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This lecture discusses signal dispersion in optical fibers. It covers different types of dispersion including inter-modal, chromatic, and polarization mode dispersion. Inter-modal dispersion only occurs in multi-mode fibers due to different group velocities of fiber modes. Chromatic dispersion has two components - material dispersion due to wavelength-dependent refractive index, and waveguide dispersion due to fiber design. Polarization mode dispersion is caused by birefringence introducing different group velocities for polarization modes. The chapter then examines dispersion characteristics and reduction techniques for single-mode fibers.

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58 views21 pages

Lec12 ES475 2023 Upload

This lecture discusses signal dispersion in optical fibers. It covers different types of dispersion including inter-modal, chromatic, and polarization mode dispersion. Inter-modal dispersion only occurs in multi-mode fibers due to different group velocities of fiber modes. Chromatic dispersion has two components - material dispersion due to wavelength-dependent refractive index, and waveguide dispersion due to fiber design. Polarization mode dispersion is caused by birefringence introducing different group velocities for polarization modes. The chapter then examines dispersion characteristics and reduction techniques for single-mode fibers.

Uploaded by

Umar Ahmad
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 PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ES 475 - Optical Communication and

Computing
Lecture 12

Dr. Asad Mahmood


Feb 24, 2023
Outline
• Announcements: (Assignment and Quiz # 2)
• Quick Review of Last Lecture
• Chapter 3: Attenuation and Dispersion
• 3.2 – Signal Dispersion in Fibers
• Outline for Today’s Lecture
• Chapter 3: Attenuation and Dispersion
• 3.2 – Signal Dispersion in Fibers
• 3.3 - Characteristics of Single-Mode Fibers
• 3.4 - International Standards
• 3.5 – Specialty Fibers
Chapter 3
Attenuation and Dispersion
Dr. Asad Mahmood
Chapter 3 – Attenuation and Dispersion

Chapter Contents:
• 3.1 - Attenuation
• 3.2 – Signal Dispersion in Fibers
• 3.3 - Characteristics of Single-Mode Fibers
• 3.4 - International Standards
• 3.5 – Specialty Fibers
3.1.5 – Core and Cladding Losses
Since the core and cladding have different indices of refraction and therefore differ in
composition, the core and cladding generally have different attenuation coefficients

• Loss in step-index fiber

• Loss in graded-index fiber


From last chapter
• The farther away a mode is from its cutoff frequency,
the more concentrated its energy is in the core.
• As cutoff is approached, the field penetrates farther into
the cladding region and a greater percentage of the
energy travels in the cladding.
• At cutoff the field no longer decays outside the core and
the mode now becomes a fully radiating mode
Chapter 3 – Attenuation and Dispersion

Chapter Contents:
• 3.1 - Attenuation
• 3.2 – Signal Dispersion in Fibers
• 3.3 - Characteristics of Single-Mode Fibers
• 3.4 - International Standards
• 3.5 – Specialty Fibers
3.2 – Signal Dispersion in Fibers
• An optical signal weakens from attenuation mechanisms and broadens due to
dispersion effects
• If significant overlap, the receiver can no longer distinguish the individual adjacent
pulses and errors arise when interpreting the received signal

• 3.2.1 – Overview of Dispersion Origins


• Signal dispersion is a consequence of factors such as:
1. Inter-modal dispersion
2. Intra-modal/Chromatic dispersion
3. Polarization-mode dispersion
4. Higher-order dispersion effects

• Distortions can be explained by examining the behavior of the group velocities of the
guided modes
3.2 – Signal Dispersion in Fibers
• 3.2.1 – Overview of Dispersion Origins
• Signal dispersion is a consequence of factors such as:
1. Inter-modal delay/dispersion (Also called Modal delay)
• Only in Multi-mode transmission
• Cause = Each mode having a different value of the Group
velocity at a single frequency

