Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

MODULE-2: LASERS AND OPTICAL FIBERS

Lasers: Introduction, characteristics of LASER and difference between laser light and
ordinary light. Concept of induced absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulated
emission. Expression for energy density in terms of Einstein’s coefficients and
discussion of results. Requisites of lasers. Condition for laser action. Construction and
working of He-Ne laser, Material processing with laser beam: Surface modification,
surface hardening, drilling, welding, cutting. Numerical Problems.
Optical fibers: Structure of optical fiber, working principle (TIR), Light propagation
mechanism - angle of acceptance, numerical aperture, Expression for numerical aperture,
Attenuation, and its mechanisms (qualitative). Applications of Optical Fibers - Fiber
Optic Displacement Sensor and Pressure sensor. Numerical Problems 08 hrs
Pre requisite: Properties of light
Self-learning: Difference between ordinary light and laser light, difference between pulse and
continuous laser, Total Internal Reflection & Propagation Mechanism (Optical Fibers)

CO2 Elucidate the working of He-Ne laser, types of optical fibers, reasons for the fiber
loss and their applications in engineering.

CO5 Identify and apply the appropriate analytic, numerical and other mathematical
tools necessary to solve physics and engineering problems.

Lecture Notes 1
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)

Fundamentals of Lasers:

Introduction:

LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The

first LASER was built by Theodore H Maiman in the year 1960.
Characteristics of a LASER beam
The LASER beam has the following characteristics:
 LASER beam is highly monochromatic.
 LASER beam is highly coherent.
 LASER beam is highly directional.
 LASER is a high intensity beam of light.

Production of laser light is a particular consequence of interaction of radiation with

matter. The interpretation of the interaction is done on the basis of ideas related to
energy levels of the concerned system from which light is derived.
For any matter, whether it is characterized by energy bands (matter in solid state)
or by discrete energy levels (matter in gas state), the energy quantization rules always
hold good.
Interaction of radiation with matter:

The working principle of laser is based on the phenomenon of interaction of

radiation with matter. To understand this interaction, consider a simple system may be
atom or molecule, consisting of two energy levels.

Radiation interacts with matter under appropriate conditions i.e.

 Frequency ( γ ) of the incident radiation should be equal to the energy gap
( Δ E) between which the transitions are taking place.
 One photon can interact with one atom/molecule.
There are three possible ways through which interaction of radiation and matter can take
place. They are

Lecture Notes 2
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

(1) Induced Absorption:

E2 (Excited State) ¿ E2

Incident
Absorption
Photon (h υ )

E1(Ground State) E1
Let E1 and E2 are the energy levels of an atom system. Assume that the atom is in
the lower energy level, which could be called as ground state. Let a photon of energy ΔE
(=E2-E1) be incident on the atom under which, the atom absorbs the photon. As a result,
its energy becomes E2 = E1+ ΔE . Hence, it is shown in the level E 2. In such a condition,
the atom is said to have made transition to the excited state. This is called as induced
absorption and it can be defined as: induced absorption is the absorption of an incident
photon by a system as a result of which the atom/molecule shifted from lower energy
state to higher state and can be represented as,
Atom + photon → Atom*
The rate of absorption depends on number photons in the incident radiation and
number of atoms in the ground state.
2. Spontaneous Emission:
¿ E2 (Excited State) E2

Emitted

Photon
¿

E1 (Ground State) E1

Spontaneous emission is the emission of a photon, when a system transits from a

higher energy state to a lower energy state without the aid of any external agency.
Consider an atom in the excited state. We know that for any system to attain the
least available energy state, the atom emits a photon of energy ΔE (=E2-E1) itself. Then
the energy of the atom becomes E1. This phenomenon is called spontaneous emission.

Lecture Notes 3
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

Two photons, which are emitted spontaneously by two atoms under identical conditions,
may not have any phase similarities and may not move in the same direction. Hence they
are incoherent. The process can be denoted as
Atom* → Atom + photon
The rate of emission depends on number of atoms available in the excited state only.

