Chapter 2

2.0 LIGHT PROPAGATION IN OPTICAL

FIBER

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The transmission of light via a dielectric was first

suggested in 1910
Hondros and Debye conducted an experiment using a
glass rod surrounded by air
Has large losses at the glass-air boundaries.

In 1950, a clad dielectric rod was introduced

2.2 BASIC STRUCTURE OF AN OPTICAL FIBER

The basic structure of an optical fiber consists of three parts;
the core, the cladding, and the coating or buffer.
The cladding is generally made of
glass or plastic. Functions:
Reduces loss of light from the core
into the surrounding air
Reduces scattering loss at the
surface of the core
Protects the fiber from absorbing
surface contaminants
Figure 2.1: Basic structure of an optical fiber

Adds mechanical strength

For extra protection, the cladding is enclosed in an additional

layer called the coating or buffer.

2.2 OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE

Three common type of fiber in terms of the material used:
Glass core with glass cladding - all glass or silica fiber
Glass core with plastic cladding - plastic cladded/coated
silica (PCS)
Plastic core with plastic cladding - all plastic or polymer
fiber

2.2.1 All glass fiber

The refractive index range of glass ; n1 - n2 to be small.

This small value then reduces the light coupling efficiency

of the fiber, i.e. large loss of light during coupling.
The attenuation loss is the lowest compared to the other
two fibers making it suitable for long and high capacity.
Typical size: 10/125, m 62.5/125 m, 50/125 m,
100/140 m

2.2.2 Plastic Cladded Silica (PCS)

A larger range for the value of refractive index difference.
Have higher loss than the all glass fiber
Suitable for shorter links ; < 1 km
Light coupling efficiency is better.
Typical size: 62.5/125 m, 50/125 m, 100/140 m.

2.2.3 All-plastic fiber

# Has the highest loss during transmission.
# Normally used for very short links ; < 100 m
# Large core size, therefore light coupling efficiency is high.
# The core size can be as large as 1 mm.
Typical size: 62.5/125 m, 50/125 m, 100/140 m

Table 1: Summary of fiber characteristics

Material

Type

Core/Cladding
Diameter (m)

NA

Attenuation
(dB/km)

BW
(Mb/s.km)

Typical Use

All
plastic

MM/
SI

200-600/
450-1000

0.50.6

3301000

Low

Very low cost,

short haul (100m)

Plastic
Cladding

MM/
SI

50-100/
125-150

0.20.3

4-15

4-15

Low cost, short

haul, low BW

Silica

MM/
SI

50-400/
125-300

0.160.50

4-50

6-25

Low cost, short

haul, low BW

Silica

MM/
GRIN

30-60/
100-150

0.20.3

2-10

150-2000

Silica

SM/SI

3-10/
50-125

0.080.15

0.5-5

500-40000

Silica

SM/SI
Soliton

Up to 100
x 106

MM Multimode : SI Step index : NA Numerical Aperture

Medium haul,
medium BW, lead
laser systems
(100m 1km)
Long haul, high
BW, Laser
systems(1km
60km)
Intercontinental
wide BW systems

2.3 RAY THEORY TRANSMISSION

The basic optical property of a material, relevant to
optical fibers, is the index of refraction.
The relationship of the refractive index and velocity of the ray
is given by:

c
n

(2.1)

Where :
c is the speed of light in vacuum
n is the refractive index of the medium and

v is the velocity of light in the medium

CRITICAL ANGLE/CUT-OFF ANGLE

The angle at which TIR occurs is
called the critical angle of incidence,
shown in Figure 2.3.
The critical angle is given by :
(2.3)

This is the mechanism by which

light may be considered to
propagate down an optical fiber
with low loss.
Figure 2.3: Critical angle of incidence

Example of Critical Angle :

sin c = n2/n1 = 1.0/1.5 = 0.67

c = 42 (glass-air)
Light will be trapped inside the tube if it strikes the wall at an angle
greater than 42, as indicated in Figure A above. The light in Figure
B striking the wall at a smaller angle than c is not completely
trapped in the pipe.

2.3.1 Total Internal Reflection

Light ray at interface between glass and air. The index of
refraction for glass (n1) is 1.50 and air (n2) is 1
Snell's Law is given by :
(2.2)
As the angle of incidence,
becomes larger, the angle of
refraction approaches 90 degrees.
When there is No refraction is
possible and No light escapes
into the air and the light ray is
totally reflected back into the
glass medium
Figure 2.2: Light reflection and refraction
at a glass-air boundary

This condition is called Total

Internal Reflection (TIR).

TIR

Two types of rays can propagate

along an optical fiber.
Meridional rays - rays that
pass through the axis of the
optical fiber.

Figure 2.3: Bound and unbound rays in a step-index fiber

Skew rays - rays that travel

through an optical fiber
without passing through its
axis.

2.3.2 Acceptance Angle,

The acceptance angle is the

maximum angle to the axis of
the fiber that light entering the
fiber is propagated.

Figure 2.4: How a light ray enters an optical fiber

The acceptance cone defined

by the angle, 2 a , that result
in light being trapped within
the fiber

Figure 2.5: Fiber

acceptance cone

2.3.3 Numerical Aperture

Fibers are labeled by their Numerical Apertures
The numerical aperture (NA) is a measurement of the ability
of an optical fiber to capture light.
The NA is also used to define the acceptance cone of an
optical fiber.
By using Snell's law and basic trigonometric relationships, the
NA of the fiber is given by:
(2.4)

Proving : NA
Let us consider the fiber with a core index n1=1.5 and a
cladding index of n2=1.4.

