EC5701 Millimeter and Optical Wave

Communication

Ms. Ragini K
Teaching Fellow/DECE
College of Engineering
Anna University
Chennai
 OBJECTIVES

• To introduce the relevance of this course to the existing technology through

demonstrations, case studies, simulations, contributions of scientist,
national/international policies with a futuristic vision along with socio-
economic impact and issues
• To introduce the principle of light propagation through optical fibers
• To understand signal distortion mechanisms in the fiber
• To introduce optical transmitters and receivers for fiber /free space links
• To introduce optical network concepts and components involved.
UNIT I OPTICAL FIBERS
Relevance of optical communication in
backhaul/backbone networks and interconnects,
fiber optics and free space optics, optical fiber
structure and parameters, ray and mode theory of
light propagation in optical fibers, fiber materials,
fiber fabrication techniques, passive optical
components - Optical couplers, filters, isolators.
UNIT II TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTICS
Optical signal attenuation mechanisms in guided
and unguided optical signal transmissions, Optical
signal distortion – Group delay, material dispersion,
waveguide dispersion, polarization mode
dispersion, intermodal dispersion, profile
dispersion, fiber types, Standard Single mode
Fibers, Dispersion Shifted Fibers, Dispersion
Flattened Fibers, Polarization Maintaining Fibers,
Photonic Crystal Fibers, Dispersion compensation,
Principles of fiber nonlinearities.
UNIT III OPTICAL TRANSMITTERS

Materials for optical sources, light-emitting diodes,

semiconductor laser diodes, longitudinal modes,
gain and index-guiding, power-current
characteristics, spectral behavior, longitudinal
mode control and tunability, noise, direct and
external modulation, Laser sources and
transmitters for free space communication.
UNIT IV OPTICAL RECEIVERS
Principles of optical detection, spectral
responsivity, PIN, APD, preamplifier types,
receiver noises, Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and
Bit Error Rate (BER), Principles of coherent
detection, link power and rise time budget,
relevance of power and rise time budget in
practical link/network planning.
 Text / Reference Books
1. Gerd Kaiser, ―Optical Fiber Communications‖, 5th edition, Tata

Mc Graw Hill, New Delhi, 2013.

2. John M. Senior, ‖Optical Fiber Communications- Principles
and Practice‖, Third Edition, 3rd impression, Pearson
Education,2012.
3. Rajiv Ramasamy & Kumar N. Sivarajan, ―Optical Networks – A
Practical Perspective‖, 3rd Edition, Morgan Kauffman 2009.
Tele communication - Information transmission to a
far off place
Message – Original Information ( voice, video, data )
- represented as an Electrical signal

Guided - 2 wire, co-axial cable, wave-guide

Unguided- atmosphere- free space- wireless

Modulation --- High Frequency Carrier – f c >> f m

Amplitude Modulation –simple- fc atleast 20 times fm

Oct 12, 2022 8

 Spectral Range

Oct 12, 2022 9

 Fiber optical communication
800 nm 1700 nm
 Why an optical signal ?
Carrier frequency - Very high
850nm-353nm, 1300 nm  230 THz ; 1550 nm  193 THz;
Information Bandwidth – very high
Light  ElectroMagnetic wave
Ray theory, Mode theory
λ . f = c  velocity of light
co = 3 x 108 m/s in vacuum(free space)
c = co / n  co in material media ( n > no )
n  refractive index of the material media
Oct 12, 2022 11
 Multiplexing / Multiple Access

 WDM – Wavelength Division Multiplexing

 TDM – Time Division Multiplexing
 CDM - Code Division Multiplexing
 PDM – Polarization Division Multiplexing
 SDM – Spot / Space Division Multiplexing
 SCM - Sub-Carrier Multiplexing
Oct 12, 2022 13
 Optical fiber cable
Optical fiber cable
installations
installations