3. Stimulated emission:

Consider an atom in the excited state. Let a photon having energy ΔE equal to
E2-E1 interact with the atom by passing in the vicinity. Under such stimulation, the atom
emits a photon and transits to the lower energy state. The two photons travel in the same
¿ E2 (Excited State) E2

Incident photon Emitted photon

Incident photon
E1 (Ground State) E1
Before Collision After Collision

Direction, with same energy and phase, thus they are coherent. The process can be
represented as
Atom* + Photon Atom + (Photon + Photon)

This is kind of emission is responsible for laser action.

The rate of stimulated emission depends on number photons in the incident radiation
and number of atoms in the excited state.

Defn: The stimulated emission is the emission process, when an external photon of
suitable frequency interacts with an excited atom and forces to emit another photon of
the same frequency, in the same direction and in the same phase.

Einstein’s Co-efficients:

Planck’s Law: If a body can absorb radiation of certain frequency, then, when
temperature increases, it will also be able to emit a radiation of same frequency. Max
Planck gave a satisfactory theory to explain the blackbody spectrum.

According to Max Planck, if U ν is the energy density emitted by the blackbody

through radiation of frequency ν at a temperature T, then

Lecture Notes 4
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

[ ]
3
8 πhν 1
Uν= 3 hν/kT
c e −1

Boltzmann Factor:

The population of different energy states of any physical system are related to
each other, provided, the system is in thermal equilibrium. The relation is given by
Boltzmann factor. If we consider any two energy states E 1 and E2 with population N1 and
N2 respectively, and if E2> E1, then the Boltzmann factor is the ratio (N2/N1) given by
N 2 −( E 2−E 1 )/kT
=e
N1 Where k is Boltzmann’s constant
−( E 2−E 1 )/kT
Since E2> E1, hence e <1
Therefore N2< N1
Hence, for a system in thermodynamic equilibrium, it is mandatory that the population of
any higher state is always lesser than that in any of the lower states.

Thermodynamic Equilibrium: It is a state of system, in which the energy exchange due

to emission and absorption processes occur such that the population of each state remains
unaltered. i.e. the temperature of the quantum system must be constant.

Expression for Energy density in terms of Einstein’s Coefficients:

Einstein explored the basic mechanism involved in the interaction between radiation and
matter. He assumed that matter is in thermodynamic equilibrium with a black body
radiation field. Einstein coefficients give the probability associated with the absorption
and emission processes.

Consider two energy states E1 and E2 of a system of atoms.

Let N1 and N2 are called the number density of atoms in the states 1 and 2 with energy E 1
and E2.

Let U γ d γ be the energy of the radiation incident/unit volume of the system considering
only those radiations whose frequencies lie in the range ν and ν +d ν .

Let us consider the absorption, and the two emission processes case by case.

(i) Case of Induced Absorption:

In the case of induced absorption, an atom in the level E 1 can go to the level E2,
when it absorbs a suitable frequency of radiation.

The rate of absorption i.e. the number of absorptions per unit time, per unit
volume, depends on
a) the number of density of lower energy state (N1)
b) the energy density i.e. U γ i.e. Rate of absorption α N1U γ

Lecture Notes 5
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

E2 ¿ Excited State
N2
Incident Photon
Or Rate of absorption = B12N1U γ

N1
E1 Ground State
Where B12 is the constant of proportionality called Einstein co-efficient of induced
absorption.

(ii) Case of Spontaneous Emission:

hγ
In case of spontaneous emission, an atom undergoes
transition from higher energy to lower energy state
itself by emitting a photon. ¿
The rate of spontaneous emission is independent of energy density
of the incident radiation but it is proportional to the number of
density of in the higher energy state i.e. N2

Rate of spontaneous emission = A21N2

Where, A21 is the constant of proportionality called the Einstein’s coefficient of

spontaneous emission.

(ii) Case of Stimulated Emission:

hγ hγ

hγ
¿

The system requires an external photon of appropriate frequency to stimulate the atom for
the corresponding downward transition, and thereby cause emission of stimulated
photons.

The rate of stimulated emission is proportional to

a) the number density of the higher energy state i.e. N2
b) the energy density i.e. U γ
i.e. rate of stimulated emission α N2U γ
Or rate of stimulated emission = B21N2U γ
Where B21 is the constant of proportionality called the Einstein’s co-efficient of
stimulated emission.

