REF: Optics by Ajoy Ghatak

Chapter -27
TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
(a) For a ray incident on a denser medium (n
2
> n
1
), the
angle of refraction is less than the angle of incidence.
(a) For a ray incident on a rarer medium (n
2
< n
1
), the
angle of refraction is greater than the angle of incidence.
(a) The angle of incidence, for which the angle of refraction is 90
o
,
is known as the critical angle and is denoted by |
c
.
1
2
1
1
sin
c
n
n
| |

| |
= =
|
\ .
the angle of refraction |
2
= 90
o
. When the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle
(i.e., when |
1
> |
c
), there is no refracted ray and known as total internal reflection.

1

A (glass) fiber consists of a cylindrical central
core cladded by a material of slightly lower
refractive index.

Refractive index distribution for a step-index
fiber.



where n
1
and n
2
(< n
1
) represent, respectively,
the refractive indices of core and cladding and a
represents the radius of the core.
THE OPTICAL FIBER
1
2
n 0<r<a
n
n r>a

Light rays incident on the core-cladding interface at

an angle greater than the critical angle are trapped
inside the core of the fiber.
critical incident angle (
C
)
critical propagation angle (
C
)
for a ray entering the fiber, if the
angle of incidence (at the core-
cladding interface) is greater
than the critical angle |
c
, then
the ray will undergo TIR at that
interface.
1
2
1
sin
c
n
n
| |

| |
> =
|
\ .
Or u should be less than u
c
:
1
2
1
cos
c
n
n
u u

| |
< =
|
\ .
all the energy in the ray is reflected back to the core.
The ray then reaches to the other side of the core and will
meet the cladding on the other side at an angle which
again causes TIR.
The ray is then reflected back across the previous side of
the core again.
Through multiple TIR, ray guided from one end to
another end of fibre with out losses.
(
C
=90-
C
)
There are two types of optical fibers depending on refractive index:
2. Graded or variable index fiber
core and cladding of an optical fiber are made of the same material
a type of glass called silica, they differ only in their refractive index.
The third layer cladding is applied in order
to protect the entire structure.
1. Step-index fibre
Optical fiber vs Copper
Fiber has these advantages compared with metal wires
Bandwidth more data per second
Longer distance
Faster
Lower loss
Immunity to crosstalk
Enhanced Safety
Increased Signal Security
Disadvantage
Optical fiber is more expensive per meter than copper
Optical fiber can not be join together as easily as copper cable.
requires training , expensive measurement equipment
2. Graded or variable index fiber
Graded index fibers do not have a constant refractive index in the
core but a decreasing core index n (r) with radial distance from
maximum value of at the axis to a constant value n
2
beyond the core
radius in cladding. The refractive index profile is given as:
-
b
b
r = 0
n( r )
( )
| |
1/ 2
1 0
1/ 2
2 0
1 2 ;
1 2 ;
g
c
r
n n for r a
a
n r
n n n for b r a

(
| |

= A s
(
|
= \ .
(

= A = > >

b: radius of the cladding

n
0
: max. value of the
refractive index along the
axis of core.
For g=1 index profile is
triangular; g=2 it is
parabolic; it is
that of a SI fiber.
g =
THE NUMERICAL APERTURE
Consider a ray which is incident on the entrance aperture of the fiber,
making an angle i with the axis. Assuming the outside medium to have a
refractive index n
0





ray has to suffer total internal reflection.
If the outside medium is air, i.e., n
0
= 1;
then the maximum value of sin i
for a ray to be guided is given by






2
1
2
2 2
1 2 1 2
2
0 1
sin ( cos )
1
o
n
n
n n n n
sin or, sin i
n n n
| u
u
= >
| |

< <
|
\ .
1
0
sin
sin
i n
n u
=
z
If the outside medium is air, i.e., n
0
= 1; and therefore the maximum value
of sin i for a ray to be guided is given by












Thus, if a cone of light is incident on one end of the fiber, it will be guided
through it provided the semi angle of the cone is less than i
m
(Acceptance
Angle)
2 2
1 2
. . sin
m
N A i n n = =
The quantity sin i
m
is known as the numerical aperture (NA) of
the fiber and is a measure of the light-gathering power of the
fiber.
Types of Fibers
On the basis of refractive index profile of the core and the way in which light signal
propagates down the core, the fibers are broadly divided into three categories.
2 2
1 2
. . sin
m
N A i n n = =
2 2
1 2
1 1
2
1
2 2
1 2 1 2
2
1 1
. . 2
, 1.
2
n n
N A n n
n
where is relative refractive index ,
n n n n
when
n n
A
A
A A

= =

= ~ <<
Numerical Aperture for Step Index Fiber
Numerical Aperture for graded Index Fiber
( )
2 2
1 2
1/2
2
2 2
0 0
1/2
2
0 2
,
.
1 2 1 2
1
In the graded index fiber for a parabolic profilethe numerical aperture is a function of
position across the core
NA n n
r
n n
a
r
=n 2
a
NA(r=
=
(

| |
= A A (
`
|
\ .
(
)

(
| |
A
( |
\ .