Oct 12, 2022 14

 Major elements of an optical fiber link

Oct 12, 2022 15

 Merits of a Fiber Optic
Communication System
 Wide Bandwidth  order of Tbps
 Low Loss  0.015 dB/Km
 Free from EMI / RFI  No Crosstalk
 Bit Error Rate  10-12
 Interference free / Radiation free
 Heat resistance / No sparking  Hazardous envir.
 Tapping free  Secure
 Light weight Small size Less Power  Satellites
 Abundant natural resource  Silica
 Medium of transmission
& its transmission characteristics
• Pure glass  light travels to long distances
• Attenuation < 5 dB/Km at 850 nm
• Attenuation < 1 dB/Km at 1300 nm (25 % lost / Km)
• Attenuation < 0.012 dB/Km at 1550 nm (0.28% lost/Km)

• FOM  Bandwidth x Distance between repeaters

• 140 Mbps x 10 Km at 850 nm
• 2.5 Gbps x 40 Km at 1300 nm
• 10 Gbps x 90 Km at 1550 nm

Oct 12, 2022 17

 Information Signal
 Electromagnetic Energy
 Bundle of rays
 Bunch of waves
 Number of modes
 Collection of energy packets
having wave property
Nature of light --- wave nature (propagation)
---- particle nature (emission
and absorption )
Oct 12, 2022 18
 LIGHT Propagation
Ray Theory : Rectilinear Propagation
: Simple approach; a >> 
Wave Theory : Combination of Plane waves
: Modes
: Field config. subjected to
boundary condition
: Energy flow, coupling, loss
Quantum : Quantum of energy [ Photon = h]
Theory : Interaction of light with matter
Oct 12, 2022 : Emission, Absorption 19
 Fiber structure

n1> n2

Jacket
Core
n1 Cladding
n2

Propagation by means of Total Internal Reflection

Fiber-Optic Cable Construction
Optical Fiber & Communications System
 What do the fiber terms 9/125, 50/125 and 62.5/125 (micron)

Remember: A micron (short for micrometer) is one-millionth of a meter

Typically n(cladding) < n(core)

 Refractive Index
• Fundamental optical parameter of material is
the refractive index(index of refraction)
• The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to
that in matter is the index of refraction n of
the material and is given by
n = c/v
Example: for air 1.00, Diamond 2.419
 Why Cladding ?
 Each reflection at the core boundary introduces some loss .

  7000 reflections per meter in a typical 50 m thick core, 0.1

% loss per reflection will leave less than 1 W of original
power of 1 mW after just 1 meter journey.

 Moisture, oil, finger prints, scratches at the core boundary

increase signal loss.

 Core alone leads to cross talk due to leakage, loss of

definition of images

 Cladding affects NA - decides light collected and information

rate.

Oct 12, 2022 25

 Why cladding
In practice the cladding of a glass fiber core (n1), is also a glass with
a slightly lower (< by few percent ) refractive index(n2)
NA = (n12 - n22) ½ = n1(2 )1/2

 = (n12 - n22) / 2 n12

When n1  n2  = (n1 – n2) / n1

n = n1 – n2 has a stronger controlling action on NA

than n1 of an unclad fiber
 should be made as large as possible in order to
couple maximum light into the fiber

Oct 12, 2022 26

Optical Fiber Fiber Attenuation
Attenuation
Oct 12, 2022 28
Spherical and plane wave fronts
Refraction and reflection
Snell’s Law
Critical Angle
Angle of incidence (inside the higher-index
material) for which Snell's Law predicts a
90-degree angle of refraction -- light follows
the surface rather than entering the low-
index material.
Total Internal Reflection

Propagating wave strikes a medium
boundary at an angle larger than a
particular critical angle with
respect to the normal to the surface.

