EC 8751 Optical

Communication

Unit – 2
TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTIC
OF OPTICAL FIBER
 What is Signal Distortion in Optical Fibers ?
 When optical pulses travel along the fiber medium, the light intensity
or power decreases (attenuation) over a distance and the width of
the pulse broadens (dispersion).
 Overlap between neighbouring pulses occur creating errors (Inter
Symbol Interference -ISI) in the receiver output.
 This is signal distortion in optical fibers.
 Signal Distortion

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 Attenuation (fiber loss)
 Attenuation (Power loss) is a measure of decay of signal strength or loss of
light power that occurs as light pulses propagate through the length of the fiber.
 Power loss along a fiber:
P(0)

Z=0
P(0) mW
Z= l
 f l
P(l )  P (0)e mw
 f z
P( z )  P(0)e
 The parameter  f is called fiber loss or fiber attenuation coefficient in a units of
for example [1/km] or [nepers/km]. A more common unit is [dB/km] that is defined
by:
10  P(0) 
 [dB/km ]  log  
l  P (l ) 
Where P (0) = optical power at the input end of the fiber
P (l ) = optical power at a distance ‘ l ‘
Optical fiber attenuation vs wavelength
 The basic attenuation mechanisms
 Absorption (due to fiber material)
 Scattering (due to fiber structural imperfections)
 Radiative losses (due to bending of fiber)

The light is absorbed in the fiber by the materials of fiber optic. Thus
light absorption is also known as material absorption.

Material Absorption is caused by absorption of photons within the fiber.

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Two types of Absorption are:
1. Intrinsic Absorption
2. Extrinsic Absorption
 Intrinsic Absorption
Intrinsic absorption in UV region is caused by electronic
absorption bands. It occurs when a light particle (photon)
interacts with a valence electron and excites it to a higher
energy level.

heat dissipatio n

 It occurs when energy band gap of the material Eg is less

than or equal to photon energy (h  ) of light travelling
along the fiber.
 Contd..
 Intrinsic absorption is also caused due to absorption of photons in
fiber medium which transforms to heat energy and dissipated outside
the fiber medium.

 The expression for loss in UV region is

where x is the mole fraction of GeO2
 2  4.63  with pure silica
UV  46154 .2 x
.6 x  60 *10 e   
 is the wavelength
 Contd..
 Intrinsic absorption in IR region is caused by vibration
frequency of atomic bonds. In silica glass, it is made by
Si-O bonds (Covalent bond).
 Covalent bond being weaker absorbs photon energy,
vibrates and dissipates as heat energy.
  48.48 
 IR  7.81*1011 * exp  
  
 The expression for
loss in IR region is
 Extrinsic Absorption
 It results from the presence of impurities such as Fe, Cu, Co, Ni, Mn,
and Cr in the silica structure of the fiber cable.

 The raw material SiO2 powder is placed in metallic crucibles and

melted during manufacturing process.
 The impurities (metallic ions) are added to the silica glass fiber during
melting process.
 Contd..
 It is also caused by the presence of Hydrogen ions (OH)
in the silica glass fiber during manufacturing process.

blacky silica rod glassy silica rod

 The silica rod which is normally a blacky substance is
brought back to glassy structure by passing water
vapour through it.
 Thus OH ions are added.
 Absorption

Extrinsic Intrinsic
(Impurity atoms Absorption
and OH ions)

UV region IR region
(electronic absorption (vibration of atomic
bands Si-O bonds)
 Scattering
 Scattering is the process in which all or some of the optical
power is transferred from one mode to another mode i.e.,
guided mode to radiation mode (Leaky mode).

What causes Scattering Losses?

