Optical communication and fibers

‫תקשורת אופטית וסיבים‬

Prepared by: Prof. Anatoly Patlakh

1
 Chapter 8

Optical Fiber Joining & Passive

Components

Prepared by:
Prof. Anatoly Patlakh 2
 ‫תוכן ההרצאה‬
8. Optical fiber joining and passive
components
8.1. Fiber joining
8.1.1. Fiber connection misalignment loss
- Reflection loss
- Separation loss
- Offset loss
- Angular loss
8.1.2. Fiber splicing
- Fiber preparation
- Mechanical splice
- Fusion splice 3
 ‫תוכן ההרצאה‬
8.1.3. Fiber connectors
8.2. Fiber components
8.2.1. Coupler/Splitter
8.2.2. Combiner
8.2.3. Isolator and circulator
8.2.8. Multiplexer / Demultiplexer

4
Fiber Joining

5
Losses in Fiber Splices/Connections
• Extrinsic—caused by joining method but unrelated to fiber
properties
• Intrinsic—caused by some inherent property of the fiber

6
 Extrinsic Losses
• Longitudinal misalignment
• Some light not within NA
• Endfaces form Fabry-Perot interferometer
• Lateral misalignment
• 2.8 microns ~ 1 db loss
• Ends not square
• Surfaces cannot be joined closely
• Angular misalignment
• Losses due to NA
• 2o ~ 1 db
• Fiber end rough or irregular
• Scattering
• No close contact

7
 Intrinsic Losses
• Concentricity
• Axes of core and fiber differ
• Greater for SM
• Core shape
• Not problem for MM
• For SM, causes fiber to be birefringent
• Different RIs for different
polarizations
• Leads to PMD
• Core diameter
• Losses traveling from large to small
diameter
• Cladding diameter
• If diameters differ, cores cannot be
aligned
• NA and Refractive Index
• Some light reflected if these differ

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9
Connectors and Splices

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 Fiber Connection and Splicing
• Problem of splicing and joining fibers
• Core is very small
• Any irregularity can lead to significant loss of power or complete failure
• Light is not like electricity
• Travels in waveguide and is a guided wave
• Requirements for good connection
• Precisely square cuts
• Ends polished flat
• Ends butted together
• Nearly exact matchup

11
Splicing: Fiber Geometry Parameters
• Always necessary to splice fiber
• 3 parameters are most important to making good splices
• Cladding diameter tolerance
• Must be tight so that cores meet
• Typical spec is 128 mm + 1.0 mm, removes this as problem
• Core/cladding concentricity
• Must be tight so that cores meet
• Fiber curl
• Must be minimal so that cores meet

12
Fiber Geometry Parameters (continued)

13
Fiber Preparation
Stripping

14
Fiber Preparation
Cleaving

15
Mechanical Splices

16
Mechanical Splices

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 Mechanical Splicing
• Mechanically aligns fibers
• Contains index-matching gel to transmit light
• Equipment cost is low
• Per-splice cost is high
• Quality of splice varies, but better than connectors
• Fiber alignment can be tuned using a Visual Fault Locator

18
 Fusion Splicing

• Melts the fibers together to form a continuous fiber

• Expensive machine
• Strongest and best join for single-mode fiber
• May lower bandwidth of multimode fiber

19
 Fusion Splicing
• After cutting and polishing, ends are butted and then fused by heat
• Requires high temperature
• Can yield losses as low as 0.08db

20
 Steps in Fusion Splicing
• Strip primary coating on each fiber
• Cleave ends square
• Position ends a few mm from each other and clamp
• Align ends and bring closer together
• Electric arc started and melts glass, joining fibers

21
Steps in Fusion Splicing

22
Fusion Splicing

23
Fusion Splicing

24
Fiber Connectors

25
Optical Fiber Connectors
• Today’s most common interconnection device
• Not fitted in field, as equipment expensive ($100K) and
process difficult
• Early connectors were poor
• Latest generation much better
• Components
• Ferrule: long thin cylinder for alignment
• Connector body: holds ferrule
• Cable attachment mechanism: holds cable in body
• Coupling device: where cables mate
• Fiber optic cables generally do not use male/female
connection method common for electronic cables

26
 Optical Connector Performance
Insertion loss
–Optical power loss caused by inserting an
optical component such as a fiber, connector,
or splice into an optical path.
–Most severe at connections, caused by Core
Misalignment.
–Difference between couplings is mainly the
Sleeve Material and installation method