θi> θc
 Numerical Aperture
NA is a measure of the light
gathering ability of a fiber. It also
indicates how easy it is to couple
light into a fiber.
 Free Space Optics

• FSO is a communication system where free space

acts as medium between transceivers
• They should be in LOS for successful transmission of
optical signal
• There are many advantages of FSO like high
bandwidth and no spectrum license
• The transmission in FSO is dependent on the medium
because the presence of foreign elements like rain,
fog, and haze, physical obstruction, scattering, and
atmospheric turbulence are some of these factors. 
 Ray Theory approach
Study of propagation characteristics of light in optical
fiber can be made based on geometrical optics or ray
theory.
Ray theory is valid when a /  >> 1 ( small
wavelength limit )
Wavelength of light  < < a dimension of fiber.
0.7 m <  < 1.55 m 6 m < a < 100 m

Oct 12, 2022 38

 Mode Theory
Light = EM Energy
= Number of Trapped Waves
= Number of modes

Mode : Field configuration

Set of plane waves

Guided Mode: Superimposed plane waves that

collectively form standing waves in
the plane transverse to the
direction of wave propagation.

Oct 12, 2022 39

 Mode Theory
Mode theory is required to explain the following:
a. Coherence phenomena
b. Interference phenomena
c. Field distribution of individual mode
i. To excite an individual mode
ii. To analyze coupling of power between modes
at the wave guide imperfections
d. Power distribution among the modes.
e. Study of core cladding modes
f. Study of radiation modes
g. Accounting for power losses due to bending

Oct 12, 2022 40

 Fiber Classification
• Based on Refractive Index profile
– Step Index Fibers
– Graded Index Fibers

• Based on mode propagation characteristics

– Single Mode Fibers
– Multi-mode Fibers

• Special Fibers
– DSF, DFF, NZDSF
Comparison of fiber structures
 Comparison of fiber structures

Oct 12, 2022 43

Refractive index profiles
 Refractive Index Profile

Oct 12, 2022 45

Meridional ray representation
 Propagation in step index and graded index fibers

Oct 12, 2022 47

Ray Propagation

n1
 Ray Propagation
no
n2 < n1

n1
 Ray Propagation

n2 < n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation

n2 < n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation

n2 < n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation

n2 < n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation

n2 < n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation

n2 < n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation

n2 < n1
no

n1

Maximum
acceptance
angle a
Acceptance Cone
Oct 12, 2022 a 59
 TYPES OF RAYS

• If the rays are launched within core of acceptance can be successfully

propagated along the fiber. But the exact path of the ray is determined by
the position and angle of ray at which it strikes the core.

• There exists three different types of rays.

i) Skew rays

ii) Meridional rays

iii) Axial rays

 TYPES OF RAYS
• The skew rays does not pass through the center, as show in Fig. The skew
rays reflects off from the core cladding boundaries and again bounces
around the outside of the core. It takes somewhat similar shape of spiral
of helical path.
 TYPES OF RAYS
• The meridional ray enters the core and passes through its
axis. When the core surface is parallel, it will always be
reflected to pass through the enter.
• The axial ray travels along the axis of the fiber and stays at
the axis all the time.
 Numerical Aperture (Meridional Rays)

n0 Sin i = n1 Sin r n1 Sin  = n2 Sin 2

As   c , 2  90 (gracing ray, along the interface )
n1 Sin c = n2 Sin 90 [ Sin c = n2 / n1 ] r = 90 o - c
NA= n0 Sin o max =n1 Sin ( / 2 - c ) = n1 Cos c
= n1 (1 – Sin2 c ) ½ = n1 [1 – (n2 / n1)2 ] 1/2
 Fractional Refractive Index change  / Relative
Refractive Index
Numerical Aperture = NA = n1 [1 – (n2 / n1)2 ] 1/2
= [ n12 – n22 ] ½
n2 = n1 (1-)
  (n1 – n2) / n1 [ when <<1 ]
[= core-cladding index difference]
[ = n12–n22 / 2 n1 2 ]
and when n1  n2 , NA = n1  (2 )
NA is directly proportional to 
 the light collecting capability of the fiber(NA) is
directly proportional to the choice of n1 and n2 .
 PROBLEMS
1. Consider a multimode silica fiber that has a
core refractive index n1= 1.48 and a cladding
index n2= 1.46. Find out the
a. Critical angle
b. Numerical Aperture
MODES THEORY
 What are Fiber Modes?
 Light is basically an electromagnetic energy. Optical fiber
guides the light wave in distinct pattern called modes.
 A mode describe the half sine wave variation pattern of light
energy across the fiber

