Experiment no.

6: A study of single and multimode optical fibers

Theory:
1. A Brief Introduction and History
In 1854 a British physicist by the name of John Tyndall discovered that light could be bent around a
corner through a curved spout of running water. In this experiment he permitted water to spout from a
tube, the light on reaching the limiting surface of air and water was totally reflected and seemed to be
washed downwards by the descending liquid [1]. What he had discovered was the idea know as total
internal reflection. It is this idea that is the basis of fiber optics. The first practical application of this was
used in the UK during the 1930s in the medical field. An un-coated plastic channel was used to guide
light to an area of interest for inspection [2]. Also during the 1930s, other ideas were developed with
this newly found technology such as transmitting images through a fiber. The idea of transmitting an
image through bundles of glass fibers was introduced in the 50s. This idea of light propagating
through a fiber was rapidly expanding. During the 1960s, LASERS were introduced as efficient light
sources and in the 70s the refinement of pure low-loss glass fibers was established [3]. With these
developments, fiber-optic transmission became practical and advantageous for many applications.
Today fiber optics is used in a variety of applications from the medical environment to the broadcasting
industry. It is used to transmit voice, television, images and data signals through small flexible threads of
glass or plastic. These fiber optic cables far exceed the information capacity of coaxial cable or twisted
wire pairs. They are also smaller and lighter in weight than conventional copper systems and are
immune to electromagnetic interference and crosstalk. To date, fiber optics has found its greatest
application in the telephone industry [4]. Fiber optics is also used to link computers in local area
networks (LAN).

2. Theory of Operation
The main principle behind the method of wave guidance in a fiber optic cable is the idea of total internal
reflection. When light traveling in a transparent material meets the surface of another transparent
material two things happen: a) some of the light is reflected, b) some of the light is transmitted into the
second transparent material.
The light which is transmitted usually changes direction when it enters the second material. This
bending of light is called refraction and it depends upon the fact that light travels at one speed in one
material and at a different speed in a different material. As a result each material has its own Refractive
Index which we use to calculate the amount of bending which takes place.
Refractive index is defined as:n = C/V..(1)
where
n is the refractive index
C is the speed of light in a vacuum
V is the speed of light in the material
Two possible cases exist.
These are:-

1. When light goes from a material with a low refractive index to one with a high refractive index,
and

Figure1. n1<n2
2. When light goes from a material with a high refractive index to one with a low refractive
index.

Figure 2. n1 > n2

Total Internal Reflection:

In the second case above, 2 is always greater than 1 (1 and 2 refer to the angles) . So, as we
increase 1, eventually 2 will reach 90 deg before 1 does. At this point where 1 has reached a value
called the critical angle (c ).
The transmitted ray now tries to travel in both materials simultaneously. This is physically impossible
so there is no transmitted ray and all the light energy is reflected. This is true for any value of 1, the
angle of incidence, equal to or greater than c This phenomenon is called Total Internal Reflection (TIR).

Figure 3. Total Internal Reflection

We can define the two conditions necessary for TIR to occur
1. The refractive index of the first medium is greater than the refractive index of the second one.
2. The angle of incidence, 1, is greater than or equal to the critical angle, c. The phenomenon of
TIR causes 100% reflection. In no situation in nature, where light is reflected, does 100%
reflection occur. So TIR is unique and very useful and is used in optical fibre technology.

3. Types of fibers:
There are two main fibre types:
a) Step index (multimode, single mode)
b) Graded index (multimode)
a) Step Index Fibre
Step index fibre is so called because the refractive index of the fibre 'steps" up as we move from
the cladding to the core of the fibre. Within the cladding the refractive index is constant, and within the
core, the refractive index is again constant.

Figure 4. Step Index Fibre

i) Single Mode Step Index Fibres
Because its core is so narrow , a Single Mode fibre can support only one mode. This is called the
"Lowest Order Mode".

Figure 5. Single mode Step Index Fibre

ii) Multimode Step Index Fibres

Although it may seem from what we have said about Total Internal Reflection that any ray of light
can travel down the fibre, because of the wave nature of light, only certain ray directions can actually
travel down the fibre. These are called the "Fibre Modes". In a multimode fibre many different modes
are supported by the fibre.

Figure 6. Multimode Step Index Fibre

b) Graded Index Fibre
Graded Index Fibre has a different core structure from single mode and multimode step index fibres.
Whereas in a step-index fibre the refractive index of the core is constant throughout the core, in a
graded index fibre the value of the refractive index changes from the centre of the core onwards. In fact
it has a Quadratic Profile. This means that the refractive index of the core is proportional to the square
of the distance from the centre of the fibre.

