Light Propagation in optical

Fibres
Professor Peter Hobson
[email protected]
 Acknowledgement
Some of the content of these lectures was
originally written by Dr. Salah Obayya
(formerly of Brunel University).
I thank him for allowing me to base my
lectures on his original presentations
 Introduction
• Light thought of as a wave
•Electric field component (E) can be expressed mathematically as
E=E0 cos( ωt – kx + ϕ )
where
•E0= amplitude of electric field (V/m)
•ω=2πf=angular frequency (rad/s)
•f=optical frequency (Hz)
•t=time (s)
•k=2π/λ=wavenumber or propagation constant (rad/m)
•x=distance (m)
•λ=optical wavelength (m)
•ϕ=phase constant (rad)
 Introduction
• Light thought of as a wave
•Velocity of propagation

v=fλ=c0/n
where

•c0≅3x108 m/s velocity of the light in free space

•n=refractive index of the medium in which light is propagating

Basic principles of light propagation
• “Ray Theory” (Geometrical Optics)

e.g. glass fibre cladding

e.g. glass fibre core

•Law of reflection
ϕI=ϕr
•Law of refraction (Snell’s law)
n1 sin ϕ 1 = n2 sin ϕ 2
Basic principles of light propagation
• “Ray Theory” (Geometrical Optics)

•Critical angle of incidence θc

sin ϕ c=n2/n1
Basic principles of light propagation
• “Ray Theory” (Geometrical Optics)

• Total Internal Reflection (T.I.R.)

Basic principles of light propagation
• “Ray Theory” (Geometrical Optics)

Example

Using n1=1.50 for glass and n2=1.00 for air, ϕc is about 52°. Any light in
the glass incident on the interface at an angle ϕ1 greater than 52° is
totally reflected back into the glass
Basic principles of light propagation
• “Ray Theory” (Geometrical Optics)
•When light is totally internally reflected, a phase change δ occurs in the
reflected wave.
Basic principles of light propagation
• “Ray Theory” (Geometrical Optics)
•This phase change depends on the angle θ1<π/2-ϕc according to the
relationships

∂ n 2 cos 2 θ1 − 1 ∂p n n 2 cos 2 θ1 − 1
tan N = tan =
2 n sin θ1 2 sin θ1

δN and δP are the phase shifts of the electric-field wave components

normal and parallel to the plane of incidence, respectively, and n=n1/n2
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Optical Fibre
An optical fibre is a dielectric waveguide that operates at optical
frequencies. Typical structure of an optical fibre is shown in figure

The cylinder in the middle of the fibre is known as core. The core is
surrounded by a solid dielectric cladding. The refractive index n2 of the
cladding is less than the refractive index n1of the core. Most fibres are
encapsulated in an elastic, abrasion-resistant plastic material in order to
add strength to the fibre itself.
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Optical Fibre
Different type of optical fibre

•Monomode step-index fibre

•Multimode step-index fibre

•Multimode graded-index fibre

 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Rays and Modes
•The electromagnetic light field that is guided along an optical
waveguide can be represented by a superposition of bound or trapped
modes. Each of these guided modes consists of a set of simple
electromagnetic field configurations. For monochromatic light fields of
radian frequency ω, a mode travelling in the positive z direction has a
time and z dependence given by

e j (ωt − βz )
•The factor β is the z component of the wave propagation constant
k=2π/λ. For guided modes, β can assume only certain discrete values.
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Light propagation in optical fibre

•From Snell’s law the minimum angle that supports T.I.R. is

sin ϕmin=n2/n1
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Light propagation in optical fibre

•From previous equation is possible to derive the maximum entrance

angle θ0,max
nsin θ0,max =n1sin θc=(n12-n22)1/2

where θc = π/2- ϕc.

•Previous equation defines also the Numerical Aperture

NA=nsin θ 0,max≅n1(2∆)1/2

where ∆=(n1-n2)/n1 and last relation is a good approximation if ∆ is

much less then 1. NA describes the gathering capability of a fibre
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Wave representation in a dielectric slab waveguide

The ray theory appears to allow rays at any angle ϕ greater than the
critical angle ϕc to propagate along the fibre. However, when the
interference effect due to the phase of the plane associated with the ray
is taken into account, it is seen that only waves at certain discrete
angles greater than or equal to ϕc are capable of propagating along the
fibre. The condition required for a wave propagation in the dielectric
slab is that all points on the same phase front of a plane wave must be
in phase.
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Wave representation in a dielectric slab waveguide

•The phase change occurring in ray 1 travelling from point A to B minus

the phase change in ray 2 between points C and D must differ by an
integer multiple of 2π
∆=k1s=n0ks=n12πs/λ
where
•k1=the propagation constant in the medium of refractive index n1
•k=k1/n1 is the free-space propagation constant
•s=the distance the wave has travelled in the material
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Wave representation in a dielectric slab waveguide

•From point A to B, ray 1 travels a distance

s1=d/sinθ
and undergoes two phase changes δ at the reflection points.

