School of Electrical

Engineering and computing

Department of Electronics and
Communication Engineering
Optics and Optical
Communications

By

BY
Dr. Demise Jobir
4/2/2024
1

Optics and Optical Communications

 Chapter 2
Principles of Fiber Optics
Communications and
Characteristics

By

BEKELE TESEMA
 Chapter 2: Principles of Fiber Optics and
Characteristics
2.1 Optical Ray and optical Transmission
2.1.1 Reflection
2.1.2. Refraction
2.2 Light Propagation in Fiber optics
2.3 Characteristics of fiber
2.4 Total Internal Reflection
2.5 Acceptance Angle
2.6 Numerical Aperture
2.7 The V-Number
2.8 Types of Optical Fibers
2.8.1 Multimode Fibers
2.8.2 Single Mode Fibers
2. 1 Optical Ray and optical Transmission
• 2.1.1 Reflection
Regular reflection is when light bounces off a smooth surface. Each
ray of light still obeys the law of reflection.
• The Law of Reflection:
1. The incident ray, the reflected ray, and
the normal to the surface all lie in the same
plane, and
1. the angle of reflection θr equals the angle
of incidence θi:  = 
i r

•There are two kinds of reflection, namely Regular or Specular

reflection and Irregular or diffused reflection.
•Regular or Specular reflection occurs at a very smooth surface.
•Our primary concern is with specular reflection.
Diffuse Reflection
Diffuse reflection is when light bounces off a non-smooth surface. Each
ray of light still obeys the law of reflection, but because the surface is not
smooth, the normal can point in a different for every ray. If many light
rays strike a non-smooth surface, they could be reflected in many
different directions. It shows how we can see objects even when it seems
the light shining upon it should not reflect in the direction of our eyes.
2.1.2. Refraction
• Light bends/refracts when it changes speed. This
usually happens when the light travels from one
medium to the next.
• Figure below shows three important cases:
✓ If nb > na, the refracted ray is bent toward the normal.
✓ If nb < na, the refracted ray is bent away from the normal.
✓ A ray oriented along the normal never bends.
i) Law of refraction

A refracted ray lies in the plane of

incidence and has an angle θ2 of
refraction that is related to the
angle of incidence θ1 b: Snell’s law
states:

the symbols n1 and n2 are dimensionless

constant, called the index of refraction

c
ni =
vi
 ii) Reflection & Refraction
At an interface between two media, both reflection and refraction can
occur. The angles of incidence, reflection, and refraction are all measured
with respect to the normal. The angles of incidence and reflection are
always the same. If light speeds up upon entering a new medium, the angle
of refraction, r , will be greater than the angle of incidence, as depicted on
the left. If the light slows down in the new medium, r will be less than
the angle of incidence, as shown on the right.

r
normal

normal
r
 iii) Speed of Light and Refraction
➢ As you have already learned, light is extremely fast, about
3  108 m/s in a vacuum.
➢ The refractive index for vacuum and air as 1.0 for water it is 1.3 and
for glass refractive index is 1.5.

➢ Light, however, is slowed down by the presence of matter. The extent

to which this occurs depends on what the light is traveling through.
Light travels at about 3/4 of its vacuum speed (0.75 c ) in water and
about 2/3 its vacuum speed (0.67 c ) in glass.
o The reason for this slowing is because when light strikes an atom it
must interact with its electron cloud.
o If light travels from one medium to another, and if the speeds in these
media differ, then light is subject to refraction (a changing of
direction at the interface).
 2.2 . Light Propagation in fiber optics
▪ One can think of light as rays propagating in straight lines. An optical
fiber is essentially a waveguide for light.

▪ The ray theory provides a useful and clear starting point for analysis
of light propagation in optical fibers.

▪ Light rays with a small angle relative to the axis of the fiber remain
contained within the fiber core due to total internal reflection.

▪ It consists of a core and cladding that surrounds the core

▪ The index of refraction of the cladding is less than that of the core
▪ Light is kept in the core by the phenomenon of total internal
reflection which causes the fiber to act as a waveguide
▪ A light-emitting diode (LED) or laser diode (LD) can be used for the
source
❖ Fiber Optic Cable consists of four parts. Core Cladding
1. Core
2. Cladding
3. Buffer
4. Jacket
Coating
Core:
▪ The core of a fiber cable is a cylinder of plastic that runs all along the fiber cable’s
length, and offers protection by cladding.
➢ The diameter of the core depends on the application used.
➢ Due to internal reflection, the light travelling within the core reflects from the core,
the cladding boundary.
➢ The core cross section needs to be a circular one for most of the applications.

➢ The core carries the light signals

Cladding
❖ Cladding is an outer optical material that protects the core.
➢ The main function of the cladding is that it reflects the light back
into the core.
➢ When light enters through the core into the cladding(less dense
material), it changes its angle, and then reflects back to the core.
➢ The cladding keeps the light in the core

