UNIT I

INTRODUCTION TO OPTICAL FIBERS

1
 INTRODUCTION
UNIT - I
INTRODUCTION TO OPTICAL FIBERS

1.1 Evolution of fiber optic system

1.2 Elements of an Optical Fiber Transmission link

1.3 Ray optics

Total internal reflection-
Acceptance angle
Numerical aperture
Skew rays Ray Optics

1.4 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations

1.4.1 Fiber types
1.4.2 Rays and Modes
1.4.3 Step-index fiber structure
2 1.4.4 Ray optics representation
1.4.5 Wave representation in a Dielectric slab waveguide
 INTRODUCTION
UNIT - I
INTRODUCTION TO OPTICAL FIBERS

1.5 Mode theory of Circular Wave guides

1.5.1 Overview of Modes
1.5.2 Key Modal concepts
1.5.3 Linearly Polarized Modes

1.6 Single Mode Fibers

1.6.1 Mode field diameter
1.6.2 Propagation modes in single mode fibers

1.7 Graded Index fiber structure

1.7.1 Numerical aperture of the graded-index fiber
1.7.2 Total number of guided modes

3
 INTRODUCTION
Communication:
Communication: The transfer of information from one point to
another.
Communication system: Information transfer is carried by
superimposing or modulating the information onto an
electromagnetic wave, which acts as a carrier for the information
signal.
Receiver: Received and the original information signal is
obtained by demodulation.
Using electromagnetic carrier waves operating at radio
frequencies as well as microwave and millimeter wave
frequencies.

4
 INTRODUCTION - Historical Development
Visible optical carrier waves or light for communication.

Simple systems such as signal fires, reflecting mirrors and,

more recently, signaling lamps have provided successful.

As early as 1880 Alexander Graham Bell reported the

transmission of speech using a light beam.

Early 1960s - the invention of the LASER.

Optical communication between satellites in outer space.

5
 INTRODUCTION
Optical frequencies are accompanied by extremely small
wavelengths.
Semiconductor
Optical sources (i.e. injection lasers and light-emitting
diodes)
Detectors (i.e. photodiodes and to a lesser extent
phototransistors)
Compatible in size with optical fibers
Semiconductor lasers exhibited very short lifetimes
Lifetimes greater than 1000 h and 7000 h - 1973 and 1977
respectively
Devices were originally fabricated from alloys of gallium
arsenide (AlGaAs).
7
 INTRODUCTION
Implementation of a wide range of
Conventional fiber components
(splices, connectors, couplers, etc.)
Active optoelectronic devices
(sources, detectors, amplifiers, etc.).

8
 INTRODUCTION - The general system

Figure: Major elements of an optical fiber transmission link

9
 INTRODUCTION - The general system
Similar in basic concept to any type of communication system.
Information source: provides an electrical signal to a
transmitter
Transmitter : Electrical stage - drives an optical source to give
modulation of the lightwave carrier.
Optical source: Provides the electrical–optical conversion.
 Eg: Semiconductor laser or light-emitting diode (LED)
Transmission medium: Optical fiber cable
Receiver: Optical detector which drives a further electrical
stage. (demodulation of the optical carrier.)
Optical detector: optical–electrical conversion.
Photodiodes (p–n, p–i–n or avalanche) and, in some
instances, phototransistors and photoconductors
10
 INTRODUCTION - The general system
Modulation of Optical carrier :
may be using either an analog or digital information signal
Analog modulation:
Involves the variation of the light emitted from the optical
source in a continuous manner.
Simpler to implement
Less efficient
Requiring a higher signal-to-noise ratio
Lack of linearity at high modulation frequencies
Shorter distances, Lower BW.
Digital modulation:
Discrete changes in the light intensity are obtained (i.e. on–off
pulses).
11
 INTRODUCTION
Ray theory transmission
Total internal reflection
Acceptance angle
Numerical aperture
Skew rays