At thermal equilibrium

Lecture Notes 6
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

The rate of absorption = Rate of spontaneous emission + Rate of stimulated

emission

B12N1 U γ = A21N2 + B21 N2U γ

Or U γ ( B12 N1 -B21 N2) = A21N2
A21 N 2
Uγ=
B12 N 1−B21 N 2
By rearranging the above equation, we get

[ ]
A 21 1
B21 B12 N 1
−1
B21 N 2
Uγ = . . . (5)

But, by Boltzmann’s law, we have

e
−( E 2−E 1
kT ) e
−( kT )
hν

N2 = N1 = N1

N1 hν

∴ N 2 = e kT

∴ Equation (5) becomes

[ ]
A 21 1
B21 B12 hν
e kT −1
B21
Uγ = ……………..(6)
According to Planck’s law, the equation for U γ

[ ]
3
8 πhν 1
Uγ= 3 hν/ kT
c e −1 ……..(7)
By comparing the equations (6) and (7), we have

A 21 8 πhν
3

B21 = c3
B12
And B21 = 1 or B21 = B12
It implies that the probability of induced absorption is equal to the probability of
stimulated emission. Because of the above identity, the subscripts could be dropped, and
A21 and B21 can be represented as A and B and equation (6) can be rewritten as

Lecture Notes 7
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

[ ]
A 1
B hν
kT
Uγ = e −1

Condition for Light Amplification:

At thermal equilibrium, the ratio of the stimulated to spontaneous transition is
generally small and the stimulated emission is negligible. The ration is given by

Stimulated . transitions B21 N 2 U γ B21

U
Spon tan eous. transitions = A 21 N 2 = A 21 γ (8)

The ration of stimulated to absorptions is given by

Stimulated .transitions B21 N 2 U γ N 2
Absorption .transitions = B21 N 1 U γ = N 1 ( ∵ B21 = B12) (9)

(i) The equation (8) suggests that in order to enhance the number of stimulated
transitions the radiation density U γ is to be made large.
(ii) The relation (9) indicates that stimulated emission will be larger than
absorption only when N2>N1.
When these conditions are fulfilled, the medium amplifies light passing through it.
3
A ❑ Rate of spontaneous emission 8 πhν
= c3
[Note: B❑ Rate of stimulat ed emission = It implies that Spontaneous
emission/Stimulated emission α (frequency)3. This is why it is difficult to achieve laser
action at higher frequency ranges such as X-rays.

The equation (8) suggests that in order to enhance the number of stimulated transitions
the radiation density U γ is to be made large. However, it will lead to more absorption
transitions. Hence, large photon density alone will not assure more stimulated emissions.
However, stimulated emission probability can be increase, if the lifetime of atoms at the
excited should be larger.]

Requisites of a Laser System:

1) An excitation source for pumping action. (The excitation source provides the
appropriate amount of energy for pumping the atoms to higher energy levels. The
energy input may be in the form of light energy, electrical energy, etc.)
2) An active medium which supports population inversion.
3) A laser cavity.

Lecture Notes 8
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

Pumping: The process of exciting the atoms from lower energy level to higher energy
level by supplying external source energy is called pumping or the process of producing
population inversion is known as pumping.

Optical pumping: Here the external source is Light – solid state laser. Ex: ruby laser

Electrical pumping: Here the external source is Electric field – Gas laser. Ex: He-Ne
laser.

Lasing: The process which leads to emission of stimulated photons after establishing the
population inversion is called lasing.

Active system: The system, in which the pumping and lasing actions occur, is called an
active system. The medium may be solid, liquid or a gas.

The efficiency of laser emission depends on the nature of the active medium and the
energy levels between which the laser action takes place.

Laser Cavity (Optical Resonator):

A laser device consists of an active medium bound between two reflecting mirrors called
laser cavity. The mirrors reflect the photons to and fro through the active medium. A
photon moving represents a light wave moving in the same direction.

The two mirrors along with the active medium form a cavity inside which two types of waves exist; one
type of waves moving to the right, and the other one to the left.
The two waves interfere constructively, if there is no phase difference between the two waves.
But, if the waves are out of phase, their interference becomes destructive.
To get the constructive interference, the distance between mirrors ‘L’ should be
λ
L=m 2 , where m is an integer > 0 and λ - wavelength of the laser light inside the medium. In such
cases, a standing wave pattern is established within the cavity and the cavity is said to be resonant at
wavelengths λ = 2L/m.