In order for TIR to occur, the angle at the upper edge of the fiber
must be greater than the critical angle:

1 > c

'1 is defined as the angle the light makes with respect to the
normal at the entrance (left side) of the fiber.
Thus :

'1 < 90 - c

Snell's law applies at the entrance to

the fiber, so
n0 sin 0 = n1 sin 1 < n1 sin (90 - c)
n0 sin 0 < n1 sin (90o-c)
n0 sin 0 < n1 cos c
n0 sin 0 < n1 [1 - sin2c]1/2
n0 sin 0 < n1 [1 - (n2/n1)2]1/2
Thus :

NA = n0 sin 0max < [n12 - n22]1/2

If n0 = 1 (air) and 0max

= a

sin a < [n12 - n22]1/2

a = sin-1 [n12 - n22]1/2
The NA may also be given in
terms of the relative refractive
index difference, between the
core and the cladding which is
defined as:

n 12 n
=
2 n 12

2
2

n1 n2
for 1 =>
n1

NA n 1 (2

1
2

Example :
A step-index fiber has a core index of refraction of n1 = 1.425.
The light entering the fiber from air is found to be 8.50o.
(a) What is the NA of the fiber
(b) What is the index of refraction of the cladding of this fiber
(c) If the fiber were submersed in water, what would be the new
angle of light entering the fiber

Solution:
(a) NA = n0 sin 0max = (1.0003) sin (8.50o) = 0.148
(b) n12 - n22 = NA2.
n22 = n12 - NA2 = (1.425)2 - (0.1479)2 = 2.0088
n2 = 1.417
(c) NA = 0.148.
sin 0max = NA/n0
0max = sin-1(NA/n0) = sin-1(0.1479/1.33)
= sin-1(0.1112) = 6.38o

2.4 TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBER

There are two basic types of fiber:
Single-mode fiber (Step Index)
Multimode fiber (Step Index and GRIN)
Single-mode fiber is best designed for longer transmission :
Suitable for long-distance telephony
Multichannel television broadcast systems
Multimode fiber is best designed for short transmission
Use in LAN systems
Video surveillance.

2.4.1 STEP INDEX FIBERS

n1 is slightly lower than n2 => is known as SI fiber.
Refractive index profile for this type of fiber makes a
step change at the core-cladding interface
The refractive index profile may be defined as:
n( r) =

n1
n2

r < a (core)
r > a (core)

 Figure (a) shows a multimode step

index fiber
a core diameter > 50 m
allow the propagation of many
modes
many different possible ray paths
through the fiber.
Figure (b) shows a single mode
or monomode step index fiber
allows only one transverse
electromagnetic mode
core diameter must be of the
order of 8 - 10 m.

 The SM SI fiber
Low intermodal dispersion (broadening of transmitted
light pulses), as only one mode is transmitted
 In MM SI fiber

disparity between arrival times

of the different light rays

Considerable dispersion may occur due to the differing

group velocities of the propagating modes
Restricts maximum bandwidth attainable
However, MM fibers have several advantages over SM fibers
(a) The use of spatially incoherent optical sources (e.g. most
LEDs) which cannot be efficiently coupled to single
mode fibers.
(b) Larger numerical apertures, as well as core diameters,
facilitating easier coupling to optical sources.
(c) Lower tolerance requirements on fiber connectors.

2.4.1 SM SI FIBER
For single mode operation, only fundamental mode can exist
i.e TE0 mode
The cut-off normalized frequency, V for the TE0 mode occurs
at V = 2.405.
Possible over the range:

0 V < 2 . 405
V =
V =
V =

2 a

2 a

2 a

( NA )
2

n1 n 2
n1 ( 2 )

1
2

2.4.2 MM STEP INDEX FIBER

MM SI fibers allow the propagation of a finite number of
guided modes along the channel.
The number of guided modes is dependent upon :

, a , and
Related to the V value for the fiber by the approximate
expression:

V
2

M = Mode Volumes
which allows an estimate number of guided modes propagating
in a particular multimode step index fiber.

2.5 GRADED INDEX FIBERS (GRIN)

GRIN (Gradient Index) fibers do not have a constant
refractive index in the core but a decreasing core index n(r)
with a radial distance from a maximum value of n1 at the
axis to a constant value n2 beyond the core radius a in the
cladding.
This index variation represented as:

n( r) =

n 1 1 2 (r / a )

1
2

1
2

n 1 [1 2 ] = n 2

r < a (core)
r > a (core)

is the profile parameter

 = - Step index profile

= 1 - Triangular profile
= 2 - Parabolic profile

 Graded index profiles - the best results is for = 2

To support single mode

transmission in a GRIN fiber,
the normalized frequency is :

This shows that the NA is function

of the radial distance from the fiber
axis (r/a).

For the parabolic profile,

the numerical aperture is
given by :

For n1 = 1.48 and n2 = 1.46, the NA is

0.24 and this is equal to the NA of a
step index fiber with same n1 and n2.

( a)

NA = n1 (2 ) 2 1 r
1

Vg 2 . 405 1 +

1
2

For MM graded index fibers, the

total number of guided modes or
mode volume Mg :

The NA drops to zero at the edge of

the core.

2

V


+ 2 2

2.6 CUT-OFF WAVELENGTH

The wavelength above which a particular fiber becomes
single moded
Cut-off wavelength, c is given by:

V
V

For a SI fiber the cut-off wavelength :

For a GRIN fiber the

cut-off wavelength :

V
=
2 . 405

Vc 2 . 405 1 +

1
2