•From point C to D, ray 2 doesn’t incur any reflections. Note that

AD=(d/tanθ)-dtanθ, thus the distance between C and D is
s2=ADcosθ=(cos2θ-sin2θ)d/sinθ
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Wave representation in a dielectric slab waveguide

•The requirement for wave propagation can be written as

2πn1
(s1 − s 2 ) + 2∂ = 2πm
λ
where m=0,1,2,…….
Substituting the expression for s1 and s2

2πn1 ⎧ d ( )
⎡ cos 2 θ − sin 2 θ d ⎤ ⎫
⎨ − ⎥ ⎬ + 2∂ = 2πm
λ ⎩ sin θ ⎢⎣ sin θ ⎦⎭

Which can be reduced to

2πn1 d sin θ
+ ∂ = πm
λ
 Guiding Light by T.I.R.
• Wave representation in a dielectric slab waveguide

Considering only electric waves with components normal to the plane of

incidence, the phase shift upon reflection is

δ = −2 arctan ⎢ 2 (
⎡ cos 2 θ − n 2 / n 2
1 ) ⎤⎥
⎢⎣ sin θ ⎥⎦

The negative sign is needed here since the wave in the medium must
be a decaying and not growing wave. Substituting this expression, we
obtain

2πn1 d sin θ
− πm = 2 arctan ⎢
(
⎡ cos 2 θ − n 2 / n 2 ) ⎤⎥ ⎛ πn1 d sin θ πm ⎞ ⎡ n1 cos θ − n 2
2 2 2 ⎤
tan ⎜ − ⎟=⎢ ⎥
2 1
or
λ ⎢⎣ sin θ ⎥⎦ ⎝ λ 2 ⎠ ⎢ n1 sin θ ⎥⎦
⎣

Thus, only waves that have those angles θ will propagate in the
dielectric slab waveguide
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Overview of modes
•To attain a more detailed understanding of the optical power
propagation mechanism in a fibre, it is necessary to solve Maxwell’s
equations subject to the boundary conditions at the interface between
the core and the cladding.

•The core-cladding boundary conditions lead to a coupling between the

electric and magnetic field components. This gives rise to hybrid
modes.

•With the assumption n1-n2<<1, only four field components need to be

considered and their expressions become simpler. The field
components are called linearly polarised (LP) modes and are labeled
LPjm where j and m are integers designating mode solutions.
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Overview of modes
•The order of a mode is equal to the number of field zeros across the
guide

•The fields vary harmonically in the guiding region of refractive index n1

and decay exponentially outside of this region

•Low order modes are tightly concentrated near the centre of the slab

•Higher-order modes are distributed more towards the edges of the

guide
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Overview of modes
•In addition to a finite number of guided modes, the optical fibre
waveguide has an infinite continuum of radiation modes that are not
trapped in the core

•Some of this radiation gets trapped in the cladding causing cladding

modes to appear

•As the core and cladding modes propagate along the fibre, mode
coupling occurs between the cladding modes and the higher-order core
modes

•This generally results in a loss of power from the core modes

Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Overview of modes
•In addition to bound and radiated modes, a third category of modes
called leaky modes is present in optical fibres

•Leaky modes are only partially confined to the core region, and
attenuate by continuously radiating their power out of the core as they
propagate along the fibre

•This power radiation out of the waveguide results from a quantum

mechanical phenomenon know as the tunnel effect
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Overview of modes
•A mode remains guided as long as β satisfied the condition

n2k< β< n1k

where n1 and n2 are the refractive indices of the core and the cladding,
respectively, and k=2π/λ
•The boundary between truly guided mode and leaky modes is defined
the cutoff condition β=n2k

•As soon as β becomes smaller than n2k, power leaks out of the core
into the cladding region
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Summary of key modal concepts

•An important parameter connected with the cutoff condition is the V
number defined by
2πa 2πa
V= n12 − n 22 = NA
λ λ
this is a dimensionless number that determines how many modes a
fibre can support

•The HE11 mode has not cutoff and ceases to exist only when the core
diameter is zero
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Summary of key modal concepts

•The V number can also be used to express the number of modes M in
a multimode fibre when V is large. An estimate of the total number of
modes supported in a fibre is

1 ⎛ 2πa ⎞ 2
2

M≈ ⎜
2⎝ λ ⎠
(
⎟ n1 − n 2 =
2
)
V2
2

•Far from cutoff the fraction of the average optical power residing in the
cladding can be estimated by
Pclad 4
≈
P 3 M

where P is the total optical power in the fibre

Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Summary of key modal concepts

•The number of modes that can exist in a waveguide as a function of V
may be represented in terms of normalised propagation constant b
defined by
a 2 w 2 (β / k ) − n 22
2

b= =
V 2
n12 − n 22

where w2=β2-k22, with k2=2πn2/λ

•By appropriately choosing a, n1, and n2 so that

2πa
V= n12 − n 22 ≤ 2.405
λ
all modes except the HE11 mode are cut off
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Summary of key modal concepts

A plot of b (in term of β/k) as a function of V is shown in figure below
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Summary of key modal concepts

Example

A step-index fibre has a normalised frequency V=26.6 at a 1300 nm

wavelength. If the core radius is 25 µm, let us find the numerical
aperture.
From eq.
2πa 2πa
V= n12 − n 22 = NA
λ λ
or

λ 1 .3
NA = V = 26.6 = 0.22
2πa 2π (25)
Mode theory for circular waveguides

• Summary of key modal concepts

Cross-sectional views of the transverse electric field vectors for the four
lowest-order modes in a step index fibre