Buffer
The main function of the buffer is to protect the fiber from damage and
thousands of optical fibers arranged in hundreds of optical cables.
➢ These bundles are protected by the cable’s outer covering that is
called jacket.
Jacket
❖Fiber has little mechanical strength, so it must be
enclosed in a protective jacket
❖Fiber optic cable’s jackets are available in different colors
that can easily make us recognize the exact color of the
cable we are dealing with. The color yellow clearly
signifies a single mode cable, and orange color indicates
multimode.
2.3 Characteristics of Fiber
1. Wider bandwidth: The optical carrier frequency is in the range
10^13 Hz to 10^15Hz.
2. Low transmission loss: The fibers having a transmission loss of
0.002dB/km.
3. Dielectric waveguide: Optical fibers are made from silica which is
an electrical insulator. Therefore they do not pickup any
electromagnetic wave or any high current lightning.
4. Signal security: The transmitted signal through the fibers does not
radiate. The signal cannot be tapped from a Fiber in an easy
manner.
5. Small size and weight: Fiber optic cables are developed with small
radii, and they are flexible, compact and lightweight. The fiber
cables can be bent or twisted without damage.
2.4 Total Internal Reflection
❖Optical fibers work on the principle of total internal reflection.
➢If the light hits the interface at any angle larger than this critical
angle, it will not pass through to the second medium at all.
➢Instead, all of it will be reflected back into the first medium, a
process known as total internal reflection.
▪ The angle of refraction at the interface between two media is
governed by Snell’s law: n1 sin1 = n2 sin 2
▪ TIR is used in optical fibers to confine light in the core.

▪ The light must strike the boundary with an angle greater than the
critical angle.

▪ Only light that enters the fiber within a certain range of angles can
travel down the fiber without leaking out - acceptance cone of the
fiber.

▪ The size of this acceptance cone is a function of the refractive index

difference between the fiber's core and cladding.

▪ There is a maximum angle from the fiber axis at which light may
enter the fiber so that it will propagate in the core of the fiber - It
defines the numerical aperture of the fiber.
2.5 Acceptance Angle
❖ Acceptance angle is defined as the maximum angle with the axis
of optical fiber at which light may enter the fiber in order to be
propagated through and guided by the core.
❖ Acceptance Cone: The cone within which Optical Power may be
coupled into the bound Modes of an optical fiber.
The acceptance cone is derived by rotating the Acceptance Angle
about the fiber axis.
2.6 Numerical Aperture
▪ Numerical aperture is tells about light
gathering capacity of an optical fiber.
▪ It is defined as the Sine of half of the
angle of conical angle of the fiber;
acceptance angle.
Relative refractive index=
2.7 The V-Number
▪ An optical fiber is characterized by one more important parameter,
known as V-number which is more generally called normalized
frequency of the fiber. It is given by the relation

where a is the radius of the core and isthe free space wavelength.
The above equation can be written as
The Maximum possible Modes

Step index (SI) fiber

2.8Types of Optical Fibers
There are two types of optical fibers
1. Single-mode fiber (SMF)
2. Multi-mode fiber (MMF)
• Single-mode fiber
– Carries light pulses by laser along single path
• Multimode fiber
– Many pulses of light generated by LED travel at different angles

SM: core=8.3 cladding=125 µm

MM: core=50 or 62.5 cladding=125 µm

23
❖ Single-Mode Step Index Fiber
• The Core diameter is 8 to 9m.
• All the multiple-mode or multimode effects are
eliminated.
• However, pulse spreading remains.
• Bandwidth range 100GHz-Km.
• Index of refraction is same all across the core of the
fiber
❖ Multimode Step Index Fiber
• Core diameter range from 50-1000m
• Light propagate in many different ray paths, or modes,
hence the name multimode
• Index of refraction is same all across the core of the
fiber
• Bandwidth range 20-30 MHz

Lecture 2 25
❖ Multimode Graded Index Fiber
• The index of refraction across the core is gradually
changed from a maximum at the center to a minimum
near the edges, hence the name “Graded Index”
• Bandwidth ranges from 100MHz-Km to 1GHz-Km
Single Mode • Multimode
▪ 1. It supports only one mode of 1. It supports a large number of
propagation. modes propagation
▪ 2. It has very small core diameter of 2. It has larger core diameter of the
the order of 5 to 10 mm. order of 50 to 150 mm.

▪ 3. Transmission losses are very small. 3. Transmission losses are more.

▪ 4. It has higher bandwidth. 4. It has lower bandwidth.

5. It can work with LED also.
▪ 5. It requires laser diode as source of
6. It is used for short distance
light.
communication.
▪ 6. It is used for long distance
7. It can be step index or graded
▪ 7. It is by default step index fiber.
index fiber.
▪ 8. Mostly it is made up of glass. 8. It is made preferably from plastic.
❑ Step Index and Graded Index Fibers
▪ Both types of fiber are known as step-index fibers because the index
of refraction changes radically between the core and the cladding.
▪ Graded-index fiber is a compromise multimode fiber - but the index
of refraction gradually decreases away from the center of the core
▪ Graded-index fiber has less dispersion than a multimode step-index
fiber
Comparison between Step Index and Graded Index Fibers
Step Index Fiber
Graded Index Fiber
▪ 1. Refractive index is uniform for the
1. Refractive index of core is not
core and suddenly changes at core
uniform. It is maximum along the
cladding boundary.
axis of core and decreases towards
▪ 2. Pulse distortion is present.
core cladding boundary.
▪ 3. It can be single mode or 2. Pulse distortion is minimum.
multimode. 3. It is only multimode.
▪ 4. It can be manufactured easily. 4. Manufacturing is not easy.
▪ 5. It has high numerical aperture. 5. It has low numerical aperture.

▪ 6. Attenuation is higher. 6. Attenuation is lower.

7. It offers higher bandwidth.
▪ 7. It offers less bandwidth
8. Reflection losses are absent.
▪ 8. Reflection losses are present.
NUMERICAL
Thank You