1. How light in the core is describe by “Mode theory”?

The light, flowing in the core of optical wave guide is
represented in term of “permitted modes of the waveguide”
or “bound or trapped modes” of the waveguide.
2. What is meant by “permitted modes”?
Mode, which satisfy Maxwell’s equation are called the
“Permitted Modes”
• Electric field distribution
across the core of glass
fiber.
• In TE0 mode one half sine
variation
• TE1 mode two half sine
variation
• TE2 mode three half sine
variation
 Evanescent Field

Fig. The exponentially

decaying evanescent
field in the cladding of
the optical waveguide

The amplitude of the field in the cladding is observed to decay exponentially

in the x direction. Such a field, exhibiting an exponentially decaying amplitude, is
often referred to as an evanescent field.
A field of this type stores energy and transports it in the direction of
propagation (z) but does not transport energy in the transverse direction (x).
The penetration of energy into the cladding underlines the importance of the
choice of cladding material. The cladding thickness must be sufficient to allow the
evanescent field to decay to a low value.
October 12, 2022 69
Modes in planar wave guide
• The planar guide is the simplest form of optical wave guide.
Consider a slab of dielectric with refractive index n1 sandwiched
between two regions of lower refractive index n2

• In order to obtain an improved model for optical propagation it is

useful to consider the interference of plane wave components with
in the dielectric wave guide.

• The conceptual transition from ray theory to wave theory may be

aided by consideration of a plane monochromatic wave
propagating in the direction the ray path with in the guide
 Modes in planar wave guide
• β = propagation constant in the direction wave
in the n1 medium
• K= propagation constant in free space
 Modes in planar wave guide

• When the total phase change after two successive reflections at the upper
and lower interfaces between point P and Q is equal to 2mπ radians, where
m is an integer, then constructive interference occurs and a standing
wave is obtained in the X-direction.

• Here the interference forms the lowest order (m=0) standing wave

• In the above mentioned case the electric field E is maximum at the center of
guide , decaying towards zero to core-cladding boundary. Still the field
penetrates some distance into the core-cladding boundary.
• Never the less the optical wave is effectively confined within the guide and
electric field distribution in the X-direction with a periodic Z-direction
• The stable field distribution in the x-direction with periodic Z dependence
is known as MODE
• Only certain angles, between the propagation rays and the interface, give
rise to stable mode in transverse plane.
• Thus only discrete modes (βL = 2 m π, where m = 0,1,2,…) within the
guide propagates
• Hence the successfully
propagating light down the
fibre corresponds to a mode
or wave front
 Cutoff Wavelength and V Number
• Guided modes in the fiber occur when the values for β satisfy the
condition
n2 k ˂ β ˂ n 1 k
at the limit of propagation when β = n2 k
• A mode is no longer properly guided and is called being cutoff
• Unguided mode appear for the frequencies below cutoff point where,
β ˂ n2 k
• Wave propagation is still below the cutoff frequency for leaky modes
• The modes are cut off when β = n2 k
• The wavelength at which the higher-order modes are cutoff when
V ≤ 2.405 is called cutoff wavelength λc
• This parameter is a dimensionless number that is related to the
wavelength and the numerical aperture and determines how many
modes a fiber can support?
Fiber modes --- single mode and multi-mode fibers
V-number
2a 2a 2
V  2
(n  n )
1
2 1/ 2
2 , Vcutoff  (n1  n22 )1/ 2  2.41,
 c
Number of modes when V>>2.41
V2
M ,
2
Normalized propagation constant
2
neff  n22
b , b  (1.1428  0.996 / V ) 2 , for V between 1.5 – 2.5.
n12  n22
 Electromagnetics - Basics
• All electromagnetic phenomena may be explained by a
set of 4 postulates called “Maxwell’s Equations”