12
 INTRODUCTION - Total internal reflection
Discuss: Propagation of light within an optical fiber - Ray
theory model it is necessary
Take account of - the refractive index of the dielectric
medium.
The refractive index of a medium is defined as the ratio of
the velocity of light in a vacuum to the velocity of light in
the medium.
A ray of light travels more slowly in an optically dense
medium than in one that is less dense, and the refractive
index gives a measure of this effect.
When a ray is incident on the interface between two
dielectrics of differing refractive indices (e.g. glass–air),
13
refraction occurs.
 INTRODUCTION

Figure. Light rays incident on a high to low refractive index interface

(e.g. glass to air)
(a)refraction;
14
(b)the limiting case of refraction showing the critical ray at an angle φc;
(c)total internal reflection where φ > φc
 INTRODUCTION

Figure. Light rays incident on a high to low refractive index interface

(e.g. glass to air)
(a)refraction;
15
(b)the limiting case of refraction showing the critical ray at an angle φc;
(c)total internal reflection where φ > φc
 TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

16
 INTRODUCTION
Light incident: refractive index n1 and is at an angle φ1 to
the normal at the surface of the interface.
If the dielectric on the other side of the interface has a
refractive index n2 which is less than n1
then the refraction is such that the ray path in this lower
index medium is at an angle φ2 to the normal, where φ2 is
greater than φ1.

17
 INTRODUCTION
The angles of incidence φ1 and refraction φ2 are related to
each other and to the refractive indices of the dielectrics by
Snell’s law of refraction, which states that:
n1 sin φ1 = n2 sin φ2
sin 1 n2

sin  2 n1

As n1 is greater than n2, the angle of refraction is always

greater than the angle of incidence.
Thus when the angle of refraction is 90° and the refracted
ray emerges parallel to the interface between the dielectrics
18
The angle of incidence must be less than 90°.
 INTRODUCTION
Thus when the angle of refraction is 90° and the refracted
ray emerges parallel to the interface between the
dielectrics, The angle of incidence must be less than 90°.
This is the limiting case of refraction and the angle of
incidence is now known as the critical angle φc
the value of the critical angle is given by
n2
sin c 
n1
At angles of incidence greater than the critical angle the
light is reflected back into the originating dielectric
medium (total internal reflection) with high efficiency
(around 99.9%).
19
 INTRODUCTION

Figure. The transmission of a light ray in a perfect optical fiber

Figure assumes a perfect fiber
Any discontinuities or imperfections at the core–cladding
interface would probably result in refraction rather than
total internal reflection, with the subsequent loss of the
light ray into the cladding.
20
 INTRODUCTION - Acceptance angle

Figure. The acceptance angle θa when launching light into an optical fiber
 The geometry concerned with launching a light ray into an
optical fiber
 A meridional ray A at the critical angle within the fiber at the
core–cladding interface.
 This ray enters the fiber core at an angle to the fiber axis and is
refracted at the air–core interface before transmission to the
core–cladding interface at the critical angle.
21
 INTRODUCTION - Acceptance angle
Hence, any rays which are incident into the fiber core at an
angle greater than  a will be transmitted to the core–
cladding interface at an angle less thanc , and will not
be totally internally reflected.  B
This situation is also illustrated in Figure, where the
incident ray B at an angle greater  a than is refracted
into the cladding and eventually lost by radiation.
Thus for rays to be transmitted by total internal reflection
within the fiber core they must be incident on the fiber
core within an acceptance cone defined by the conical
half angle  a

22
 INTRODUCTION - Numerical aperture
Numerical aperture
Relationship between the acceptance angle and the
refractive indices of the three media involved, namely the
core, cladding and air