Lecture Notes 9
Siddaganga Institute of Technology Department of Physics

Lecture Notes 10
Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

Condition for Laser Action:

LASER action could be achieved through the conditions population inversion and meta-
stable state.
Population inversion:
In a normal condition, (the condition stipulated in the Boltzmann factor) there are more
number of atoms in the ground state than in the excited high energy states i.e. N 1> N2
(hence the probability of the absorption of photons is more than the stimulated emission).
However, by pumping technique, we can make that N 2>N1i.e. number of atoms in the
excited state is more than that of a specified lower energy state. This is called population
inversion.
“The condition where the number of atoms in the excited state exceeds that in the
lower state is called population inversion.”

Metastable State: It is one of the excited states in the system, in which, the atoms remain
there for a long period of about 10-3s (where as in the normal excited state, they remain
for an interval of 10-8s).
 This state helps in achieving the population inversion in the system. Once the
population inversion is achieved, the probability of stimulated emission becomes
predominant. In this case, the photons emitted are all identical in respect of
phase, wavelength and direction; grow to a large number which is the laser light.

Principle of producing Laser Light:

The stimulated emission produced by the active laser medium is repeatedly made to pass
through it using the external parallel mirrors of high reflectivity. The system containing
the laser medium between the mirrors is called laser cavity. Thus the radiation inside the
laser cavity builds up resulting in amplification of stimulated emission of radiation and
the laser light is coming out through partial reflecting mirror.

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

He-Ne Laser:

Construction:

Laser
(632.8nm)

It is a continuous, 4-level gas laser and is constructed in 1960 by Javan, Bennet and
Herriot.

The He-Ne laser consists of a long and narrow discharge tube made up of fused quartz.

The tube is filled with helium and neon with a pressure of 1 torr and 0.1 torr, i.e. number
of helium atoms are greater than neon atoms.

The flat quartz plates functioning as Brewster windows are fixed on either side of the
tube. { The Brewster’s window causes light returning from the outside mirrors back to
the cavity and oscillating normal to the plane of incidence, to be reflected away from the
cavity. Only the component oscillating parallel to the plane of incidence becomes
dominant and will sustain laser emission}.

The electrodes are inserted in the gas mixture and are connected to the radio frequency
power supply.

Two reflecting mirrors are fixed on either side of the tube and are coated by silver, such
that one of the mirrors is fully silvered and other is partially silvered.

The continuous laser beam is transmitted through the partially silvered mirror.

The Ne atom provides the actual energy levels between which the laser emission can
occur, hence, Ne is referred as active system. The purpose of He atoms is to help in
achieving the population inversion in the Ne atoms.

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

HELIUM NEON
21 S 3S
Meta Stable State collision
23 S
2S
Meta Stable State 6328Ao

11523Ao LASER

Absorption
2P
Excitation of He atoms
due to electron collision spontaneous
emission

1S Metastable
State
Ne Atoms return to
Ground state by N.R.T
due to Collision
with walls

Ground State Ground State

He – Ne energy level diagram

Working: When a high voltage is applied across the electrodes, fast moving electrons are
produced due to discharge in the gas. These free electrons are moving towards the
positive electrodes at that time they collide with the atoms in their path.

Since the number of He atoms more in the gas mixture, the collisions with the He atoms
occur in large number.

As a result the He atoms are excited to metastable states 21S or 23S of He system. This is
called I kind of collision and can be represented as

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

e1 + He He* + e2

where e1 and e2 – energies of the electrons before and after collision.

He and He* are the energy values of the helium atom in the ground and excited state.

When the helium atoms collide with the neon atoms in the ground state, because of close
E ≃E3 S E 3 ≃E2 S
coincidence in the energy values ( 21 S ; 2S ), resonant energy transfer takes
place from helium to neon atoms. As a result, the neon atoms get excited to 2S and 3S
levels, whereas the helium atoms return to the ground state. This is called 2nd kind of
collision and can be represented as
He* + Ne Ne* + He
Here, the states 3S and 2S are called as virtual metastable states because the energy
values of 3S and 2S of Ne are equal to the 2 1S and 23S metastable state of He. Thus
population inversion built up between 2S and 3S levels with the lower energy level 2p
which leads the laser transitions. [3S to 2p transition gives laser light of wavelength
6328A and 2S and 2p transition yields laser light of wavelength 11500A]

Following the laser transition, the atoms from 2p level undergo spontaneous transition to
1S level. [In fact, the depopulation of 2p state promotes the population invesion condition
for the higher energy levels i.e. 2S and 3S].

