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1.1 Introduction
Optical fibers are long, thin strands of very pure glass about the
diameter of a human hair. They are arranged in bundles called optical
cables and used to transmit light signals over long distances.
Figure 6.2 Parts of a single optical fiber
Multi-mode fibers
have larger cores (about 2.5 x
10-3 inches or 62.5 microns in
diameter) and transmit infrared
Some optical fibers can be made from plastic. These fibers have a large
core (0.04 inches or 1 mm diameter) and transmit visible red light (wavelength =
650 nm) from LEDs.
Figure 6.5
When light passes from a medium with one index of refraction (m1)
to another medium with a lower index of refraction (m2), it bends or
refracts away from an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface (normal
line). As the angle of the beam through m1 becomes greater with respect
to the normal line, the refracted light through m2 bends further away from
the line.
At one particular angle (critical angle), the refracted light will not go
into m2, but instead will travel along the surface between the two media (sin
[critical angle] = n2/n1 where n1 and n2 are the indices of refraction [n1 is less
than n2]). If the beam through m1 is greater than the critical angle, then the
refracted beam will be reflected entirely back into m1 (total internal reflection),
even though m2 may be transparent (figure 6.6).
In physics, the critical angle is described with respect to the normal line.
In fiber optics, the critical angle is described with respect to the parallel axis
running down the middle of the fiber. Therefore, the fiber-optic critical angle =
(90 degrees - physics critical angle).
In an optical fiber,
the light travels through
the core (n1, high index of
refraction) by constantly
reflecting from the
cladding (n2, lower index
of refraction) because the
angle of the light is
always greater than the
critical angle. Light
reflects from the cladding
Figure 6.7 Total internal reflections in an optical fiber no matter what angle the
fiber itself gets bent at,
even if it's a full circle.
Because the cladding does not absorb any light from the core, the light
wave can travel great distances. However, some of the light signal degrades
within the fiber, mostly due to impurities in the glass. The extent that the signal
degrades depends upon the purity of the glass and the wavelength of the
transmitted light (for example, 850 nm = 60 to 75 percent/km; 1,300 nm = 50 to
60 percent/km; 1,550 nm is greater than 50 percent/km). Some premium optical
fibers show much less signal degradation -- less than 10 percent/km at 1,550 nm.
Figure 6.8
Attenuation
Several factors can cause attenuation, but it is generally categorized as
either intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic attenuation is caused by substances
inherently present in the fiber, whereas extrinsic attenuation is caused by
external forces such as bending.
Attenuation is the reducing of signal strength or light power over the
length of the light-carrying medium. Fiber attenuation is measured in decibels
per kilometer (dB/km).
Intrinsic Attenuation
Intrinsic attenuation results from materials inherent to the fiber. It is
caused by impurities in the glass during the manufacturing process. As precise
as manufacturing is, there is no way to eliminate all impurities. When a light
signal hits an impurity in the fiber, one of two things occurs: It scatters or it is
absorbed.
Extrinsic Attenuation
Extrinsic attenuation can be caused by two external mechanisms:
macrobending or microbending. Both cause a reduction of optical power. If a
bend is imposed on an optical fiber, strain is placed on the fiber along the region
that is bent. The bending strain affects the refractive index and the critical angle
of the light ray in that specific area. As a result, light traveling in the core can
refract out, and loss occurs.
Dispersion
Dispersion is the smearing or broadening of an optical signal that results
from many discrete wavelength components traveling at different rates (see
Figure 6.10). In digital transmission, dispersion limits the maximum data rate or
information-carrying capacity of a single-mode fiber-link. In analog
transmission, dispersion can cause a waveform to become significantly distorted
and can result in unacceptable levels of a composite second-order distortion
(CSO).
Cross-Phase Modulation
Cross-phase modulation (XPM) is a nonlinear effect that limits system
performance in wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) systems. XPM is the
phase modulation of a signal caused by an adjacent signal within the same fiber.
XPM is related to the combination (dispersion/effective area). CPM results from
the different carrier frequencies of independent channels, including the
associated phase shifts on one another.
Four-Wave Mixing
FWM can be compared to the intermodulation distortion in standard
electrical systems. When three wavelengths (λ1, λ 2, and λ 3) interact in a
nonlinear medium, they give rise to a fourth wavelength (λ 4), which is formed
by the scattering of the three incident photons, producing the fourth photon. This
effect is known as four-wave mixing (FWM) and is a fiber-optic characteristic
that affects WDM systems.