2. Intra-modal/Chromatic dispersion
• Pulse-spreading that takes place within a single mode
• Cause = Finite spectral emission width of an optical source
• Its effect on distortion increases with the spectral width of
the source → Lasers vs LED!
• Two main causes
1. Material Dispersion
• Due to the variations of the refractive index of the core
material as a function of wavelength → similar effect by
which a prism spreads out a spectrum
• pulse spreading occurs even when different
wavelengths follow the same path
2. Waveguide dispersion
3.2.1 – Overview of Dispersion Origins
• Intra-modal/Chromatic dispersion
• Material Dispersion
• 3.2.1 – Overview of Dispersion Origins
• Signal dispersion is a consequence of factors
such as:
2. Intra-modal/Chromatic dispersion
• Two main causes
1. Material Dispersion
2. Waveguide dispersion
• Because only part of the optical
power inside the core, and
different RI for core and
cladding!
3. Polarization Dispersion
• Light-signal energy at a given wavelength
in a single-mode fiber actually occupies
two orthogonal polarization states or
modes
• Each polarization mode will encounter a
slightly different refractive index →
different velocity → Dispersion
3.2.2 – Inter-modal dispersion/ Modal delay
1. Inter-modal dispersion/ modal delay
• Only in Multi-mode transmission
• Cause = Group velocity of a mode different from the group
velocity of another mode
• From a ray-tracing perspective
• Each unique angle of rays → unique mode
• Rays with higher-order angles → Smaller axial velocity
component → Different axial velocities for different
modes
• Example 3.7
• An important question that arises is What maximum bit rate B can be sent over multimode
step-index fiber considering dispersion?
• Hint: Pulse-spread relation with the width of the bit-period
• Bit rate – distance product → Typically used to describe fiber capacity ( Example)
• RMS delay spread because of inter-modal dispersion (Example 3.9)
• Derived assuming ray angles are uniformly distributed across the range of acceptance angles
• Improvement/Reduction of inter-modal dispersion via use of graded-index fibers → Lower RI
on the edge makes the higher-modes travel faster!
3.2.3 (Factors contributing to Dispersion) and 3.2.4 (Group Delay)

• These sections involve a deeper mathematical treatment of determining the term


Dispersion (D). Interested students can go through them but these will not be
part of the syllabus, as we are more interested in what is represented by D
and/or how to use it to determine the pulse-spread.
• The main reason for dispersion is the dependence of β on different wavelengths!
• The quantity D (Dispersion) defines the pulse spread as a function of wave
length and is measured in picoseconds per kilometer per nanometer
[ps/(nm.km)].
• It is a result of material and waveguide dispersion.
• For simplicity, it can be assumed, that material dispersion and waveguide dispersion
can be calculated separately and then added to give the total dispersion.
3.2.4 (Group Delay)
• Group Delay
3.2.5 – Material Dispersion
• Material dispersion occurs because the index of refraction varies as
a function of the optical wavelength → Various spectral
components will travel at different speed → Dispersion
• It is an intra-modal dispersion effect
• Important for single-mode fibers and LEDs
• Can be reduced by
1. Use of narrower BW
2. Operating at Higher Wavelengths

• Expression to calculate rms pulse spread (σmat) from the material


dispersion (Dmat)
3.2.5 – Material Dispersion
• Example 3.10 and 3.11:
• A manufacturer’s data sheet lists the material
dispersion Dmat of a GeO2-doped fiber to be
110 ps/(nm . km) at a wavelength of 860 nm.
Find the rms pulse broadening per kilometer
due to material dispersion if the optical source
is a GaAlAs LED that has a spectral width of 40
nm at an output wavelength of 860 nm.
• What if a laser with spectral width of 0.2 nm is
used at 1550 nm?

This example shows that a dramatic reduction in dispersion


can be achieved when operating at longer wavelengths
with laser sources.
3.2.6 – Waveguide Dispersion
• Waveguide Dispersion arises because the difference in core-cladding spatial power
distributions, together with the speed variations of the various wavelengths, causes a
change in propagation velocity for each spectral component.
• The degree of waveguide dispersion depends on the fiber design.
• Waveguide dispersion usually can be ignored in multimode fibers, but its effect is
significant in single-mode fibers.
• Expression to calculate rms pulse spread (σwg) from the waveguide dispersion (Dwg)
3.2.7 – Dispersion in Single Mode Fibers
• For single-mode fibers, waveguide
dispersion is of importance and can be of
the same order of magnitude as material
dispersion.
• Comparing the waveguide dispersion with
the material dispersion, we see that for a
standard non-dispersion-shifted fiber,
waveguide dispersion is important around
1320 nm.
• At this point, the two dispersion factors
cancel to give a zero total dispersion.
• However, material dispersion dominates
waveguide dispersion at shorter and longer
wavelengths; for example, at 900 nm and
1550 nm.
3.2.8 – Polarization Mode Dispersion
• Birefringence property of the optical fiber results in polarization mode dispersion
(PMD)
• Birefringence in the fiber can result from
• intrinsic factors such as geometric irregularities of the fiber core
• internal stresses on it
• external factors, such as bending, twisting, or pinching of the fiber
• Each polarization-mode/ refracted ray will travel with a slightly different velocity →
pulse spreading
- Unlike chromatic dispersion, Polarization Mode
Dispersion (PMD) varies randomly along the fiber
• AN Experiment
• A 36-km spooled fiber in a temperature-controlled
chamber, a 48.8-km buried cable, and a 48-km
aerial cable. Over a 12- to 15-h period, the average
PMD parameters were measured to be 0.028, 0.29,
and 1.28 ps/ km, respectively
Chapter 3 – Attenuation and Dispersion

Chapter Contents:
• 3.1 - Attenuation
• 3.2 – Signal Dispersion in Fibers
• 3.3 - Characteristics of Single-Mode Fibers
• 3.4 - International Standards
• 3.5 – Specialty Fibers

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