But 1S level is a metastable state of Ne atom, hence the population of the 1S level going
on increasing. Here the photons emitted by the atoms during the transition to 1S state
may be absorbed by the other atoms in the same state and hence they excited back to 2p
state. This in turn affects the population inversion hence the laser action stops.

This problem is counteracted by adjusting the diameter of the quartz tube, so that the
collision between neon atoms in the 1S level and quartz wall increases, as a result they
returned to the ground state by non raditiative transition. The He-Ne laser operates in

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

continuous wave mode as the neon atoms are excited to upper levels continuously
through collision.
[Note: The He atoms are more readily excitable than Neon atoms because they are
lighter.
The probability of energy transfer from Ne* to He atom is extremely small. Therefore,
number of He atoms > number of Ne atoms. He is added to increase the pumping
efficiency.]

Characteristics of Laser: - Directionality

Monochromaticity
Coherence
High Intensity
High focussability

Applications of Laser for material processing:

Because of high intensity, high degree of monochromaticity, and coherence, lasers are
using in different fields such as material processing, bar code scanner, laser printer, laser
range finder, laser cooling, medicine, communications, holography, etc.

LRF or a Laser Range Finder:

LRF or a Laser Range Finder is a device used to measure the distance from
the instrument to a selected point or object. Most laser rangefinders operate
on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in a narrow beam towards the
object and measuring the time taken by the pulse to be reflected off the target and
returned to the sender.

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 Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

Working
A high powered and pulsed laser beam is the source. The pulses are narrow with high peak
power. The transmitter directed laser beam towards the enemy target. The laser beam is
reflected back from the target. A part of the reflected laser beam is received by the receiver
(echo). Receiver consists of interference filter. The optical filter frequency is tuned to the
frequency of laser light. Therefore, all the background noise entering the receiver wiped off.
Finally the signals are amplified by using multiplier. The time taken by the signal is noted.
Then the exact distance is measured.
{Laser rangefinders use advanced technology developed for the military to accurately
measure the distance to a target.

Laser Printer:

 A laser printer acts as photocopier machine that uses laser light and toner to print a
document. The primary working principle is static electricity.
 In a laser printer, laser beam is used to write a charge image directly onto the
photoconductor drum.
The data required to be printed is transferred from the computer to the laser printer.
The printer begins to warm up via the heating of the corona wire. This wire once heated,
passes the positive static charge to the rotating drum.
A spinning mirror scans laser light across the surface. Whenever laser light falls on the
drum, charge flows through photoconductor and it constructs the (negatively) charge
image. With the help of static electricity, drum gets to attract with powdered toner
(positively charged carbon toner particles) from its cartridge as it rotates. The drum
gets to spin the toner particles on to the paper as a format of your sending print

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

commands. Then, toner gets to start melt on the paper by heat from fuser that is passed
underneath. The fuser rolls the paper to the output tray.

Physics Lecture Notes Page 17

Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

OPTICAL FIBERS (WAVE GUIDES)

Def: Optical fiber is a device used to transmit light signals through the transparent
medium made up of dielectric materials like glass from end to other end over a long
distance.

Principle: It works on the principle of “Total Internal Reflection (TIR)”.

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

If the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle i.e.

θi > θc then the total internal
reflection occurs. TIR is not just one kind of reflections. The significance of TIR is that
there is no loss of light energy at the reflecting surface. The entire incident energy is
returned along the reflected light. Hence, it is called TIR. Because of no loss of energy
during reflection, the optical fibers are able to sustain the light signal transmission over
long distance inspite of infinite number of reflections that occur within the optical fiber.

Construction: An optical fiber is a thin strand of dielectric material which can conduct
light. It is made of two parts. One is the inner cylindrical material made up of glass or
plastic of refractive index (n1) called core. The core is surrounded by another material of
low RI (n2) known as cladding. The cladding is enclosed in polyurethane jacket to
prevent the chemical reaction with surroundings and against crushing.