1.3 Materials Used for the Fabrication of Optic Fibers and Optic Cables
One may say that the differences between the above groups of materials
are taken into account when a method of fabrication is chosen. In other words a
fabrication technology can be used only if the materials have properties to allow
that technology.
Due to the large range of chemical compositions (between silica dioxide
and glasses), it is hard to establish the boundary between these two classes.
Some properties of silica dioxide materials and glasses are:
– both have an amorphous structure ;
– both are anisotropic ;
– they require a high temperature in processing ;
– they are stable and homogeneous after cooling.
Environmental Performance
While cable design and construction play key role in environmental
performance, optimum system performance requires the user to specify fiber
that will operate without undue loss from microbending.
Microbends are small-scale perturbations along the fiber axes, the
amplitude of which are on order of micrometers. These distorsions can cause
light to leak out of a fiber. Microbending may be induced at very cold
temperatures because the glass has a different coefficient of thermal expansion
from the coating and cabling materials. At low temperatures, the coating and
cable become more rigid and contract more than the glass. Consequently,
enough loads may be exerted on the glass to cause microbends. Coating fiber
ribbon and cabling materials are selected by manufacturers to minimize loss due
to microbending.
To ensure that a cabled fiber provides the best performance for a specific
application, it is important to work with an optical fiber cable supplier to specify
the fiber parameters just reviewed as well the geometric characteristics that
provide the consistency necessary for acceptable splicing and connectorizing.
As optical fiber move closer to the customer, where cable lengths are
shorter and cables have higher fiber counts, the need for joining fibers becomes
greater: splicing and connecting play a
critical role both in the cost of installation
and in system performance.
A splice is a device to connect one
fiber optic cable to another permanently. It
is the attribute of permanence that
distinguishes a splice from connectors.
The object of splicing and
connecting is to match, precisely, the core
of one optical fiber with that of another in
order to produce a smut channel through
which light signals can continue without
alteration and interruption. Figure 6.13 Connectors
There are two ways in which fibers are
joined:
– Splices, which form permanent
connections between fibers in the
system ;
– Connectors, which provide
remittable connections, typically at
termination points.
– Fusion Splicing
Fusion splicing provides a fast,
reliable, low-loss, fiber-to-fiber connection Figure 6.14 Splicer
by creating a homogenous joint between
the two fiber ends. The two fibers are
melted or fused together by heating the fiber ends typically using an electric arc.
Fusion splices provide the highest-quality joint with the lowest loss (in the range
of 0.04 dB to 0.1 dB) and are practically nonreflective.
– Mechanical Splicing
Mechanical splicing, is an alternative method of making a permanent
connection between fibers. In the past, the disadvantages of mechanical splicing
have been slightly higher losses, less-reliable performance, and a cost associated
with each splice. However, advances into the technology have significantly
improved its performance. System operators typically use mechanical splicing
for emergency restoration because it is fast, inexpensive, and easy.
There also exists Chemical Splicing . Chemical splicing shall only be
used for temporary joining of fiber optics (i.e., testing).
Glass optical fibers are almost always made from silica, but some other
materials, such as fluorozirconate, fluoroaluminate, and chalcogenide glasses,
are used for longer-wavelength infrared applications. Like other glasses, these
glasses have a refractive index of about 1.5. Typically the difference between
core and cladding is less than one percent.
Plastic optical fibers (POF) are commonly step-index multimode fibers
with a core diameter of 0.5 mm or larger. POF typically have higher attenuation
coefficients than glass fibers, 1 dB/m or higher, and this high attenuation limits
the range of POF-based systems.
There is a wide range of materials that can be used; the only condition
that must be respected is that these materials to ensure the optic properties and
the parameters required by the process of fabrication.
An important aspect that has great influence upon the performances of the
optic fiber is the presence of impurities in the material.
In the first stage, there is realized a rod made of glass having the desired
composition. This glass rod is named preform. In the second stage, this preform
is heated at 1800-2000˚C, in order to be drawn in fibers. This last stage of
drawing is almost identical in all the technologies based on chemical deposition.
It also has to be taken into account the fact that adding dopants, the
thermal dilation coefficient of the material will change. If the material of the
core has a dilation coefficient greater than the material of the cladding, then
during the cooling, the core will tend to extend and the cladding to compress.
The internal strains will have a variable repartition. They produce fissures in the
glass. That’s why it must be maintained a specific concentration of dopants, and
their type must be carefully chosen.
