE MODE FIBERS WITH DISPERSION OF 17 PS/NM/KM AND THE MINIMUM RECOMMENDED INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION (ITU) DWDM SPACING OF 0.8 NM, THEN MIXING EFFICIENCY WILL BE ABOUT - 48 DB AND WILL HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON THE SYSTEM. BUT FOR HIGH DATA RATE SYSTEM HIGH CHROMATIC DISPERSION WILL RESULT IN HIGHER DISPERSION PENALTIES.

TO AVOID HIGH DISPERSION PENALTIES G 655 FIBERS WERE INTRODUCED HAVING CHROMATIC DISPERSION OF 3 TO 9 PS/NM/KM WHICH IS SUFFICIENT TO SUPPRESS FWM EFFECTS.
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Four Wave Mixing

Four wave mixing (FWM) is one of the most troubling issues Three signals combine to form a fourth spurious or mixing component, hence the name four wave mixing, shown below in terms of frequency w:

w1 w2 w3

Non-Linear Optical Medium

w4 = w1 + w2 - w3

Spurious components cause two problems:

Interference between wanted signals

Power is lost from wanted signals into unwanted spurious signals

The total number of mixing components increases dramatically with the number of channels
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NON LINEAR EFFECTS: FOUR WAVE MIXING (FWM) CONTD.

Consider a simple three wavelength (l1, l2 & l3) Lets assume that the input wavelengths are ll = 1551.72 nm, l2 = 1552.52 nm & l3 = 1553.32 nm. The interfering wavelengths that are of most concern in our hypothetical three wavelength system are: l1 + l2 - l3 = 1550.92 nm l1 - l2 + l3 = 1552.52 nm l2 + l3 . l1 = 1554.12 nm 2l1 - l2 = 1550.92 nm 2l1 - l3 = 1550.12 nm 2l2 - l1 = 1553.32 nm 2l2 - l3 = 1551.72 nm 2l3 - l1 = 1554.92 nm 2l3 - l2 = 1554.12 nm
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REDUCING FWM USING NZ-DSF

Traditional non-multiplexed systems have used dispersion shifted fiber at 1550 to reduce chromatic dispersion Unfortunately operating at the dispersion minimum increases the level of FWM Conventional fiber (dispersion minimum at 1330 nm) suffers less from FWM but chromatic dispersion rises Solution is to use "Non-Zero Dispersion Shifted Fiber" (NZ DSF), a compromise between DSF and conventional fiber (NDSF, Non-DSF) ITU-T standard is G.655 for non-zero dispersion shifted single mode fibers

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REDUCING FWM USING A LARGE EFFECTIVE AREA FIBRE NZ-DSF

One way to improve on NZ-DSF is to increase the effective area of the fibre In a singlemode fibre the optical power density peaks at the centre of the fibre core FWM and other effect most likely to take place at locations of high power density Large effective Area Fibres spread the power density more evenly across the fibre core Result is a reduction in peak power and thus FWM

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CORNING LEAF
Corning LEAF has an effective area 32% larger than conventional NZ-DSF Claimed result is lower FWM

Impact on system design is that it allows higher fibre input powers so span increases
Section of DWDM spectrum NZ-DSF shows higher FWM components LEAF has lower FWM and higher per channe\l power DWDM channel FWM component

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LUCENT TRUEWAVE NZDSF

Provides small amount of dispersion over EDFA band Non-Zero dispersion band is 1530-1565 (ITU C-Band) Minimum dispersion is 1.3 ps/nm-km, maximum is 5.8 ps/nm-km Very low OH attenuation at 1383 nm (< 1dB/km)

Dispersion Characteristics

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LUCENTS ALL WAVE BROADBAND FIBER

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ZERO WATER PEAK SINGLE MODE FIBER

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