Optical Fiber

GIRISH M
A S S T. P R O F E S S O R
 BRIEF FLOW OF CHAPTER

1. Introduction
2. What are Optical Fibers?
3. Evolution of optical fiber
4. Structure of optical fiber
5. Workings principle of optical fiber
6. Classification of optical fiber
7. Optical fiber communication system
8. Advantages / Disadvantages of Optical fiber
9. Applications of Optical fiber
10. Conclusion
 EVOLUTION OF OPTICAL FIBER

• 1880 – Alexander Graham Bell

• 1930 – Patents on tubing
• 1950 – Patent for two-layer glass wave-guide
• 1960 – Laser first used as light source
• 1965 – High loss of light discovered
• 1970s – Refining of manufacturing process
• 1980s – OF technology becomes backbone of long
distance telephone networks in NA.
 WHAT IS OPTICAL FIBER?

• An optical fiber is a hair thin cylindrical fiber of glass or any

transparent dielectric medium.
• The fiber which are used for optical communication are wave
guides made of transparent dielectrics.
• Its function is to guide visible and infrared light over long
distances.
STRUCTURE OF OPTICAL FIBER
• Core – central tube of very thin size made up of optically transparent
dielectric medium and carries the light form transmitter to receiver.
The core diameter can vary from about 5um to 100 um.
• Cladding – outer optical material surrounding the core having
reflecting index lower than core. It helps to keep the light within the
core throughout the phenomena of total internal reflection.
• Buffer Coating – plastic coating that protects
the fiber made of silicon rubber. The typical diameter of fiber after
coating is 250-300 um.
 WORKING PRINCIPLE

Total Internal Reflection

• When a ray of light travels from a denser to a rarer medium

such that the angle of incidence is greater than the critical
angle, the ray reflects back into the same medium this
phenomena is called total internal reflection.
• In the optical fiber the rays undergo repeated total number of
reflections until it emerges out of the other end of the fiber,
even if the fiber is bent.
THE ARROW AND THE BENT PENCIL
TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION IN OPTICAL
FIBER
 CLASSIFICATION OF OPTICAL FIBER

• Optical fiber is classified into two categories based on :-

1) The number of modes, and
2) The refractive index
 On the basis of number of modes:-
on the basis of number of modes of propagation the optical
fiber are classified into two types:
(i) Single mode fiber (SMF) and
(ii) Multi-mode fiber (MMF)
• Single-mode fibers – in single mode fiber only one mode
can propagate through the fiber. This type of fiber has small
core diameter(5um) and high cladding diameter(70um) and
the difference between the refractive index of core and
cladding is very small. The light is passed through the single
mode fiber through laser diode.
 MULTIMODE
FIBERS

• Multi mode fiber allows a large number of modes for the light ray
travelling through it.
• The core diameter is (40um) and that of cladding is(70um)
• The relative refractive index difference is also larger than single mode
fiber.
• There is signal degradation due to multimode dispersion.
• They are not suitable for long distance communication due to large
dispersion and attenuation of the signal.
REFRACTION AT A
PLANE SURFACE
 Refraction
Refraction is the changing direction of light
when it goes into a material of different
density
 ON THE BASIS OF REFRACTIVE INDEX

• There are two types of optical fiber:-

• (i) Step-index optical fiber
• (ii) Graded-index optical fiber

• Step
 STEP INDEX FIBER

• The refractive index of core is constant

• The refractive index of cladding is also constant
• The light rays propagate through it in the form of meridional rays
which cross the fiber axis during every reflection at the core cladding
boundary.
 GRADED INDEX FIBER

• In this type of fiber core has a non uniform refractive index that
gradually decrease from the centre towards the core cladding
interface.
• The cladding has a uniform refractive index.
• The light rays propagate through it in the form of skew rays or helical
rays. They do not cross the fiber axis at any time.
HOW OPTICAL FIBER’S ARE MADE??

• Three Steps are Involved in the manufacturing of the optical

fiber which are given below:-

-Making a Preform Glass Cylinder

-Drawing the Fiber’s from the preform
-Testing the Fiber
 OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Electrical
Information source Optical fiber Optical Electrical
Optical source Destination
source cable detector receive
• Information source- it provides an electrical signal to a
transmitter comprising an electrical stage.
• Electrical transmitter- It drives an optical source to give an
modulation of the light wave carrier.
• Optical source- It provides the electrical-optical conversion .It
may be a semiconductor laser or an LED.
• Optical cable: It serves as transmission medium.
• Optical detector: It is responsible for optical to electrical
conversion of data and hence responsible for demodulation of
the optical carrier. It may be a photodiodes, phototransistor,
and photoconductors.
• Electrical receiver: It is used for electrical interfacing at the
receiver end of the optical link and to perform the signal
processing electrically.
• Destination: It is the final point at which we receive the
information in the form of electrical signal.
 ATTENUATION

• Attenuation is the loss of the optical power.

• Attenuation in optical fiber take place due to elements like
coupler, splices, connector and fiber itself.
• A fiber lower attenuation will allow more power to reach a
receiver than with a higher attenuation.
• Attenuation may be categorised as –
(i) Intrinsic
(ii) Extrinsic
 FACTOR CAUSING ATTENUATION IN FIBER

• Fig. shows the factor affecting the attenuation in fiber-

Attenuation

Extrinsic
Intrinsic

Macrobending
Absorption Scattering Microbending
 VARIATION OF SPECIFIC
ATTENUATION WITH WAVELENGTH
 ATTENUATION & WAVELENGTH
• The specific attenuation ( power loss in dB per
unit length ) actually depends on the
wavelength of the radiation travelling along
the optic fibre
• The graph shows minima at 1310nm and
1550nm, which implies that these are desirable
wavelengths for optimal transmission
• These are infra red wavelengths
 ADVANTAGE OF OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION

1) The life of fiber is longer than copper wire

2) Handling and installation costs of optical fiber is very
nominal
3) It is unaffected with electromagnetic interference
4) Attenuation in optical fiber is lower than coaxial cable or
twisted pair.
5) There is no necessity of additional equipment for protecting
against grounding and voltage problems.
6) As it does not radiates energy any antenna or detector cannot
detects it hence provides signal security
 DISADVANTAGE

1) Highly skilled staff would be required for maintenance

2) Only point to point working is possible on optical fiber
3) Precise and costly instruments would be required
4) Costly if under utilized.
5) Accept unipolar codes only.
6) Jointing of fiber and splicing is also time consuming.
 APPLICATIONS
• Optical fiber have wider range of application in
almost all field, some are been specified below

• In telecommunication field
• In space applications
• Broadband applications
• Computer applications industrial applications
• Mining applications
• In medical applications
• In military applications etc.
• Optical fiber have wider range of application in almost all field, i.e. in medical,
electronics, military etc .some are been specified below

• Medical

• Military

• Electronics

IBM microprocessors
 THE ENDOSCOPE

There are two optical fibres

One for light, to illuminate the

inside of the patient

One for a camera to send the

images back to the doctor.
Key hole surgery
THANK YOU