Figure. The ray path for a meridional ray launched into an optical fiber in
air at an input angle less than the acceptance angle for the fiber
23
 INTRODUCTION - Numerical aperture
Figure shows a light ray incident on the fiber core at an
angle to the fiber axis which is less than the acceptance
angle for the fiber .
The ray enters the fiber from a medium (air) of refractive
index n0, and the fiber core has a refractive index n1, which
is slightly greater than the cladding refractive index n2.
Assuming the entrance face at the fiber core to be normal
to the axis, then considering the refraction at the air–core
interface and using Snell’s law given by Eq. (2.1):

24
 INTRODUCTION - Numerical aperture
Considering the right-angled triangle ABC indicated in
Figure 2.5, then:

Where is greater than the critical angle at the core–

cladding interface. Hence Eq. (2.3) becomes:

25
 INTRODUCTION - Numerical aperture
Using the trigonometrical relationship sin2 + cos2 = 1, Eq.
(2.5) may be written in the form:

When the limiting case for total internal reflection is

considered, becomes equal to the critical angle for the
core–cladding interface and is given by Eq. (2.2). Also in
this limiting case becomes the acceptance angle for the
fiber . Combining these limiting cases into Eq. (2.6) gives:

Equation (2.7), apart from relating the acceptance angle to

the refractive indices, serves as the basis for the definition
of the important optical fiber parameter, the numerical
26
aperture (NA). Hence the NA is defined as:
 INTRODUCTION - Numerical aperture
Since the NA is often used with the fiber in air where n0 is
unity, it is simply equal to sin . It may also be noted that
incident meridional rays over the range 0 ≤ ≤ will be
propagated within the fiber.
The NA may also be given in terms of the relative
refractive index difference Δ between the core and the
cladding which is defined as:*
Hence combining Eq. (2.8) with Eq. (2.9) we can write:

27
 INTRODUCTION - Numerical aperture
 The relationships given in the following equations for the
numerical aperture are a very useful measure of the light-
collecting ability of a fiber.

 They are independent of the fiber core diameter and will hold
for diameters as small as 8μm.
 However, for smaller diameters they break down as the
geometric optics approach is invalid.
 This is because the ray theory model is only a partial
description of the character of light.

28
 INTRODUCTION - Numerical aperture
It describes the direction a plane wave component takes in
the fiber but does not take into account interference
between such components.
When interference phenomena are considered it is found
that only rays with certain discrete characteristics
propagate in the fiber core.
Thus the fiber will only support a discrete number of
guided modes.
This becomes critical in small-core-diameter fibers which
only support one or a few modes.
Hence electromagnetic mode theory must be applied in
these cases (see Section 2.3).
29
 INTRODUCTION – Skew Rays

Figure. The helical path taken by a skew ray in an optical fiber:

(a) skew ray path down the fiber; (b) cross-sectional view of the fiber

30
 INTRODUCTION – Skew Rays
It is the category of ray, which is transmitted without
passing through the fiber axis.
These rays, which greatly outnumber the meridional rays,
follow a helical path through the fiber, as illustrated in
Figure 2.6, and are called skew rays.
It is not easy to visualize the skew ray paths in two
dimensions.
But it may be observed from Figure 2.6(b) that the helical
path traced through the fiber gives a change in direction of
2γ at each reflection, where γ is the angle between the
projection of the ray in two dimensions and the radius of
the fiber core at the point of reflection.
31
 INTRODUCTION
Hence, unlike meridional rays, the point of emergence of
skew rays from the fiber in air will depend upon the
number of reflections they undergo rather than the input
conditions to the fiber.
When the light input to the fiber is nonuniform, skew rays
will therefore tend to have a smoothing effect on the
distribution of the light as it is transmitted, to a more
uniform output.
The amount of smoothing is dependent on the number of
reflections encountered by the skew rays.

