Chapter Two

Optical Fibers
Two Parts:
I. Optical Fiber Structures and Light Guiding Principles
II. Optical Signal Attenuation and Dispersion
I. Optical Fiber Structures and Light Guiding
Principles
❖ Some of the questions that arise concerning optical fibers are
a. What is the structure of an optical fiber?
b. How does light propagate along a fiber?
c. Of what materials are fibers made?
d. How is the fiber fabricated?
e. How are fibers incorporated into cable structures?
f. What is the signal loss or attenuation mechanism in a fiber?
g. Why and to what degree does a signal get distorted as it travels
along a fiber?
2.1 Geometrical-Optics Description
(valid when core radius a >>λ ,wavelength of light )

(typically a ∼ 10
𝜇m and b = 62.5
𝜇m)

Refractive Index: n=c/v; Step-index fiber: Graded-index fiber:

abrupt index change the refractive index decreases
c=light speed in vacuum at the core-cladding gradually inside the core
v=light speed in material medium interface
A. Step-Index Fibers
- Snell’s law :

- critical angle 𝜙c:

𝜙 > 𝜙c: the ray undergoes
total internal reflection at
the core-cladding interface

- numerical aperture (NA):

Fig: Light confinement through total - pulse broadening (dispersion):

internal reflection in step-index
fibers. Rays for which 𝜙 < 𝜙c are NA: light-
refracted out of the core gathering
capacity of an - information-carrying capacity:
optical fiber
or bit rate distance product :
 B. Graded-Index Fibers (GRIN)
- Refractive index profile:

A parabolic-index fiber corresponds to 𝛼 = 2

- pulse broadening ( dispersion):

Fig: Ray trajectories in a graded-index

fiber
- bit rate-distance product:
 2.2 Wave Propagation
• Maxwell’s Equations: propagation of optical fields in fibers is governed by Maxwell’s equations.
• For a dielectric medium without free charges:

(2. 1)

• Frequency domain wave equation:

(2.2)

• In general, permittivity is complex:

• refractive index n and the absorption coefficient 𝛼 by the definition:
• The wave equation or Helmholtz equation:
(2.3)
 2.2.1 Fiber Modes
• An optical mode is a specific solution of the wave equation or Helmholtz equation
that satisfies all appropriate boundary conditions and has the property that its spatial
distribution does not change with propagation.
• Modes of optical fibers can be classified as guided modes, leaky modes, and
radiation modes
• To take advantage of the cylindrical symmetry, wave equation or Helmholtz equation
in written in the cylindrical coordinates 𝜌, 𝜙, and z as

(2.4)

where for a step-index fiber of core radius a, the refractive index n is of the form:

(2.5)
• Equation (2.4) is written for the axial component Ez of the electric field vector
and A similar equation can be written for Hz .
• It is customary to choose Ez and Hz as the independent components and obtain
E𝜌 , E𝜙 , H𝜌 , and H𝜙 in terms of them.
• Equation (2.4) is easily solved with the method of separation of variables by
writing Ez as

(2.6)

• By using Eq. (2.4) in Eq. (2.6), we obtain the following three ordinary
differential equations:

(2.7)

(2.8)

(2.9)
Modal Solutions of Equations (2.7) to (2.9)
Solutions of Equations (2.7) to (2.9):
• Equation (2.7) has two solutions of the form Z = exp(±i𝛽z), where 𝛽 has the
physical significance of the propagation constant.
• Similarly, Eq. (2. 8) has solutions Φ = exp(±im𝜙), but the constant
m is restricted to take only integer values because Ez must be periodic in 𝜙
with a period of 2𝜋.
• Equation (2. 9) is the well-known differential equation satisfied by the
Bessel functions:
(2.10)

where A, A′, C, and C′ are constants, Jm, Ym, Km, and Im are different kinds of
Bessel functions , and the parameters p and q are defined as
(2.11)
• Considerable simplification occurs when we use the boundary condition that F(𝜌)
for a guided mode should be finite at 𝜌 = 0 and decay to zero at 𝜌 = ∞.
• Since Ym(p𝜌) has a singularity at 𝜌 = 0, F(0) can remain finite only if A′ = 0.
• Similarly F(𝜌) vanishes at infinity only if C = 0.
′

• The general solution of Eq. (2. 4) is thus of the form

(2.12)

• The same method can be used to obtain Hz, which also satisfies Eq. (2.4). Indeed, the
solution is the same but with different constants B and D, that is,

(2.13)
• The other four components E𝜌 , E𝜙 , H𝜌 , and H𝜙 can be expressed in terms of Ez and
Hz by using Maxwell’s equations

(2.14)

(2.15)

(2.16)

(2.17)

• These equations can be used in the cladding region after replacing p2 by -q2.
• Equations (2.12) through (2.17) express the electromagnetic field in the core
and cladding regions of an optical fiber in terms of four constants A, B, C, and
D
• These constants are determined by applying the boundary condition that the
tangential components of E and H be continuous across the core cladding
interface
• By requiring the continuity of Ez, Hz, E𝜙, and H𝜙 at 𝜌 = a, we obtain a set of four
homogeneous equations satisfied by A, B, C, and D
• These equations have a nontrivial solution only if the determinant of the
coefficient matrix vanishes
• After considerable algebra, this condition leads us to the following eigenvalue
equation

(2.18)
• where a prime denotes differentiation with respect to the argument.
• The dimensionless parameter V is defined as
(2.19)

• It is called the normalized frequency (V ∝ 𝜔) or simply the V parameter.

