Fiber Optics Communication

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 Mode Theory for Circular
Waveguides
• To understand optical power propagation in
fiber it is necessary to solve Maxwell’s
equation subject to cylindrical boundary
conditions
• Outlines of such analysis will be studied here

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 Overview
• When solving Maxwell’s equations for hollow
metallic waveguide, only transverse electric
(TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes are
found
• In optical fibers, the core cladding boundary
conditions lead to a coupling between electric
and magnetic field components. This results in
hybrid modes
• Hybrid modes HE means (E is larger) or HM
means H is larger
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 Overview
• Since n1-n2 << 1, the description of guided
and radiation modes is simplified from six-
component hybrid electromagnetic fields to
four field components.
• Modes in a planar dielectric slab waveguide

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 Overview
• Field vary harmonically in guiding region and
decay exponentially outside this region
• For lower order modes, fields are
concentrated towards the center of the slab

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 Overview
• Modes
– Guided
• Modes travelling inside fiber along its axis. They are finite
solutions of Maxwell equation ( 6 hybrid E and H field)
– Radiated
• Modes that are not trapped in core. These result from optical power
that is outside the fiber acceptance being refracted out of the core.
Some radiation gets trapped in cladding, causing cladding modes to
appear
• Coupling between cladding and core (radiation not confined)
• Cladding modes are suppressed by lossy coating
– Leaky
• Partially confined to core region and attenuates by
radiating their power. This radiation results from quantum
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mechanical phenomena called tunnel effect
 Overview
• Based on the upper and lower bounds that
the boundary conditions for the solutions of
Maxwell's equation impose on propagation
factor β
• A mode remains guided as long as β satisfies
the condition n2k < β < n1k k=2π/λ
• The boundary between truly guided modes
and leaky modes is defined by the cut off
condition β= n2k
• As soon as β < n2k power leaks out into
cladding 7
 V number
• V number

– Cut off condition that determines how many

modes a fiber can support
– Except for lowest mode HE11, each mode exists
only for values of V that exceed a limiting value
– Modes are cut off when . This occurs when
» (for 8 microm diameter fiber)
– Number of modes M in multimode fiber when V is
large

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 Modal Concepts
• For step index fiber, the fractional power flow
in the core and cladding for a given mode

• M is proportional to V, power flow in cladding

decreases as V increases.

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 Maxwell’s Equations
……..1 (Faraday’s Law)

………2 (Maxwell’s Faraday equation)

………3(Gauss Law)

………4(Gauss Law for magnetism)

and . The parameter Є is permittivity and μ is permeability.

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 Maxwell’s Equations
• Using vector identity
……(6)
• Using (3),
…….(7)
• Taking the curl of 2,
………(8)
• (7) and (8) are standard wave equations

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 Maxwell’s Equation
• Using cylindrical coordinates
.…..(9)
……(10)
• Substituting (9) and (10) in Maxwell’s curl
equation
….(11)
….(12)
….(13)
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 Maxwell’s Equation
• Also
----------(14)
----------(15)
----------(16)

• By eliminating variables, above can be written

such that when Ez and Hz are known, the
remaining transverse components Er, Eφ, Hr
and H φ can be determined.
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 Maxwell’s Equation
…………..(17)
……………(18)
…...........(19)

.………… (20)
Substituting (19) and (20) into (16) results in
….…(21)
…….(22)

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 Maxwell’s Equation
• (21) and (22) each contain either Ez or Hz.
– Coupling between Ez and Hz is required by
boundary conditions
– If boundary conditions do not lead to coupling
between field components, mode solution will be
such that either Ez=0 or Hz=0.
– When Ez=0, modes are called transverse electric
or TE modes
– When Hz=0, modes are called transverse magnetic
or TM modes
– Hybrid modes exist if both Ez and Hz are nonzero
designated as HE or EH 15
 Wave Equations for Step Index
Fibers
• Using separation of variables
………..(23)

• The time and z-dependent are given by

………..(24)

• Circular symmetry, each field component must

not change when Ø is increased by 2π. Thus
…………(25)

• Thus, (23) becomes

….(26)
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 Wave Equations for Step Index Fibers
• Solving (26). For inside region, the solution must
remain finite as r->0, whereas on outside the
solution must decay to zero as r->∞
• Solutions are
– For r< a, Bessel function of first kind of order v (Jv)

– For r> a, modified Bessel functions of second kind(Kv)

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Bessel Functions First Kind Bessel Functions Second kind

Modified Bessel first kind Modified Bessel Second kind 18

 Propagation Constant β
• From definition of modified Bessel function

• Since Kv(wr) must to zero as r->∞, w>0. This

implies that
• A second condition can be deduced from
behavior of Jv(ur). Inside core u is real for F1
to be real, thus,
• Permissible range of β for bound solutions is
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 Meaning of u and w
• Both u and w describes guided wave variation
in radial direction
– u is know as guided wave radial direction phase
constant (Jn resembles sine function)
– w is known as guided wave radial direction decay
constant (recall Kn resemble exponential function)

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 FIBER MATERIALS
In selecting materials following requirements must be satisfied
1. It must be possible to make long, thin, flexible fibers from the material
2. The material must be transparent at a particular wavelength in order for the fiber
to guide light effectively.
3. Physically compatible materials that have slightly different refractive indices for
the core and cladding must be available
Materials that satisfy these requirements are glasses and plastics

• Usually fibers are made of glass consisting of either silica SiO2 or silicate
• Moderate loss fibers with large cores used for short-transmissions
• Low loss (very transparent) fibers are used for long-haul applications
• Plastics have higher attenuation than the glass fibers
• Plastic fibers are used in short distance fibers where more mechanical stresses
are possible
 Glass Fibers

• Glass is made by fusing metal oxide, sulfides or selenides.