32
 INTRODUCTION
 A further possible advantage of the transmission of skew rays
becomes apparent when their acceptance conditions are
considered.
 In order to calculate the acceptance angle for a skew ray it is
necessary to define the direction of the ray in two
perpendicular planes.
 The geometry of the situation is illustrated in Figure 2.7 where
a skew ray is shown incident on the fiber core at the point A,
at an angle to the normal at the fiber end face.
 The ray is refracted at the air–core interface before traveling to
the point B in the same plane.
 The angles of incidence and reflection at the point B are , which
is greater than the critical angle for the core–cladding
33
interface.
 INTRODUCTION

Figure 2.7 The ray path within the fiber core for a skew ray
incident at an angle θs to the normal at the air–core interface

34
 INTRODUCTION
When considering the ray between A and B it is necessary
to resolve the direction of the ray path AB to the core
radius at the point B.

As the incident and reflected rays at the point B are in the
same plane, this is simply cos .


35
 INTRODUCTION
However, if the two perpendicular planes through which
the ray path AB traverses are considered, then γ is the
angle between the core radius and the projection of the ray
onto a plane BRS normal to the core axis, and is the angle
between the ray and a line AT drawn parallel to the core
axis.
Thus to resolve the ray path AB relative to the radius BR
in these two perpendicular planes requires multiplication
by cos γ and sin θ.

36 
 INTRODUCTION
Hence, the reflection at point B at an angle may be given
by:

Using the trigonometrical relationship sin2 + cos2 = 1, Eq.

(2.11) becomes:


If the limiting case for total internal reflection is now
considered, then becomes equal to the critical angle for
the core–cladding interface and, following Eq. (2.2), is
given by sin φc = n2/n1. Hence, Eq. (2.12) may be written
as:
37
 INTRODUCTION
Furthermore, using Snell’s law at the point A, following
Eq. (2.1) we can write:

where θa represents the maximum input axial angle for

meridional rays (θ is the internal axial angle).
Hence

where θas now represents the maximum input angle or

acceptance angle for skew rays.
38
 INTRODUCTION
Thus the acceptance conditions for skew rays are:

and in the case of the fiber in air (n0 = 1):

39
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations
1. Fiber types
2. Rays and modes
3. Step-index fiber structure
4. Ray optics representation
5. Wave representation in a Dielectric slab waveguide

40
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations – 1. Fiber types

 Modes: The propagation of light along a waveguide

in terms of set of guided electromagnetic waves called
the modes of the waveguide.

Bound or Trapped modes

 Each guided mode is a pattern of electric and

magnetic field lines

 Number of modes have certainty.

41
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations – 1. Fiber types

Figure: Schematic of a single-fiber structure

Core: Circular solid core (refractive index nl )is surrounded
by a cladding (refractive index n2<n1).
An elastic plastic buffer encapsulates the fiber.

42
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations – 1. Fiber types

The cladding is not necessary for light to propagate

along the core of the fiber
It serves several purposes.
The cladding reduces scattering loss resulting from dielectric
discontinuities at the core surface
It adds mechanical strength to the fiber, and
It protects the core from absorbing surface contaminants.

43
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations – 1. Fiber types

Core and cladding materials:

 In low- and medium-loss fibers - Glass core material and
surrounded by a glass or a plastic cladding.
 Higher-loss plastic-core fibers - Plastic claddings.

Buffer Coating :
 Fibers are encapsulated in an elastic, abrasion-resistant plastic
material.
 Adds strength to the fiber
 Mechanically isolates or buffers the fibers from small
geometrical irregularities, distortions, or roughnesses of adjacent
surfaces.
 These perturbations will cause scattering losses induced by
44 random microscopic bends.
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations – 1. Fiber types

45
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations – 1. Fiber types

Step-index and Graded-index fibers:

 Variations in the material composition of the core.

 Step-index fiber:
 The core refractive index is uniform throughout the fiber, and
 The refractive index undergoes an abrupt change (or step change) at the
cladding boundary.

 Graded-index fiber:
 The core refractive index varies as a function of the radial distance,
from the center of the fiber.

