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Fiber Numerical Aperture Measurements

The document discusses methods for measuring the numerical aperture of optical fibers. It describes the numerical aperture as being defined by the refractive indices of the core and cladding for step-index fibers, and locally for graded-index fibers. An example method uses a rotating stage with a photodetector to record the limits of the far-field pattern as the stage is rotated, with the numerical aperture taken as the maximum acceptance angle when power drops to 5% of maximum. Alternatively, a less precise trigonometric measurement can be made by launching light into the fiber and measuring the size of the resulting far-field pattern on a screen.

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Pavan Kumar Sharma
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78 views2 pages

Fiber Numerical Aperture Measurements

The document discusses methods for measuring the numerical aperture of optical fibers. It describes the numerical aperture as being defined by the refractive indices of the core and cladding for step-index fibers, and locally for graded-index fibers. An example method uses a rotating stage with a photodetector to record the limits of the far-field pattern as the stage is rotated, with the numerical aperture taken as the maximum acceptance angle when power drops to 5% of maximum. Alternatively, a less precise trigonometric measurement can be made by launching light into the fiber and measuring the size of the resulting far-field pattern on a screen.

Uploaded by

Pavan Kumar Sharma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture No:

Period: I

34

Date: 09/04/2013

Topic: Fiber numerical aperture measurements

Fiber numerical aperture measurements:


The numerical aperture (NA) is dened for a step index ber in air as:
Where a is the maximum acceptance angle, n1 is the core refractive index and n2 is the cladding
refractive index.
For the general case of a graded index ber these local numerical apertures NA(r) at different
radial distances r from the core axis may be dened by:
An example of an experimental arrangement with a rotating stage is shown in Figure 5.11. A 2 m
length of the graded index ber has its faces prepared in order to ensure square smooth
terminations. The ber output end is then positioned on the rotating stage with its end face
parallel to the plane of the photodetector input, and so that its output is perpendicular to the axis
of rotation.

Figure 5.11 Fiber numerical aperture measurement using a scanning photodetector


and a rotating stage

The photodetector, which may be either a small-area device or an apertured large-area device, is
placed 10 to 20 cm from the ber and positioned in order to obtain a maximum signal with no
rotation (0). Hence when the rotating stage is turned the limits of the far-eld pattern may be
recorded. The output power is monitored and plotted as a function of angle, the maximum
acceptance angle being obtained when the power drops to 5% of the maximum intensity. This
far-eld scanning measurement may also be performed with the photodetector located on a
rotational stage and the ber positioned at the center of rotation.
A less precise measurement of the numerical aperture can be obtained from the far-eld pattern
by trigonometric means. The experimental apparatus is shown in Figure 5.12 where the end
prepared ber is located on an optical base plate or slab. Again light is launched into the ber
under test over the full range of its numerical aperture, and the far-eld pattern from the ber is
displayed on a screen which is positioned a known distance D from the ber output end face. The

Lecture No:
Period: I

34

Date: 09/04/2013

Topic: Fiber numerical aperture measurements

Figure 5.12 Apparatus for trigonometric fiber numerical aperture measurement


test ber is then aligned so that the optical intensity on the screen is maximized. Finally, the
pattern size on the screen A is measured using a calibrated vernier caliper. The numerical
aperture can be obtained from simple trigonometrical relationships where:

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