Here the cladding is not only required for the propagation of light along the core
of the fiber, but it serves for other purposes also:
(a) cladding reduces the scattering loss resulting from dielectric discontinuities at
the core surface.
(b) It adds mechanical strength to the fiber
(c) It protects the core from absorbing surface contaminants with which it could
come in contact.

Polyurethane Jacket Cladding (n2)

Core (n1)

Working:

CC
C
B

Core (n1) ()

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

Suppose a ray of light A entering the fiber through one end and strikes the core-
cladding surface at B at an angle of incidence θ θc , it
greater than the critical angle
θ θ
suffers TIR at the point B and then it strikes the point C. At this point also i > C and
again gets TIR at C. Like this, the ray undergoes such multiple reflections in the medium
of fiber and finally emerges out at the other end. The propagation of light continues as
long as the fiber is not bending too sharply, since for sharp bends, the light fails to
undergo TIR. Hence the signal strength decreases drastically. Further, those rays which
θ
enter at an angle i less than acceptance angle will undergo TIR in the core and
propagates through the fiber.

Numerical Aperture:

Consider an optical fiber consisting of inner cylindrical core made of glass of refractive
index n1 and is surrounded by another material called cladding of refractive index n 2 such
that n2< n1.
P
Acceptance
cone R B C S
θ1 90- θ1
o θ1
θ0 O O Core (n1)
Cladding (n2)
A
Q n0
Consider a ray of light AO incident on the core at ‘O’ at an angle
θ0 with the
fiber axis. Then it refracts along OB at an angle of θ1 in the core.

The refracted ray is incident on the interface between core and cladding at B an
angle of incidence (90 -
θ1 ). Assuming this angle (90 – θ1 ) is equal to critical angle,

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

then the ray is refracted at 900 to the normal drawn to the interface. i.e. it grazes along
BC.

Now, it is clear from the figure that any ray that enters into the core at angle
θi <
θ0 will have refractive angle less than θ1 because of which its angle of incidence at the
θ
interface (=90 - 1 ) will become greater than critical angle of incidence and thus
undergoes total internal reflection.
If the angle of incidence at ‘O’ is greater than
θ0 , then the refracted ray pass
through the cladding and it will be lost.

θ
If AO is rotated around the fiber axis keeping 0 as constant, then it forms a
conical surface called acceptance cone. One those rays which enter within this
acceptance cone will undergo total internal reflection and propagates through the fiber.

θ
“The angle 0 is called waveguide acceptance angle and Sin 0 is called
θ
Numerical Aperture of the fiber”. The N.A. represents the amount of light rays that
can be transmitted along the optical fiber i.e. light gathering ability of the fiber.

Acceptance angle is the maximum angle relative to the fiber axis that enters into the
optical fiber and propagates through the fiber through TIR.

Expression for N.A.:

Consider a light ray AO entering into the core of an optical fiber with an angle of
incidence (θ0), such that after entering, the refracted ray OB incidents on the core-
cladding interface with an angle of incidence equal to the critical angle . Then the
refracted ray grazes along BC.

Let n0, n1 and n2 be the refractive indices of surrounding medium, core and cladding of
the fiber respectively.
P
Acceptance
cone R B C S
90- θ1
o θ1
θ0 O O Core (n1)
Cladding (n2)
Physics Lecture Notes Page 21
Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

A
Q n0

Apply Snell’s law to the surface PQ, which separates surrounding medium and
core:
n0
Sinθ 0 = n Sinθ 1
1
n1
Sinθ 0 = n0 Sinθ 1 …(1)

Apply the Snell’s law to surface RS which separates core and cladding:
n1 Sin(90 −θ 1 ) = n2 Sin 90
n1 Cosθ 1 = n2
n2
Cosθ 1 = n1 …(2)
n1
Rewrite the equation (1) =>
Sinθ 0 = n0 √ 1−cos2 θ1

= n0
n1
√ 1−
n22
n21

√n 21 − n22
= n0
If the surrounding medium is air then n0 = 1, Therefore

Sinθ 0 = N.A. = √ n 21 −n22

The condition for propagation is the angle of incidence

θi should be less than
θ
acceptance angle 0 .
θ
i.e. θi < 0
Sinθ i < Sinθ 0
i.e.
Sinθ i < N.A. < √ n 21 −n22