• For a given set of the parameters, k0, a, n1, and n2, Eq. (2.18) can be solved
numerically to determine the propagation constant 𝛽 .
• In general, it has multiple solutions for each integer value of m.
• It is customary to enumerate these solutions in descending numerical order and denote
them by 𝛽mn for a given m (n = 1, 2, … .).
• Each 𝛽mn corresponds to one possible mode of propagation of an optical field
launched into the fiber.
• The spatial distribution of any mode does not change with propagation.
• In general, both Ez and Hz are nonzero (except for m = 0).
• For this reason, these modes are referred to as hybrid modes and are denoted by HEmn
or EHmn, depending on whether Hz or Ez dominates .
• In the special case, m = 0, HE0n and EH0n are also denoted by TE0n and TM0n,
respectively, as they correspond to the transverse-electric (Ez = 0) and transverse-
magnetic (Hz = 0) modes of propagation.
• A different notation LPmn is often used for weakly guiding fibers for which Ez is
nearly zero for all modes (LP stands for linearly polarized modes).
• A mode is uniquely determined by its propagation constant 𝛽
• It is useful to introduce the quantity n̄ = 𝛽/k0, called the mode index or effective index.
• n̄ has the physical significance that each fiber mode propagates with an effective
index n̄ whose value lies in the range n1 > n̄ > n2.
• A mode ceases to be guided when n̄ ≤ n2 . This can be understood by noting that the
optical field of guided modes decays exponentially inside the cladding layer as
(2.20)
• When n̄ ≤ n2, q2 ≤ 0 from Eq. (2.11), and the exponential decay does not occur. The
mode is said
to reach cutoff when q becomes zero or when n̄ = n2.
• From Eq. (2.11), pa = V when q = 0. It is useful to introduce a normalized
propagation constant b as
(2.21)
Fig: a plot of b as a function of the V parameter for several
low-order fiber modes
- A fiber with a large value of V
supports many modes.

- A rough estimate of the number of

modes for such a multimode fiber is
LP01 LP11
given by V 2 /2.

- However, the number of modes

decreases rapidly as V is reduced.

- a fiber with V = 5 supports seven

Cutoff, modes.
V=2.405
LP21 - Below a certain value of V, all
modes except the HE11 mode reach
LP02 cutoff. Such fibers support a single
mode and are called single-mode
fibers.
 2.2.2 Single-Mode Fibers
• Single-mode fibers support only the HE11 mode, also known as the
fundamental mode of the fiber.
• The fiber is designed such that all higher-order modes are cut off at the
operating wavelength.
• As seen in b-V Figure, the V parameter determines the number of modes
supported by a fiber and only the HE11 mode exists for V < 2.4 .

Single-Mode Condition :
• The single-mode condition is determined by the value of V at which the TE01 and TM01
modes reach cutoff
• The eigenvalue equations for these two modes can be obtained by setting
m = 0 in Eq. (2.18) and are given by

(2.22)
• A mode reaches cutoff when q = 0. Since pa = V when q = 0, the cutoff condition for
both modes is simply given by J0(V) = 0.
• The smallest value of V for which J0(V) = 0 is 2.405.
• A fiber designed such that V < 2.405 supports only the fundamental HE11 mode. This
is the single-mode condition.
• The mode index n̄ can be obtained by using Eq. (2.21) as
(2.23)

where b is estimated from b-V curve for the specific value of V for the fiber.
The analytic approximation becomes
(2.24)

is accurate to within 0.2% for V in the range of 1.5–2.5.

• The spatial distribution of the fundamental mode is obtained from Eqs. (2.12) through (2.17).
• The axial components Ez and Hz are quite small for Δ ≪ 1, i.e., the HE11 mode is almost linearly
polarized in weakly guiding fibers.
• It is also denoted as LP01 mode.
• One of the transverse components can be taken as zero for a linearly polarized mode. If we set
Ey = 0, the Ex component of the electric field for the HE11 mode is given by

(2.25)

where E0 is a constant related to the power carried by the mode

• The dominant component of the corresponding magnetic field is given by Hy = n2(𝜖0∕𝜇0)1∕2 Ex.
The same fiber supports another mode linearly polarized along the y axis.
• In this sense, a single-mode fiber supports two orthogonally polarized modes that are
degenerate and have the same mode index.
Reading Assignment (thoroughly with
mathematical formulation) on:
a. Field polarization ( linear, circular and elliptical polarization)
b. EM Modes
c. Bessel functions
d. Solution of second order partial differential equations
e. Fiber’s birefringence and spot size

Note: Unless we know the concepts in a to d, it is difficult to understand all

concepts and mathematical formulations in this chapter!!