46
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations – 1. Fiber types

Single mode and Multimode fibers:

Both the step- and the graded-index fibers can be
further divided into
Single-mode, and
Multimode classes.

47
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations – 1. Fiber types

Single-mode fibers:
 Single-mode fiber maintains only one mode of propagation.

 Single-mode fibers must generally be excited with laser diodes.

 Advantage:
 Higher bandwidths are possible in single-mode fibers
 So, No - Intermodal dispersion effects.

48
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations
Multi-mode fibers:
 Multimode fibers contain many hundreds of modes.
 Multimode fibers offer several advantages compared to single-mode fibers.
 The larger core radii of multimode fibers eases the launch of optical
power into the fiber.
 It facilitates the connecting together of similar fibers.
 Light can be launched into a multimode fiber using a light­emitting-diode
(LED) source.
 LEDs have less optical output power than laser diodes, but
 they are easier to make
 they are less expensive
 they require less complex circuitry, and
 they have longer lifetimes than- laser diodes
thus making them more desirable in many applications.

49
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations
A disadvantage of multimode fibers:
They suffer from intermodal dispersion.
Each of the modes that can propagate in a multimode fiber
travels at a slightly different velocity.
Arrive at the fiber end at slightly different times
Causing the pulse to spread out in time as it travels along the
fiber.
This effect, which is known as intermodal dispersion.
It can be reduced by using a graded-index profile in the fiber
core i.e., Multimode graded index fibers.

This allows graded-index fibers to have much larger band­
widths (data rate transmission capabilities) than step-index
50 fibers.
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations
Comparison of Step Index and Graded Index fibers

51
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations

52
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations

53
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations

54
 Optical Fiber Modes and Configurations

55
 INTRODUCTION - Modes in a planar guide

Figure 2.9 Physical model showing the ray propagation and the corresponding
transverse electric (TE) field patterns of three lower order models (m 1, 2, 3) in the
planar dielectric guide
56
 INTRODUCTION - Phase and group velocity

Figure 2.10 The formation of a wave packet from the combination of two
waves with nearly equal frequencies. The envelope of the wave package or
group of waves travels at a group velocity υg

57
 INTRODUCTION - Phase and group velocity

Figure. The formation of a wave packet from the combination of

two waves with nearly equal frequencies. The envelope of the
wave package or group of waves travels at a group velocity υg

58
 Linearly Polarized Mode
Linearly polarized modes
In a step-index fiber the difference between the indices of
the core and cladding is very small that is  1 .
This is the basis of the weakly guiding fiber
approximation.

In this approximation electromagnetic field patterns and

propagation
HE v 1,m
constants
EH v 1,m
are same for the mode pairs
and are very similar.

59
 Linearly Polarized Mode

60
 Linearly Polarized Mode

61
 Linearly Polarized Mode

Equation (9) and (10) show that within the weakly

guiding approximation all modes characterized by a
common set of j and m satisfy the same characteristic
equation.
This means that these modes are degenerate.

62
 Linearly Polarized Mode

63
 Linearly Polarized Mode

64
 Linearly Polarized Mode

Figure: The four possible transverse electric field and magnetic field
directions and the corresponding intensity distributions for the LP 11 mode

65
 Linearly Polarized Mode
Advantages:
 Linearly polarized mode concept is very useful in understanding
and analyzing the transmission characteristics of optical fibers.
 Equalization of a mode is quick and easy four discrete mode
patterns can be obtained from a single linearly polarized mode by
taking two possible directions of polarization.
 Number of exact modes can be converted into a single linearly
polarized mode.

Demerits:
 Linearly polarized mode concept is valid only for weakly guiding
approximation.

66
 Derivation of V number (Normalized frequency) from LP modes
Modes
 Let consider the resulting modal fields., in common with the planar guide, TE
(where Ez=0) and TM (where Hz=0) modes are obtained within the dielectric
cylinder.
 The cylindrical waveguide is bounded in two dimensions.