Scattering losses in fiber exists due
 Microscopic variations in density of fiber material.
 Compositional fluctuations
 Structural inhomogenities
 Structural defects in fiber
 Types of Scattering
 Two types of Scattering are:
1. Linear – Rayleigh and Mie Scattering
2. Non-linear – Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
(SBS) and Stimulated Raman
Scattering (SRS)
Linear Scattering occurs only at low power densities.
 The incident light frequency and scattered light
frequency is same.
 No frequency shift during scattering.
 Example: Scattering of light by Atmospheric

The colours of the sky are caused by the scattering of light

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 Contd..
Rayleigh Scattering (wavelength dependent)
 Occurs when inhomogenities size of fiber is smaller than
wavelength of light.
 It occurs both in forward and backward direction.
 Caused by interaction of light with density fluctuations.
 Density fluctuations are produced during manufacturing of
optical fibers.
 When light travels through the fiber, it interacts with the
density fluctuated areas and gets scattered in all directions.
 As wavelength increases, Rayleigh scattering loss decreases.
The loss in Rayleigh scattering can be expressed as
Contd..
8 3 8 2
 scat  4 n p K BT f T
Where
3
KB = Boltzmann constant (Joules / Kelvin)
Tf = fictive temperature, temperature at which Si changes from solid to semisolid
state (1200-1400K)
n = Refractive index of silica
 = Operating wavelength (meters)
T = Isothermal compressibility factor (m2/N)
P = Photo elastic coefficient
 Transmission loss per km due to Rayleigh scattering is
 km  exp[  scat .L] where L = 1km or 1000m
 1 
 (dB / km) 10 log 10  
  km 
In dB/km,
How to minimize Rayleigh Scattering loss?
By minimizing compositional fluctuations by using best manufacturing methods.
 Contd..
Mie Scattering (not strongly wavelength dependent)
 Occurs when inhomogenities size of fiber is greater than one-tenth of wavelength
of light.
 It occurs in forward direction.
 It is caused mainly by fiber imperfections such as irregularities in the core cladding
interface, core-cladding refractive index differences along the fiber length, diameter
fluctuations, strains and bubbles.
 The inhomogenities develop large defects in the fiber which results in scattering of
light out of the core.
 It is rarely seen in commercially available silica based fibers due to high level of
manufacturing expertise.

How to minimize Mie Scattering?

By
 Removing imperfections due to the glass manufacturing process.
 Carefully controlled extrusion and coating of the fiber.
 Increasing the fiber guidance by increasing the relative refractive index difference.
 Non-linear Scattering
 The incident light frequency and scattering light frequency
are different.
 There is frequency shift during scattering.
 Occurs only at high power densities.

Two types of non-linear scattering are:

1. Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS)
2. Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)
 Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS)
 Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) is a backward process which
exists when light is modulated through thermal molecular vibrations
within fiber.
 Threshold power level is less.
 Scattering process produces acoustic phonon as well as scattered
phonon.
 For intense beams of light (e.g. laser) travelling in a medium, such as
an optical fiber, the variations in the electric field of the beam itself
may induce acoustic vibrations in the medium via electrostriction or
radiation pressure.
 The beam may display Brillouin scattering as a result of those
vibrations, usually in the direction opposite to the incoming beam.
 This phenomenon is known as Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS).
PB  (4.4 *10 3 )d 2 2 dB B Watts where d is the core diameter in µm
λ is the operating wavelength in µm
B is the source bandwidth in GHz.
 Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)
 Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) is similar to SBS except that high
frequency optical phonon is generated in scattering phenomenon
rather than acoustic phonon.
 Collective excitation in a periodic arrangement of atoms or molecules
in a solid.
 SRS may exist both in forward and backward directions in optical
fibers.
 The optical power threshold is three times higher than SBS threshold.
 The threshold optical power for SRS is given by
PR  (5.9 *10 2 )d 22 dB Watts
 Bending Loss
What causes bending loss?
 Abrupt change in radius of curvature of the fiber causes bending
loss.
 Whenever optical fiber undergoes bends or curves on their
paths, radiation losses occur which causes light energy to be
radiated from the fiber.