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Fiber Connector

28
Purely mechanical connectors

Source: Goff

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Polishing Types

UPC

30
Polishing Types (continued)

31
 Connector Evolution

Parameter/ Feature 1st Generation 2nd Generation 3rd Generation 4th Generation
Coupling Method Threaded Bayonet Push-Pull Push-Pull
Ferrule Material Steel, Brass Steel, Ceramic Ceramic, Plastic Ceramic, Plastic

Alignment Sleeve Often Loose Captive Captive Captive

Beryllium, Copper, Beryllium, Copper,

Sleeve Material Plastic Beryllium, Copper
Ceramic Ceramic

Body Material Metal Metal, Plastic Metal, Plastic Plastic

Size Large Large Moderate Small
Rotation Prevention No Yes Yes Yes
Repeatability Poor Good Very Good Excellent
Installation Ease Poor Good Very Good Excellent
Insertion Loss High Moderate Low Low
Backreflection Not Addressed Moderate Low Low
Cost High Moderate Low Low
Multimode Use Very Good Very Good Very Good Excellent
Single-mode Use Unusable Good Very Good Excellent
Example SMA 906 STTM SC LC

Source: Goff
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Commonly Used Fiber Optic Connectors

CONNECTOR INSERTION REPEATABILITY FIBER TYPE APPLICATIONS

LOSS
BICONIC
0.60-1.00 dB 0.20 dB SM, MM Telecommunications

D4

0.20-0.50 dB 0.20 dB SM, MM Telecommunications

EC/RACE
0.10-0.30 dB 0.10 dB SM High-speed Datacom

ESCON

0.20-0.70 dB 0.20 dB MM Fiber Optic Networks

FC
Datacom
0.50-1.00 dB 0.20 dB SM, MM Telecommunications

FDDI
0.20-0.70 dB 0.20 dB SM, MM Fiber Optic Networks

HMS-10

0.10-0.30 dB 0.10 dB SM Test Equipment

33 Source: Goff; Fotec

 LC
0. 15 dB (SM) 0.2 dB SM, MM High-density Interconnects

0.10 dB (MM)
MT ARRAY
0.30-1.00 dB 0.25 dB SM, MM High-density Interconnects

SC
0.20-0.45 dB 0.10 dB SM, MM Telecommunications

SC DUPLEX 0.2-0.45 dB 0.10 dB SM, MM Datacom

SMA 0.40-0.80 dB 0.30 dB MM Military

ST 0.40 dB (SM) 0.40 dB (SM) SM, MM Campus, Security, Military (Navy)

0.50 dB (MM) 0.20 dB (MM)

MT-RJ

3M Volition

Panduit Opti-Jack

Siecor/IBM SC-DC or SC-QC

34 Source: Goff; Fotec

Connectors

35
Competing Connector Types

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Rigid Ferrule Connectors

• 2.8 mm ferrule
•ST

•SC

•FC
• Images from thefoa.org (link Ch 6d)

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 Rigid Ferrule Connectors

• 1.28 mm ferrule
• Small Form Factor
•LC

•MU

•LX-8
• Images from thefoa.org (link Ch 6d)

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Multi-fiber Connector Family

39
Choosing Fiber Connectors

–Mechanical and Optical Performance

–Compatibility
–Easy of installation
–Cost
–Size
–Full product offering
–Availability

40
Fiber Optic Connector Selection Guide

Connector Fiber Generation Typ. Insertion Loss Cost

Type Type (db) MM SM
ST SM, MM 2 0.20-0.60 $2.80-$6.35 $6.95-$11.85

SC SM, MM 3 0.15-0.30, 0.20-0.30 $6.00-$9.45 $8.35-$13.95

D4 SM, MM 2 0.30 $11.00-12.95

Biconic SM, MM 2 0.60 $9.35-$12.60 $21.95-$34.40

SMA MM 1 0.60-0.80 $3.50-$6.50 N/A

FC SM, MM 2 0.20-0.50 $3.75-$8.95 $8.40-$16.00

ESCON MM 3 0.15 $15.00 N/A

FDDI MM 3 0.60 $16.20 N/A

LC SM, MM 4 0.15, 0.10 N/A

MT SM, MM 4 0.30-1.00 N/A

MT-RJ 4

3M Volition SM, MM 4

Panduit Opti- 4
Jack

SC-DC/ SC-QC 4

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Connector Preparation

42
Fiber Connectors

43
Optical Fiber Components

44
 Splitters and Couplers
• Splitters: split optical signals into multiple paths
• Couplers: combine and split optical signals (are also used to tap off a
small portion of the power for monitoring)
• Commercially available
•1x2
•2x2
•1x8
•1x8
Optical Fiber Coupler/Splitters