• The resulting material is a randomly connected molecular network called
glass.
• Glasses do not have well defined melting points
• Melting point is defined as the temperature at which glass becomes fluid
enough to free itself of glass bubbles.
• The largest category for optical fibers consists of oxide glasses.
• The most common of these oxides is the silica SiO2 which has refractive
index of 1.458 at 850nm
• Fluorine or various oxides such as B2O3, GeO2, or P2O5 can be doped to
slightly change the refractive index for the cladding
 • Plastic material

 Plastic fiber has poor optical qualities as compared to glass.

 Plastic fibers are more economical over short distances for
slower speeds.

•Midway Solution
 Plastic-Clad Silica Fiber.
 The above fiber uses a high quality glass core, clad
with a low cost plastic sheathing.
 The cost and performance of plastic-clad Silica fiber is a
compromise between the all-glass and all plastic fibers.
• Since the cladding must have a
lower refractive index as
compared to the core so we can
chose the following options for
the doped materials

1. GeO2 – SiO2, core; SiO2 cladding

2. P2O5-SiO2, core; SiO2 cladding
3. SiO2 core; B2O3-SiO2 cladding
4. GeO-B2O3-SiO2 core; B2O3-SiO2
cladding

• Here the notation GeO2 – SiO2

denotes a GeO2 doped silica
glass
 Properties of pure silica glass
• Pure silica is referred as silica glass, fused glass or
vitreous silica
• Offer high resistance to deformation at high
temperature as 1000oC
• High resistance to breakage from thermal shock
because of its low thermal expansion
• Good chemical durability
• High transparency in both the visible and infra-red
region
 ACTIVE GLASS FIBERS
• Incorporating rare earth elements (atomic numbers
57 - 71) converts normal passive glass fiber into new
materials with new optical and magnetic properties.
• The new materials perform amplification,
attenuation and phase retardation on the passing
light
• Doping can be carried out for silica, tellurite and
halide glasses
• Commonly used materials are Erbium and
Neodymium
 Plastic Optical Fibers
• High demand for delivering high speed services to the work station require
high bandwidth graded index polymer (plastic) optical fibers (POF).
• POF’s are used within the premises of user.
• Fiber with core of polymethylmethacrylate referred as (PMMA POF)
• Fiber with core of perfluorinated polymer is referred as PF POF
• POF’s have greater attenuation as compared to glass fibers.
• POF’s are tough and durable as compared to glass fibers
• Modulus is two order of magnitude smaller than the glass fiber so flexible
to install.
• Compared with glass fiber the core diameter is 10 – 20 times larger
• Inexpensive plastic injection moulding technologies can be used to
fabricate connectors, splices and transceivers
 Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCF)

• Demonstrated in 1990, initially called holy fiber and later

called Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF)

• It has air holes run along the entire length of the fiber

• Sometimes air holes act as cladding known as Index-Guiding

PCF

• Another form uses the band gap effect between the core as
air holes and cladding known as photonic band gap fibers
 Fiber Fabrication
There are two basic techniques for fiber fabrication
• Vapor-phase oxidation process
• Direct melt methods

Direct melt methods :

• Traditional glass making procedure , fibers are made from molten state of
purified silicate glass.

Vapor-phase oxidation process:

• Highly pure vapors of metal halides (SiCl4 and GeCl4) react with oxygen to
form a white powder (SiO2).
• These particles are collected at the surface of the bulk glass by one of the
four processes.
• These rods are then sintered and called preforms.
• The preforms are around 10 – 25mm Fiber Drawing apparatus
in dia and 60 – 120cm long

• Fibers are made from this preform

using the fiber drawn equipment

• Drawing furnace bring it to the

temperature where tip becomes soft
and can be pulled through take-up
drum

• Thickness depend on the speed of

the drum

• Finally it is coated with the elastic

material for protection
Outside Vapor-phase oxidation
 Outside Vapor-phase oxidation
•Made by Corning Glass Works
•First fiber to have a loss less than 20db/Km
•SiO2 (soot) is deposited from the burner on to the rotating graphite or
ceramic mandrel
•A cylindrical porous glass preform is built
•Controlling the metal halide vapors during deposition process results in the
core and cladding formation.
•The mandrel is removed and vitrified in dry atmosphere at a temperature of
above 1400 C to from clear glass preform

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Vapor-Phase Axial Deposition (VAD)
 Vapor-Phase Axial Deposition
(VAD)
•A silica glass rod acts as a seed rod.

•The metal halide vapors are produced in the same manner of OVPO

•The vapors deposit in the end surface of the glass rod.

•A porous preform is grown in the axial direction by moving the rod up and also

rotating it to maintain cylindrical symmetry

•Zone melting process transforms the porous preform to solid

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Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD)
Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition
(MCVD)
•By Bell lab

•Widely adopted method for low loss graded index fibers.

Halide vapors flow through a revolving silica glass tube

•Halide

•As the SiO2 particles are deposited they are sintered to a clear glass

layer by oxyhydrogen torch.

•The tube is heated strongly to cause to collapse into a solid preform

rod.
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Plasma –Activated Chemical Vapor Deposition (PCVD)
Plasma –Activated Chemical Vapor Deposition
(PCVD)
•Philips research center

•Similar to MCVD process

•Nonisothermal microwave plasma operating at low pressure initiates the chemical

reaction.

•The silica tube is held in tempratures of 1000 to 1200 C to reduce mechanical stress

in growing glass flims .

•A moving microwave resonator operating at 2.45 GHz generates a plasma inside

the tube to activate chemical reaction.

•This process deposits clear glass directly on tube wall there is no soot.
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