Types of bending:
1. Macro bending
2. Micro bending
 Macro bending loss

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 Contd..
Macrobending occurs when a fiber cable turns a corner and
macroscopic bends having radius that are large compared
with the fiber diameter.
How to minimize Macro bending losses?
By
1. Designing fibers with large refractive index differences.
2. Operating at shortest wavelength possible.
The expression for critical radius of curvature for
macrobending of fiber cable is
where Rc is the critical radius of curvature
3n1 
2
Rc  for macro bending
4 (n1  n2 )
3
2 2 2
n1 is the refractive index of core, n2 is the
refractive index of cladding.
Macrobending due to poor reeling
 Microbending losses

 In fiber optic transmission, micro bend is an imperfection in the optical

fiber which was created during manufacturing.
 Micro bending can cause extrinsic attenuation, a reduction of optical
power in the glass.
 Unlike macro bending, the imperfection may not always be visible.
 Micro bend loss refers to small scale "bends" in the fiber, often from
pressure exerted on the fiber itself or lateral stresses along the length of
the fiber when it is cabled.
 The loss is due to the coupling from the fiber’s guided fundamental
mode to lossy, higher-order radiation modes.
 Mode coupling occurs when fibers suffer small random bends along
the fiber axes.
Microbending losses
Micro-bending
 How to minimize Microbending
losses?

 Decompressible buffer jacket should be used to avoid

micro bends.
 When external forces are applied to this jacket, the jacket
will be deformed but the fiber will tend to stay relatively
straight.
Minimum safe bend radius —shown full
size
Bends and their losses in dB
Core and Cladding loss
 Dispersion
 When light pulses travel along the fiber, the width of the
pulses broaden. This is called dispersion.

Types of dispersion
1. Intermodal dispersion
2. Intramodal dispersion
a. Material dispersion
b. Waveguide dispersion
Dispersion
 Types of Dispersion
Inter Modal dispersion

 Different modes propagate at different group velocities.

 They reach the output end of the fiber at different times.
 So, a delay is experienced between different modes.
 Due to this delay, pulse broadening occurs.
 (e.g) Axial ray travels faster than Meridional ray.

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9/swiatlowody_en/p1-1_3_3.htm
Spectral Width of LED and LASER
 Contd..
Intra Modal dispersion:
Material dispersion (wavelength dependent):
 In an optical fiber the propagation velocity varies with
wavelength. Thus a pulse made up of many wavelengths will
be spread out in time as it propagates.
 The index of refraction of the medium changes with
wavelength.
Material dispersion parameter
 d 2 n( ) 
Dmat     ps nm 1
km1

 d2 

How to minimize Material dispersion?

By using
1. Narrow spectral width light source like laser.
2. Longer wavelength operation, since refractive index
variation is small or negligible.
 Contd..
Waveguide dispersion:
 Waveguide dispersion is due to power distribution in the fiber
core and cladding which is wavelength dependent
 This is due to variation of group velocity as a function of
wavelength in Core and Cladding.
 From the group velocity the dispersion caused due to the modal
propagation of light inside the optical fiber can be calculated.
Waveguide dispersion parameter is D   n2  Vd 2 (Vb)  ps km1nm1
 
C  dV 2 
wg

where b is the propagation constant and

V is the V-number of the fiber
How to minimize waveguide dispersion?
Two ways:
1. The index difference should be large.
2. Short wavelength operation.
 Contd..
Polarization mode dispersion (PMD):
 Polarization refers to the electric field orientation of light signal,
which can vary significantly along the length of the fiber.
 PMD is a source of pulse broadening which results from fiber bi-
refringence and it can become a limiting factor for optical fiber
communication at high transmission rates.
 Fiber bi-refringence is the optical property of a material having a
refractive index that depends on the polarization and
propagation direction of light.
Chromatic dispersion:
 Dispersion is sometimes called chromatic dispersion to
emphasize its wavelength dependent nature and group velocity
dispersion (GVD) to emphasize the role of group velocity.
Chromatic dispersion= Material dispersion + Waveguide dispersion
 Mode Coupling
 After certain initial length, the pulse distortion increases
less rapidly because of mode coupling. The energy from one
mode is coupled to other modes because of:

1. Structural imperfections.
2. Fiber diameter variations.
3. Refractive index variations.
4. Microbends in cable.

 Due to mode coupling, average propagation delay becomes

less and intermodal distortion reduces.
Optical fiber attenuation vs wavelength
 Design Optimization of SM fibers
Basic design optimization includes:
 Refractive Index Profile
 Dispersion Calculations
 Cutoff wavelength
Refractive index profile:
 Dispersion of single mode silica fiber is lowest at 1300 nm while
its attenuation is minimum at 1550 nm.
 For achieving maximum transmission distance the dispersion
null should be at the wavelength of minimum attenuation.
 Therefore a variety of core-cladding refractive index
configuration fibers were designed as follows.
 a) 1300 nm Optimized Fibers
 These are most popularly used.
 The two configurations of this type are:
 Matched Cladding Fibers.
 Depressed Cladding Fibers.

Matched Cladding fibers have uniform refractive index throughout

its cladding. Typical diameter is 9.0µm and  = 0.35%
 Contd..
 Depressed Cladding Fibers have the innermost cladding portion
with low refractive index than outer cladding region.
 b) Dispersion Flattened
(Compensated) Fiber (DCF)
 fibers are called as Dispersion flattened fibers when the
dispersion is distributed over a wide spectral range

 Operating at 1310nm where material and waveguide

dispersion cancelled each other to get Zero dispersion.
Dispersions Vs Wavelength
c) Dispersion Shifted Fiber (DSF)
 Dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) is a type of optical fiber
made to optimize both low dispersion and low
attenuation.
 It is a type of single-mode optical fiber with a core-clad
index profile tailored to shift the zero-dispersion wavelength
from the natural 1300 nm in silica-glass fibers to the
minimum-loss window at 1550 nm.
SM Fiber Dispersions
 Cut-off Wavelength
 The cut off wavelength of the first higher order mode (LP11) is an important
transmission parameter for single mode fibers, since it separates single mode from
multimode regions.
 The theoretical cut off wavelength is given by

n 
1
c  2a
V 1
2
 n2
2 2

V = 2.405 for step index fibers

Dispersion Calculations
The total dispersion consists of material and waveguide dispersions.
The resultant intermodal dispersion is given as,
D ( ) 
1 d
where  is group delay per unit length of fiber
L d

The broadening of an optical pulse is given as,

  D( ) L 
where   is half power spectral width of source.
Sr.
Dispersion compensated fiber (DCF) Dispersion shifted fiber (DSF)
No.
1. Operating wavelength for DCF is 1310nm. Operating wavelength for DSF is 1550nm.

At 1310nm the material dispersion and waveguide At 1550nm minimum attenuation is achieved. The zero
dispersion are equal and opposite, which gives almost dispersion point is shifted from 1310nm to 1550nm to
2. zero total dispersion at this point. Hence the fiber is achieve low loss characteristics of 1550nm and almost
called DCF as material and waveguide dispersion zero dispersion characteristics of 1310nm. Such fibers
compensate each other. are called DSF.

They are used in attenuation and dispersion limited

3. These fibers are used in dispersion limited systems.
systems.

Used for higher data rate applications, but cannot be Used for higher data rate and long distance
4.
used for long distance communication. communication applications.

Alterations are to be made in the refractive index

5. No need for any alterations in the physical structure.
profile of DCF to obtain DSF.
 Inter Symbol Interference- ISI
 When optical pulses travel along the fiber medium, the width of the
pulse broadens (dispersion).
 Overlap between neighbouring pulses occur creating errors (Inter
Symbol Interference -ISI) in the receiver output.