46
 Important Characteristics
• Return loss
• Optical devices reflect some of incoming signal
• Can vary from near zero to near 100%
• Amount of power reflected back is return loss, in db
• Insertion loss
• Total amount of signal lost in transit through the
device to all causes
• Excess loss
• Loss over and above theoretical minimum
• No device is perfect

47
Reciprocity Principle
• Applies to optical couplers and similar devices
• States that all such passive devices work in both directions
symmetrically
Port 1 Port 2 Port 2

Port 1
Port 3
Port 8 Port 3

• Light entering Port 1 splits equally into Ports 2 and 3 for 3 db

coupler
• Light entering port 2 will split equally into Ports 1 and 8
• For Y splitter, light entering Port 1 splits equally into Ports 2 and 3
• But light coming into Port 2 exits port 1 attenuated by 80% (3
db)
• Signals can be combined by Y coupler, but each loses 80% power

48
Fabrication Methods
• Fused taper
• Two single mode fibers put in contact, heated, and drawn
• Both core and cladding are made thinner
• Difficult to control with great precision

49 Source: Dutton
Fabrication Methods (continued)
• Twin core
• Build fibers with two cores instead of one
• Can be done with great precision
• Difficulty and expense of coupling to regular fiber very high
• Polishing and etching
• File down edges of two fibers, put into contact
• Relatively precise but more expensive than fused taper
• Planar waveguide
• Synthesize using planar waveguide technology
• Readily done, but difficult to couple to fiber

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Multiple-Way Splitters
• Can combine (cascade) splitters to achieve n-way splitting
• Loss of 3 db per step
• 8 way coupler has same signal on each output port, attenuated by 9 db

Source: Dutton
51
Asymmetric Couplers and Taps
• If only a small part of light signal split off, coupler is called a “tap”
• Typical ratio: 99% to 1%
• 99:1 coupler or 1% tap
• Used to monitor light output and control lasers
• Simple couplers cannot combine light of same wavelength from two
fibers and put all of it onto one
• Impossible by laws of physics
• With different wavelengths this can be done using asymmetric couplers
• Resonant couplers with different parameters for each fiber

52
Star Couplers
• Types
• Star
• All inputs mixed, available on all outputs
• Reflective
• Input on any fiber, output split equally among all

53 Source: Dutton
Star Couplers: Construction

Source: Dutton
54
Star Coupler: Data Sheet

Source: Hua Eng Wire & Cable Co.

55
Couplers: Construction

56
Wavelength Selective Couplers
(Combiner) and Splitters
• Chose length carefully to either combine or split signals

Source: Dutton
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Isolators
• One way valves for light
• Optical analogue of diode
• Needed to prevent reflections
• Not so easy to make as electrical diodes
• Isolator using Faraday effect
• Requires material to be put into strong magnetic field
• Asymmetric rotation of polarization depending on
• Incidence
• Magnetic field strength
• Length

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Isolators (continued)

Source: Dutton

65
Circulators
• Designed to control flow of light
• Have many different applications
• Basic function

Source: Dutton

66
Circulators (continued)
Port 2
Port 1

Port 3 Port 8

67
Circulators (continued)

68
Circulators - Data Sheet

http://www.fiteltech.com/datasheets/OpticalCirculatorCband.pdf

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FBGs Used as Filters

• Because FBGs block light, must be used together with circulator to

obtain filtering action

Source: Dutton

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Wavelength Selection

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Multiplexer/Demultiplexer
• Deposit a series of dielectric filters of different thicknesses instead
of just one
• As light bounces around inside, different wavelengths picked off

Source: Dutton

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Wavelength Selection (continued)
• Devices tend to be costly because of very high precision required
• Large number of closely spaced wavelengths can be separated

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Polarizing Devices
• Allow control over polarization of light beams
• Usually necessary to split signal into orthogonally polarized components
• Common devices
• Beamsplitter prisms
• Birefringent materials
• Other times need to change polarization
• Fiber loop polarization controllers
• Fiber squeezer polarization controllers

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Splitting Beams into Orthogonal components
• Beamsplitter prisms

• Birefringent materials,
e.g. Calcite and Quartz

75
Source: Dutton
Modifying Polarization
• Fiber loop controller
• Receives light in any polarization and converts it to any other
• Looping introduces birefringence in fiber
• Two or more loops can shift polarization desired amount
• Diameter ~ 780 mm

76 Source: Dutton
 Modifying polarization (continued)

Can also be done with squeezer

Source: Dutton

77