In order to realize the preform, in the chemical deposition phase, the
process starts with the component substances in liquid state. The deposition of
the layers will take place at 1500ºC, through vaporization. At the end the
preform looks like a tube made of successive layers of glass, which have
different composition, inorder to realize the profile of the desired refractive
index. The closing of the preform is made by heating it at 1900ºC; the section of
the tube lowers, and the hole disappears. Through this operation the glass won’t
fissure at cooling, and it is avoided the inclusion of impurities. A disadvantage
would be the evaporation of some part of the dopant oxide in the inner layers,
but it can be removed by doping in excess these layers.
External
oxidation in vapor
phase
This process
consists in the
deposition of glass
(obtained through the
same reactions like in
internal oxidation) on
the external surface of
a silicium rod. The
Figure 6.15 CVD process for making the preform concentration of
blank internal oxidation dopants is modified
after a layer is
deposed, and then it starts deposing the next layer. In this way it is obtained a
radial variation of the refractive index.
Vp Sf
(6.1)
Vf Sp
Where:
Vp is the speed of the preform;
Vf is the speed the fiber is drawn;
Sf is the cross section area of the fiber;
Sp is the cross section area of the preform.
From the point of view of the material used for the protection of the fiber,
this can be plastic material or synthetic resins. In the last years there has
developed a large palette of such materials, which basically must have the
following special characteristics:
– the deposed layer must have an uniform thickness, that means that it
has to be concentric with the optic fiber; if it isn’t there will appear
some internal strains, after cooling, strains that can lead to the
deformation of the optic fiber (it will curve it) ;
– the protection layer must be nonabrasive and has to maintain its
chemical and physical properties in time ;
– it has to present a quick bonding to the fiber ;
– must have a short solidification time ;
– the dilation coefficient of the protective substance has to be as
closed as possible to that of the glass in order to avoid the strains
that may result from the different work temperatures , strains that
could brake the fiber ;
– the protective material must be easy to be dissolved with some
special solvent, if there appears the need to correct the optic fiber.
The last operation to be done is the cooling of the protection layer. This
is done in a cylindrical oven, who maintains a controlled temperature, which
permits the evaporation of the solvent in the short time the fiber passes through
that oven.
The simpler and older type is a step index fiber, which is generally made
by doping high-purity fused silica glass (SiO2) with different concentrations of
materials like titanium, germanium, or boron.
The main characteristic of the step index fiber is that the index of
refraction (the ability of a material to bend light) is the same all across the core
of the fiber. Also there is a sharp decrease in refractive index at the core-
cladding interface so that the cladding is of a lower refractive index. The step-
index profile corresponds to a power-law index profile with the profile
parameter approaching infinity. The step-index profile is used in most single-
mode fibers and some multimode fibers.
The fact that the index of refraction is uniform within the core leads to
rays of light being propagated as shown below.
With all these different ray paths or modes of propagation, different rays
travel different distances, and take different amounts of time to transit the length
of a fiber. This being the case, if a short pulse of light is injected into a fiber, the
various rays emanating from that pulse will arrive at the other end of the fiber at
different times. The output pulse will be of longer duration than the input pulse.
This phenomenon is called “modal dispersion” (pulse spreading), and limits the
number of pulses per second that can be transmitted down a fiber and still be
recognizable as separate pulses at the other end. Therefore, this limits the bit rate
or bandwidth of a multimode fiber. For step index fibers, wherein no effort is
made to compensate for modal dispersion, the bandwidth is typically 20 to 30
MHz over a length of one kilometer of fiber, expressed as “MHz-km”.
n (r ) n 2 , r > a (6.6)
Where: r 2 x 2 y 2 , x and y being the transverse coordinates. The parameter p is
a characteristic of the doped profile.
For a step-index profile:
p for r < a
p 0 for r > a
If p = 2 the index profile is parabolic.
This design takes advantage of the phenomenon that light travels faster
in a low-index-of-refraction material than a high-index material.
If a short pulse of light is launched into the graded index fiber, it may
spread some of it, during its transit of the fiber, but much less than in the case of
a step index fiber. Therefore, multimode-graded index fibers have the ability to
transport pulses closer together without spreading into each other than do the
step index fibers. They can support a much higher bit rate or bandwidth. Typical
bandwidths of graded index fibers range from 200 MHz-km to well over 1 GHz-
km. The actual bandwidth depends on how well a particular fiber’s index profile
minimizes modal dispersion, and on the wavelength of light launched into the
fiber.
