ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS:

1.

What is the reason of bending losses?

Bending losses are the result of distortion of the fiber from the ideal straight-line

configuration. While the light is traveling inside the fiber, part of the wave front on the
outside of the bend must travel faster than the part of the smaller inner radius of the
bend. Since this is not possible, a portion of the wave must be radiated away. Losses
are greater for bends with smaller radii, particularly for kinks or micro-bends in a fiber.
2.

What other losses can be observed in using optical cable?

There are other types of extrinsic fiber losses such as launching losses and

connector losses. The term launching loss refers to an optical fiber not being able to
propagate all the incoming light rays from an optical source. These occur during the
process of coupling light into the fiber. Rays launched outside the angle of acceptance
excite only dissipative radiation modes in the fiber. On the other hand, connector losses
are associated with the coupling of the output of one fiber with the input of another ber,
or couplings with detectors or other components. The significant losses may arise in
ber connectors and splices of the cores of the joined fibers having unequal diameters
or misaligned centers, or if their axes are tilted.
There are also losses associated with the ber optic material itself which are
called Intrinsic Fiber Losses such as absorption and scattering. Absorption loss is
caused by the presence of impurities such as traces of metal ions (e.g., Cu2+, Fe3+)
and hydroxyl (OH) ions. Optical power is absorbed in the excitation of molecular
vibrations of such impurities in the glass. While power losses due to scattering are
caused by such imperfections in the core material and irregularities between the
junction and cladding.

3.

What is core and cladding? What is the function of cladding?

The core is the central region of the optical fiber where the light is guided. It is

generally made of glass. It is surrounded by a layer of material called the cladding.

The cladding which is generally made of glass or plastic is the region of the fiber
surrounding the core. In order to create guiding conditions for the light, the refractive
index of the cladding must be lower than the cores refractive index. Even though light
will propagate along the fiber core without the layer of cladding material, the cladding
does perform some necessary functions:

4.

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
Adds mechanical strength
How to measure propagation losses?
Attenuation is loss of power. During transit light pulse loses some of their photons

thus reducing their amplitude. Attenuation for a fiber is usually specified in decibels per
kilometer. Loss is by definition negative decibels. In common usage, discussions of loss
omit the negative sign. The basic measurement for loss in a fiber is made by taking the
logarithmic ratio of the input power (Pi) to the output power (Po).
(dB) = 10log10(Pi/Po)
Where is Loss in dB/meter.
If there are two different cable lengths, the effect of the length to the
propagation loss can be evaluated with the use of this formula:
V 1 ( L1+ L2)
=e
V2
Where is loss in nepers/meter, L1 is the length of the shorter cable, and L2 is the
length of the longer cable.

5.

By what optical cable is made up of?

The most basic optical fiber consists of:

An inner cylinder with high refractive index, called the core.
A middle cylinder with a lower refractive index, called the cladding.
An outer protective polymer layer (usually polyurethane or PVC) called the jacket.
Optical fibers are composed primarily of silicon dioxide (SiO

), though minute

amounts of other chemicals are often added. Highly purified silica powder was used in
the now-outmoded crucible manufacturing method, while liquid silicon tetrachloride (SiCl
4

) in a gaseous stream of pure oxygen (02) is the principal source of silicon for the vapor

deposition method currently in widespread use. Other chemical compounds such as

germanium tetrachloride (GeCl 4 ) and phosphorus oxychloride (POC1 3 ) can be used
to produce core fibers and outer shells, or claddings, with function-specific optical
properties.

Because the purity and chemical composition of the glass used in optical fibers
determine the most important characteristic of a fiberdegree of attenuationresearch
now focuses on developing glasses with the highest possible purity. Glasses with a high
fluoride content hold the most promise for improving optical fiber performance because
they are transparent to almost the entire range of visible light frequencies. This makes
them especially valuable for multimode optical fibers, which can transmit hundreds of
discrete light wave signals concurrently.

6.

What is step index fiber?

It is an optical fiber consisting of a core with a single uniform index of refraction,

surrounded by a cladding with another single uniform index of refraction. The index of
refraction "steps down" as light travels from the core to the cladding. When graphed as

a function of distance from the fiber axis, the index of refraction has the shape of a step
function. Light is trapped in a step-index fiber by total internal reflection.