Figure 7. The Graded Index Fibre

4.

More on single and multimode fibres:

It is important to consider the characteristics involved when coupling a source to a fiber. Fibers have a
certain ability to collect light. This light gathering ability of the fiber is called the numerical aperture
(NA). A large NA means a larger signal, or greater ray loss during collection, and larger distortion of the
intelligence being thus conveyed [5]. Also with an increase in NA comes a decrease in bandwidth. The
NA is always less than 1 since it is a function of the refractive indexes of the fiber. There are four
parameters that effect the efficiency of source-fiber coupling, the NAs of both the source and the fiber
and the dimensions of the source and the fiber core [3]. The NA can be represented by the following
Equations:

(2)
(3)
where n1 is the index of the core and n2 is the index of the cladding. is the half-angle of the acceptance
cone of the fiber.
Equation 2 is generally used for step-index fibers while Equation 3 is use for graded index fibers. If one
were given the indices of the core and cladding of a step index fiber and wanted to determine its
numerical aperture the equation would break down to:

.(4)
Another important fiber parameter is transmission or power loss. Signals that travel through fibers are
sometimes attenuated. This is due to a variety of things such as impurities in the fiber, scattering within

the fiber (variation in the uniformity of the fiber) and micro bending [4], in which there are radiation
losses because of small sharp bends that may occur in the fiber.
(5)

Equation 5 represents the transmitted power through the fiber [1]. Where P0 is the power into the fiber,
L is the length of the fiber and is the attenuation constant, commonly referred to as fiber loss. Typical
fiber loss is measured in units of decibels per kilometer (dB/km) using the relation:

.(6)
where dB is the loss in decibels [1].
Fiber loss is a function of frequency which means that fibers will have greater losses at some frequencies
than others. These losses are usually specified at certain wavelengths rather than at certain frequencies.
Another source of signal loss is at various locations where the light needs to re-enter or exit a fiber.
These locations would include coupling to the fiber (the source end), splicing two fibers together and at
the detector end of the fiber link. In order to minimize losses at these junctions, great care
must be taken with the fiber. Two of the most common forms of splicing are mechanical and fusion
splicing, where the fibers are actually fused together. The mechanical splice would consist of a
connector matting the two ends of the fiber. Typical real world connectors cause 1 dB of loss each [3].
These losses and other characteristics of the fiber can be measured with instruments such as an Optical
Power Meter or an Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer (OTDR).

5. References
[1] Agrawal, Govind P., Nonlinear Fiber Optics, (Academic Press, Inc., California, 1989).
[2] Allan, W. B., Fiber Optics: Theory and Practice, (Plenum Press, New York, 1973).
[3] Fiber Optics in the Broadcast Industry, Broadcast Engineering, Sept. 1990, p. 50.
[4] Lacy, Edward A., Fiber Optics, (Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1982).
[5] Safford, Edward L., and McCann, John A., Fiber Optics and Lasers: Handbook, (Tab Books, Inc.,
Pennsylvania, 1988).

6. Supplementary Information
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5. Experimental procedure
MIRROR-1

LASER

LENS

MIRROR-2

FIBER
OPTIC
COUPLER
Figure 8. Schematic of experiment

1. Set up the apparatus as shown in Fig. 8.

2. Note the input power of the 635 nm laser.
3. Put the camera in front of the laser. Record the image. Run the Matlab programme given and
obtain the pixel intensity distribution as a function of distance (basically along beam radius).
Comment on the nature of the beam profile.
4. Insert a multimode fibre in the fiber optic coupling optics mount.
5. Align the fibre so as to get maximum power at the output. Use the power meter to monitor the
coupling continuously. Find the coupling efficiency of the multimode fibre.
6. Put the camera at the fiber output. Repeat step 3.
7. Remove the multimode fibre and replace it with the single mode fibre.
8. Align the fiber carefully so as to get maximum output power. Repeat all steps as for the
multimode fiber. Find the coupling efficiency of the singlemode fibre.
9. Comment on the difference of intensity profile between single and multimode fibres.
10. Attach all the intensity profiles obtained in your lab notebook. Also, comment on the coupling
efficiency of single and multimode fibres.

HANDLE ALL OPTICS, ESPECIALLY THE OPTICAL FIBRES WITH EXTREME

CARE!!!

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