 The cylindrical waveguide have TElm and TMlm modes (l and m - to specify the
modes).
 These modes correspond to meridional rays traveling within the fiber.

 Hybrid modes, Ez and Hz are nonzero, also occur within the cylindrical waveguide.
 These modes, result from skew ray propagation within the fiber.
 These are designated HE lm and EHlm depending on the components of H or E’s
major contribution to the transverse (to the fiber axis) field.
 So, an exact description of the modal fields in a step index fiber is complicated.
67
 Derivation of V number (Normalized frequency) from LP modes
 The approximate solutions for the full set of HE, EH, TE and TM
modes may be given by two linearly polarized components.

 The relationship between the traditional HE, EH, TE and TM

mode designations and the LPlm mode designations is shown in
Table.

 The mode subscripts ‘l’ and ‘m’ are related to the electric field
intensity profile for a particular LP mode (Figure 15(d)).

68
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes

Table 2.1 Correspondence between the lower orders in

linearly polarized modes and the traditional exact modes
from which they are formed

69
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes

Figure 2.15 The electric

field configurations for the
three lowest LP modes
illustrated in terms of their
constituent exact modes:
(a)LP mode designations;
(b)Exact mode designations;
(c)electric field distribution
of the exact modes;
(d)Iintensity distribution of
EX for the exact modes
indicating the electric field
intensity profile for the
corresponding LP modes

70
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes
The subscript l in the LP notation corresponds to HE and
EH modes with labels l+1 and l−1 respectively.

Figure 15: The electric field intensity profiles for the

lowest three LP modes, along with the electric field
distribution of their exact modes, are shown.
Observation from Figure 15:
The field configurations (i.e., intensity distribution) of the
exact modes that the field strength in the transverse
direction (Ex or Ey) is identical for the modes which belong
to the same LP mode. So it is called as ‘linearly
polarized’.
71
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes
The scalar wave equation can be written in the form:

(1)
Where,
ψ - the field (E or H)
n1 - the refractive index of the fiber core
k - the propagation constant for light in a vacuum
r,  - cylindrical coordinates.

72
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes
Propagation constant:
The propagation constants of the guided modes β lie in the
range:
(2)

where n2 is the refractive index of the fiber cladding.

73
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes
Solutions of the wave equation

(3)

where, ψ - the dominant transverse electric field

component.   
The periodic dependence on following cos l or sin l
gives a mode of radial order l.
Hence the fiber supports a finite number of guided modes
of the form of Eq. (3).

74
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes
Substituting the solutions given by Eq. (3) into Eq. (1)
results in a differential equation of the form:

(4)

is a Bessel differential equation.

75
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes
For a step index fiber with a constant refractive index core,
Eq. (4) is a Bessel differential equation
The solutions of Eq. (4) are cylinder functions.
In the core region the solutions are Bessel functions
denoted by Jl.

76
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes
The electric field is given by:

where G is the amplitude coefficient and

R = r/a R is the normalized radial coordinate
a is the radius of the fiber core
 U and W, which are the eigenvalues in the core and
cladding respectively

* U is also referred to as the radial phase parameter or the radial propagation constant,
77
whereas W is known as the cladding decay parameter.
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes

Figure.
(a)Variation of the Bessel function Jl(r)
for l = 0, 1, 2, 3 (first four orders),
plotted against r.

(b)Graph of the modified Bessel

function Kl(r) against r for l = 0, 1

78
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes
The normalized frequency may be expressed in terms of
the numerical aperture NA and the relative refractive index
difference Δ, respectively.

It is also possible to define the normalized propagation

constant b for a fiber in terms of the parameters U, V.