 – permittivity

 – permeability

 - conductivity

Standard Wave Equation

 Wave Equations for Step-Index
Fibers
• The expressions for Electric and Magnetic field in Z- direction inside the
core and outside the core
• The solutions are in the form of Bessel function
 Normalized Propagation Constant-b

The number of modes that exist in a waveguide as a function of V may be

conveniently represented in terms of a normalized propagation constant b
 Linearly Polarized Modes*-
General conditions
• Simpler but highly accurate approximation- LP modes are
used
• The approximation is based on the principle that in typical step
index fiber with the condition of <<1 ( basis of the weakly guiding
fiber approximation)
• Such degenerate modes are called linearly polarized(LP) modes
Modes in Step-Index Fibers
LINEARLY POLARIZED MODES
LINEARLY POLARIZED MODES
 Power Flow in Step-Index Fiber
-Total Average Cladding Power

• Based on the weakly guided mode approximation, which has an accuracy on

the order of the index difference Δ between the core and cladding, the
relative core and cladding powers for a particular mode v are given by

Normalized Power is expressed as

 Mode Field Diameter
• MFD is a measure of light intensity in a single mode fiber
cross section
• Provides the information about the cables performance/fiber
properties and the impact of sources of loss such as micro &
macro bending

Mode field diameter (MFD)

1
2 w  2a (1  ),
V
Propagation Modes in Single-Mode Fibers
Single vs. Multimode Fiber
 Calculate the number of modes at 820 nm and 1.3 μm in a graded
index fiber having a parabolic index profile ( α = 2 ), a 25 μm core
radius, n1 = 1.48, and n2 = 1.46. How does this compare to a step index
fiber.

Solution:
For a step index fiber , V = 2 π a (n12 - n2 2 ) 1/2
λ
No. of bound modes M = V2
2
For a graded index fiber Δ = ( n12 - n2 2 ) ≈ n1 - n2
2 n 12 n1
No. of bound modes M = (2 π a )2 α n12 Δ
(α + 2 ) λ2
At 820 nm:
No. of modes in step index fiber = 1079
No. of modes in graded index fiber = 543

At 1300 nm:
No. of modes in step index fiber = 429
October 12, 2022 No. of modes in graded index fiber = 216 93
 Fiber Materials
There are many materials available for use in fiber fabrication. Only a few
meet the special requirements of optical fibers:
1)  The material must allow us to make long, thin, and flexible fibers.
2)  The material must be transparent at a particular wavelength in order
to guide light efficiently.
3)   Physically compatible materials that have slightly different refractive
indices for the core and cladding must be available.(The index of
refraction or IOR is a measure of the speed of light in a material).
4)   Finally, we must have a material that is cheap and abundant.
Two materials that are commonly used and meet all of these
requirements are plastics and glass.

October 12, 2022 94

 Fiber Materials

Core Cladding

SiO2 B2O3-SiO2

GeO2-SiO2 SiO2

P2O5-SiO2 SiO2

Refractive index as a function of

dopants materials and their concentration
 Types of materials

• Glass Fibers
• Active Glass Fibers
• Plastic Optical Fibers
• Photonic Crystal fibers (PCF)
• Photonic Bandgap Fiber
 Fiber Fabrication

There are two basic techniques used in the fabrication of optical

fibers:
 Fibers can be drawn directly from melts of silica in
crucibles.
 Vapour phase oxidation.
Fabrication processes are usually done in
two steps: B203 – Boron trioxide
1. Preparation of the preform.
P205 – phosphorous
2. Drawing of the fiber from preform.
pentoxide
Preparation of the preform Ge02 – Germanium
• Outside Vapor-Deposition dioxide
• Modified Chemical Vapor GeCl4 – Germanium
Deposition tetrachloride
• Plasma Chemical Vapor POCl3 – Phosporyl
Deposition chloride