0
2
For a graded index fiber
0): numerical aperture at t
numerical aperture decrease
he centre of the fi
with increasing r
bre core (Axial NA).
NA=
and becomes
zero at r .
n
=a
A
Number of Modes and Cut-off Parameters of Fibers
The number of electromagnetic modes supported by an optical fiber is
described by dimensionless called V-number. It is also called normalized
frequency and is given by
Mathematically V- number is expressed as,
A large number of modes can propagate in a multimode fiber for a given value
of V. When V > total number of modes which the fiber will support is expressed
as,



2 2
1 2
( )
o o
d d
V n n or, V NA
t t

= ~
2
2
V
Number of Modes (N) ~
2 2
1 2
2
2.405
c
a
n n
t
=
When V 2.405 only one mode called fundamental mode can propagate
through the fiber. An optical that supported only one fundamental mode is
called a single mode fiber.
The wavelength at which the fiber becomes single mode is termed as the cut-off
wavelength c and for all wavelengths greater than the cutoff wavelength the
fiber is said to be single-mode . At cut-off condition V
cut-off
= 2.405 so that
When V increases above 2.405 the number of modes rise.
1/2
0
2
2 2.405 1
c
o
For GRIN
d
V n andV
g
t

A
| |
= = +
|
\ .
Numerical : Compute the maximum value of A ( relative
refractive index) and n
2
(cladding) of a single mode
fibre of core diameter 10 m and core refractive
index 1.5. The fibre is coupled to a light source with a
of 1.3m. V cut-off for single mode propagation is
2.405. Also calculate the acceptance angle.
2 2
1 2
2
1
2
n n
relative difference of index
n
A

=
A=0.0022
n
2
(cladding)=1.497
Acceptance angle = 5.71deg
Graded Index Fiber
In the graded index multimode fiber. The number of modes is expressed (provided
the number modes is more than 50) as.
2
0
;
2 2
g V
N
g
d
V NA
t

| |
~
|
+
\ .
=
Q3/Tut 4. A graded index fibre has a core diameter 40 m, NA = 0.21 and index
profile = 1.85. Compute the number of modes at operating wavelength of 1.3 m.
2
2
;
2 2
2
4
g V
N
g
For parabolic profile
V
N
o
| |
~
|
+
\ .
=
The reduction in amplitude (or power) and intensity of
a signal as it is guided through an optical fibre is
called attenuation.
Attenuation and Signal Losses in Optical Fibers
( )
( )
.
, ( )
out
Attenuation losses in optical fibers are generally measured in terms of the decibel dB
Due to attenuation the power output P at the end of 1 km of optical fibre drops to
some fraction say k of th ( ) , ,
in
e input power P that is

out in
2
out in
L L
out
out in
in
P k P
After 2 km P k P
P
Similarly after L km P =k P or, k
P
=
=
=
Attenuation coefficient
10log
10
log
10log
L
out
o
i
ut
i
n
n
Taking log of
k
both sides and then multip
where is the atte
ly by 10 gives power loss in dB as
P
Power Loss
nuation coefficient of the fiber in dB/km.
P
=
(dB) =10 log k L L
L P
P
o
o
o
= = =
|
/ dB km
|
|
\ .
10
log /
out
in
P
To indicate loss we introduce negative sign in the expression dB km
L P
o
| |
=
|
\ .
The reduction in amplitude (or power) and intensity of
a signal as it is guided through an optical fibre is
called attenuation.

The loss of optical power and decrease in signal
strength along a fibre are due to

Absorption losses
Rayleigh scattering losses
Waveguide scattering losses
bending losses,
connector loss, splice loss, loss at terminals etc.
Attenuation and Signal Losses in Optical Fibers
6/28/2013 19
Absorption losses
Attenuation and Signal Losses in Optical Fibers
Bending: Macrobending and Microbending losses
Attenuation and Signal Losses in Optical Fibers
Thus micro-bending is the loss caused by micro deformations of
the fiber axis.
Bending: Macrobending
Attenuation and Signal Losses in Optical Fibers
Thus macro-bending is the loss caused by the curvature of the
entire fiber axis
Direction of propagation
Curved Section:
this ray now exceeds critical angle,
enters cladding and is lost
Straight section :
All rays are bound
Other rays still do not
exceed critical angle and
remain bound
Scattering losses
Even a very small change in cores refractive index will be seen by a
traveling beam as an optical obstacle which will change the direction
of the original beam.
Attenuation and Signal Losses in Optical Fibers
The reduction in amplitude (or power) and intensity of a signal
as it is guided through an optical fibre is called attenuation.

A fibre with a lower attenuation will allow more power to
reach a receiver than with a higher attenuation. The loss of
optical power and decrease in signal strength along a fibre are
due to the absorption of light energy by the material of the
fibre, scattering of light due to impurities and imperfections
present in the fibre material. Loss of energy also occurs due to
small bumps or variation in the surface of the core.

Additional channel losses are: bending losses, connector loss,
splice loss, loss at terminals etc. All these phenomena
contribute to the degradation of the fibre transmission.