Mn = V2 / 2; (6.7)
V = [2πα / λ] * NA; (6.8)
The increasing use of optical fibers for light wave communications, local
area networks, or sensors, requires techniques for splicing and coupling. The
implementation of optical fibers depends to a large extent on the availability of
low cost connectors and devices in order to couple a single-mode fiber to
integrated optical components or to couple small sources (laser diode or LED) to
optical fibers. Major problems are difficulties in establishing and maintaining a
precise and critical alignment. This requires careful mechanical polishing of
waveguide ends. A further problem is the difference between diameters of the
two parts or between sections of two light spots (for example between a circular
fiber and a rectangular waveguide).
Multimode fiber
Large diameter optical fibers and fiber bundles are currently used in a
growing number of applications.
The fiber can support a large number of modes, so the electromagnetic
theory of energy launching into the optical fiber becomes very complicated. The
energy coupled to an optical multi-mode fiber can be calculated using
geometrical analysis. One must consider not only rays that cross the fiber axis
(meridian rays), but also those that never meet the axis along their path (skew
rays).
Single-mode fiber
Moreover, in transmitter modules, sensors or instruments, maximum
coupling efficiency of the semiconductor laser beam into a single-mode fiber
and a low optical feedback into the laser are required. There are several factors
that reduce the coupling efficiency of a laser diode to single-mode fiber coupling
arrangement. They are ellipticity of the laser diode light, differences in the field
shapes and the spot size mismatch of the fields. The laser diode has an elliptic
near field given by the function:
2 1/ 2 1 x2 y2
( x, y ) ( ) [ ] exp{[( 2 ) 2 ]} (6.14)
( x y )1/ 2 x y
with the assumption of Gaussian field distribution and x being the spot size in
the x-direction perpendicular to the junction plane and y - the spot size in the y
-direction parallel to the junction plane.
The optic fibers have a quite good mechanical resistance, but there exist
external factors that can diminish that resistance: strong torsions (with small
bending rays), chemical agents, and so on. In the communication systems, the
optic fibers can be plaited, in this way resulting optic cables. Optic cables can be
unifilar or multifilar.
In the last years there was a huge developing process of the optic cables.
There were realized unifiber connectors that have losses of radiation of the order
of a few tens of a dB. This made the technology of unifiber (or mono-fiber)
cables to impose in front of that of multi-fiber cables, especially in the
transmissions at long distances.
The multi-fiber cables remain very useful in sort distance transmissions,
in the internal cabling of ships, planes, generally in cases where the transmission
of pulses is less than a few Megabits/s.
The main properties an optic cable should have are presented below:
– high resistance at stretching ;
– resistance at water vapors ;
– thermal stability at work temperatures ;
– flexibility ;
– easy to be interconnected and installed ;
– low price and cheap maintenance.
Optical fibers have small cross sectional areas. Without protection, optical
fibers are fragile and can be broken. The optical cable structure protects optical
fibers from environmental damage. Cable structure includes buffers, strength
members, and jackets. Many factors influence the design of fiber optic cables.
The cable design relates to the cable's intended application.
Coatings and buffers protect the optical fiber from breakage and loss
caused by micro bends. During the fiber drawing process, the addition of a
primary coating protects the bare glass from abrasions and other surface
contaminants. For additional protection, manufacturers add a layer of buffer
material. The buffer material provides additional mechanical protection for the
fiber and helps preserve the fiber's inherent strength.
Manufacturers use a variety of techniques to buffer optical fibers. The
types of fiber buffers include:
a) tight-buffered;
b) loose-tube;
c) gel-filled loose-tube.
Because LDs require more complex circuitry than LEDs, fiber optic
transmitters using LDs are more expensive.
Some signal loss occurs when the light is transmitted through the fiber,
especially over long distances (more than a half mile, or about 1 km) such as
with undersea cables. Therefore, one or more optical regenerators are spliced
along the cable to boost the degraded light signals.
The output circuitry processes the amplified signal into a form suitable for
the interfacing circuitry. For digital receivers, this circuitry may include low-
pass filters and comparators. For analog receivers, this circuitry may also
include low-pass filters.
Thermal noise is the noise resulting from the random motion of electrons
in a conducting medium. Thermal noise arises from both the photodetector and
the load resistor. Amplifier noise also contributes to thermal noise. A reduction
in thermal noise is possible by increasing the value of the load resistor.
However, increasing the value of the load resistor to reduce thermal noise
reduces the receiver bandwidth. In APDs, the thermal noise is unaffected by the
internal carrier multiplication.