-
OH ion in the fiber preform  oxyhydrogen flame used in the hydrolysis
of SiCl4, GeCl4 and POCl3
 Fiber Fabrication – In General

• Silicon dioxide, or pure silica, is usually obtained in the form of small particles (about 0.1 µm)
called "soot." This soot is deposited on the target rod or tube. The depositing of the silica soot,
layer upon layer, forms a homogeneous transparent cladding material. To change the value of a
cladding's refractive index, some dopants are used.

• The soot for the core material is made by mixing three gases: SiCl4, GeCl4, and O2 which results in
a mixture of SiO2 and GeO2. The degree of doping is controlled by simply changing the amount of
GeCl4 gas added to the mixture.

SiCl4 + O2 --→ SiO2 + 2Cl2

 Preform

A preform is a cylinder of silica composition 10 to 25 mm in diameter and about

60 to 120 cm long. This preform consists of a core surrounded by a cladding with a
desired refractive-index profile, a given attenuation, and other characteristics;
in other words, this is a desired optical fiber, but on a much larger scale.
 Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition

Successive layers of SiO2 are deposited on the inside of a fused silica tube by mixing the vapors of SiCl4 and O2
at a temperature of about 18000 C. To ensure uniformity, a multi burner torch is moved back and forth across
the tube length using an automatic translation stage.

The refractive index of the cladding layers is controlled by adding fluorine to the tube
When a sufficient cladding thickness has been deposited, the core is formed by adding the vapors of GeCl4 or
POCl3

The flow rate of GeCl4 or POCl3 determines the amount of dopant and the corresponding increase in the
refractive index of the core.

When all layers forming the core have been deposited, the torch temperature is raised to collapse the tube into a
solid rod of preform.

The MCVD process is also known as the inner-vapor-deposition method, as the core and cladding layers are
deposited inside a silica tube.
B203 – Boron trioxide
P205 – phosphorous pentoxide
Ge02 – Germanium dioxide
GeCl4 – Germanium tetrachloride
POCl3 – Phosporyl chloride
Modified chemical vapor deposition process
 outside vapor phase oxidation

Soot
deposition
Two phases of the OVD process:
Outside Vapor Deposition (OVD) Laydown
Method Consolidation

In the laydown process, several materials such as SiCl 4, GeCl4, BCl3 and O2 are allowed to react in a hot flame to produce soot. The
soot is in turn deposited into a rotating ceramic rod known as a mandrel. Initially the core material is deposited, followed by the
cladding. The soot builds up on the rod, and layer-by-layer, a cylindrical preform is built up. Next, the deposited preform is
removed from the rod and placed in a consolidation furnace. This high temperature furnace removes any water vapor that may be in
the preform. The resulting product is a solid, dense, glass blank.
Plasma activated chemical vapor deposition
process
 Fiber Drawing Process

•The preform is fed into a furnace in a controlled manner where it is heated to a temperature of about 2000◦C.
Melting temperature of silica is approximately 19000C. So for fiber drawing temp 2000 –21000C

•The melted preform is drawn into a fiber by using a precision-feed mechanism.

•The fiber diameter is monitored optically by diffracting light emitted by a laser from the fiber. A change in the
diameter changes the diffraction pattern, which in turn changes the photodiode current.

•A polymer(primary) coating (soft plastic Resin) is applied to the fiber during the drawing step. It serves a dual
purpose, as it provides mechanical protection and preserves the transmission properties of the fiber.

•The diameter of the coated fiber is typically 250 μm, although it can be as large as 900 μm when multiple
coatings are used.