79
 INTRODUCTION - Cylindrical fiber: Modes

Figure 2.18 The normalized propagation constant b as a function of

normalized frequency V for a number of LP modes.
80
 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Modes

81
 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Mode coupling
Far considered - Propagation aspects of perfect dielectric
waveguides
Parameters change the propagation characteristics of the
fiber:
Waveguide perturbations such as deviations of the fiber
axis from straightness, variations in the core diameter,
irregularities at the core–cladding interface and refractive
index variations
Effect: Coupling energy traveling in one mode to another
depending on the specific perturbation

82
 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Mode coupling

83
 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Mode coupling
Ray theory aids the understanding of this phenomenon, as
shown in Figure 2.20
It illustrates two types of perturbations.
(a) irregularity at the core–cladding interface;
(b) fiber bend
It may be observed that in both cases the ray no longer
maintains the same angle with the axis.
In electromagnetic wave theory this corresponds to a
change in the propagating mode for the light.

84
 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Mode coupling

 Thus individual modes do not normally propagate

throughout the length of the fiber without large energy
transfers to adjacent modes, even when the fiber is
exceptionally good quality and is not strained or bent by its
surroundings.
 This mode conversion is known as mode coupling or
mixing.

 It is usually analyzed using coupled mode equations which

can be obtained directly from Maxwell’s equations.

85
 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Step index fibers
The optical fiber considered so far:
A core of constant refractive index n1 and
A cladding of a slightly lower refractive index n2
is known as step index fiber.

Because: The Refractive Index profile for this type of fiber

makes a step change at the core–cladding interface.

The refractive index profile may be defined as:

86
 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Step index fibers

Figure 2.21(a) shows a multimode step index fiber with a

core diameter of around 50 μm or greater
Core diameter is large enough to allow the propagation of
many modes within the fiber core.
This is illustrated in Figure 2.21(a) by the many different
possible ray paths through the fiber.

87
 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Step index fibers

Figure 2.21(b) shows a single-mode or monomode step

index fiber which allows the propagation of only one
transverse electromagnetic mode (typically HE11), and
hence the core diameter must be of the order of 2 to 10 μm.
The propagation of a single mode is illustrated in Figure as
corresponding to a single ray path only (usually shown as
the axial ray) through the fiber.
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 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Step index fibers
The single-mode step index fiber has the distinct
advantage of low intermodal dispersion (broadening of
transmitted light pulses), as only one mode is transmitted,
whereas with multimode step index fiber considerable
dispersion may occur due to the differing group velocities
of the propagating modes.
This in turn restricts the maximum bandwidth attainable
with multimode step index fibers, fibers especially when
compared with single-mode fibers.

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 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Step index fibers
However, for lower bandwidth applications multimode
fibers have several advantages over single-mode fibers.
These are:
(a) the use of spatially incoherent optical sources (e.g.
most light-emitting diodes) which cannot be
efficiently coupled to single-mode fibers;
(b)larger numerical apertures, as well as core diameters,
facilitating easier coupling to optical sources;
(c)lower tolerance requirements on fiber connectors.

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 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Step index fibers
Multimode step index fibers allow the propagation of a
finite number of guided modes along the channel.
The number of guided modes is dependent upon the
physical parameters (i.e. relative refractive index
difference, core radius) of the fiber and the wavelengths of
the transmitted light which are included in the normalized
frequency V for the fiber.

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 INTRODUCTION Cylindrical fiber: Step index fibers
It was indicated in Section 2.4.1 that there is a cutoff value
of normalized frequency Vc for guided modes below
which they cannot exist.
However, mode propagation does not entirely cease below
cutoff. Modes may propagate as unguided or leaky modes
which can travel considerable distances along the fiber.

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 INTRODUCTION
Nevertheless, it is the guided modes which are of
paramount importance in optical fiber communications as
these are confined to the fiber over its full length.
It can be shown [Ref. 16] that the total number of guided
modes or mode volume Ms for a step index fiber is related
to the V value for the fiber by the approximate

which allows an estimate of the number of guided modes

propagating in a particular multimode step index fiber.
expression:
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