•The tensile strength of the fiber is monitored during its winding on the drum. Several hours are required to
convert a single preform into a fiber of about 5 km length.
Fiber drawing
 Attenuation in Optical Fiber
Attenuation Mechanisms
• Absorption
•Fiber material
•Intrinsic
•extrinsic
• Scattering
•Material density fluctuations
•Structural imperfections
•Linear  Rayleigh & Lie
•Non-linear Raman & Brillouin
• Radiation
•Perturbations of fiber
geometry

October 12, 2022

 Attenuation Characteristics

October 12, 2022

 ABSORPTION
• Absorption by atomic defects in the glass composition

• Extrinsic absorption by impurity atoms in the glass material

• Intrinsic absorption by the basic constituent atoms of the fiber

material

• ATOMIC DEFECTS
• Atomic defects are imperfections in the atomic structure of the fiber
material
– Missing molecules
– high density clusters of atom groups
– oxygen defects
• Negligible under normal conditions
• Significant when fiber is exposed to ionizing radiation

October 12, 2022

 EXTRINSIC ABSORPTION
• Absorption due to impurities in the fiber material  transition
metal impurities, OH- ions

• Transition metal impurities

– Iron, Cobalt, Chromium, Copper
1 to 10 ppb  1 to 10 dB / Km loss (Direct melt method)

• OH ion in the fiber preform  oxyhydrogen flame used in the

hydrolysis of the SiCl4, GeCl4 and POCl3

• Absorption peak of water near 2.7 μm; 1400, 950, 720 nm

overtones

• If OH content is reduced to around 1 ppb, for standard SM fiber

 0.5 dB/Km at 1300 nm & 0.3 dB/Km at 1550 nm

October 12, 2022

 INTRINSIC ABSORPTION
• Associated with the basic fiber material.
– Electronic absorption bands in the UV region
– Atomic vibration bands in the near IR region
UV Region:
• Photon interaction with an electron in the VB  excites it to a
higher energy level.
IR Region:
• In the near IR region (above 1.2µm) loss is due to OH ions
and
Infrared absorption of the constituent material. The IR
absorption is associated with the characteristic vibration
frequency of covalent bond between atoms
• Interaction between the vibrating covalent bond and the EM
field of the optical signal results in a transfer of energy from
the field to the bond & hence giving rise to Absorption

October 12, 2022

 Infrared Absorption Induced
by Doping Materials

October 12, 2022

 SCATTERING
• Microscopic variations in
– material density
– compositional fluctuations
– refractive index variations over a distance smaller
than the wavelength

• Structural inhomogeneities or defects

– Trapped glass bubbles
– Unreacted starting materials
– Crystallized regions in the glass

• Rayleigh scattering of the light

• Mie scattering
• Raman scattering
• Brillouin scattering

October 12, 2022

 Rayleigh Scattering

October 12, 2022

 SCATTERING LOSSES

• For Single component glass :

scat = ( 8π3 / 3λ4 ) ( n2 -1 )2 kB Tf T

• For multicomponent glass :

scat = ( 8π3 / 3λ4 ) ( n2 )2 V

• Rayleigh scattering has a -4 dependence  decreases

dramatically with increasing wavelength

October 12, 2022

 RAYLEIGH SCATTERING

• λ < 1 µm, Rayleigh scattering  dominant loss

mechanism

• λ > 1 µm, IR absorption effect dominate optical signal

attenuation

• Rayleigh scattering can be reduced to below 0.01 dB/km for λ

> 3 µm

• Silica fibers cannot be used in this region as IR absorption

begins to dominate

• Fluorozirconate fibers have been proposed

October 12, 2022

Photonic Crystal fibers (PCF)
 Reference
1. Gerd Kaiser, ―Optical Fiber Communications‖, 5th
edition, Tata Mc Graw Hill, New Delhi, 2013.
2. John M. Senior, ‖Optical Fiber Communications-
Principles and Practice‖, Third Edition, 3rd impression,
Pearson Education, 2012.
THANK YOU