Fractional Refractive index change (∆ ¿ : It is the ratio of change in RIs of core and
cladding to the RI of core.

n 1−n 2
∆=
n1

Expression for NA in terms of Fractional Refractive index change:

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

NA = √ n21−n22
= √ ( n 1−n 2 ) (n 1+n 2) But n1 ≈ n2

∴ NA = √ ( n 1−n 2 ) 2(n 1)
or NA = n1 √ 2 ∆

Attenuation (Fiber Loss)

The loss of light energy of the optical signal as it propagates through the fiber is
called attenuation or fiber loss.

The main reasons for the loss of light intensity over the length of the cable is due
to i) absorption (ii) Scattering (iii) Radiation loss

(i) Absorption Losses: In this case, the loss of signal power occurs due to absorption of
photons associated with the signal. Photons are absorbed by (a) impurities in the silica
glass (b) Intrinsic absorption by the glass material.
Absorption of photons by impurities like metal ions such as iron, chromium,
cobalt and copper in the silica glass of which the fiber is made of or by the fiber itself.
During signal propagation photons interact with electrons of atoms and the electrons are
excited to higher energy levels. Then the electrons give up their absorbed energy either
in the form of heat or light energy. The re-emission of light energy will usually be in a
different wavelength, hence it is referred as loss of energy.

Scattering Loss: (Raleigh scattering): As glass has disordered structure having local
microscopic variation in density which may also cause variation in RI. Therefore, when
the light travels in the fiber, the photons may be scattered. Due to the scattering, photons
moves in random direction and fails to undergo total internal reflection and escapes from
the fiber through cladding and it becomes loss.So light traveling through these structures
may suffer scattering losses due to Rayleigh
Radiation loss: Radiation losses occur due to bending of fiber.

(a) Macroscopic bends: When optical fiber is curved extensively such that incident angle
of the ray fallsbelow the critical angle, then no totalinternal reflection occurs.

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Hence, some of the light rays escape through the

Cladding and leads to loss in intensity of light

(b) Microscopic bends:

The microscopic bendings are occur due to non-uniformities in the manufacturing of the
fiber or by non-uniform lateral pressures created during the cabling of the fiber. At these
bends some of the radiations leak through the fiber due to the absence of total internal
reflection and leads to loss in intensity.

The attenuation of optical signal is defined as the ratio of the optical output
power from a fiber of length L to the input optical power.

The net attenuation can be determined by a factor called attenuation co-efficient

( α ).

Or α =- L
10 ( )
1 log Pout
Pin
Bel / unitlength

The unit of attenuation for light in optical fiber is Bel. In optical fiber technology, it is
customary to express α in terms of decibel/kilometer. P is in watt and 1B = 10decibel
10
Therefore, α = - L log10 (Pout / Pin ) dB / km

Applications of Optical Fiber:

Optical fibers find their applications in many field.

 Optical fibers can be used in point to point communications

 They can be used in local area network (LAN) communication system
 Medical applications: Endoscope

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 Industrial applications: They are used in the design of Boroscopes,

which are used to inspect the inaccessible machinery parts.
 Domestic applications: They can be used to illuminate the interior
places where the sunlight has no access to reach.
 Sensing applications of optical fibers are : Displacement sensor
Liquid level sensor, Temperature and pressure sensor
Chemical sensors

Application of optcal fiber: Point-to-point communication:

The block diagram of optical point-to-point optical fiber communication is shown figure.
The information / voice converted into electrical signal in an analog form is comingout
from the telephone.
The analog electrical signal is converted into binary data with the help of coder.
These electrical pulses are converted into binary optical signals using optical source (ex.
LED). This unit is called an optical transmitter from which the optical signals are fed
into the fiber. The incident light pulses which are funneled into the core within the half
angle acceptance cone, will be sustained for propagation within the fiber by means of
total internal reflection.

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At the other end of the fiber, the optical signal is fed into a photo detector where it is
converted into electrical pulses. These electrical pulses are fed to decoder which converts
the sequence of binary data stream into an analog signal which will be the same
information such as voice, which was there at the transmitting end.
Along with these components, repeater needs to be used. Since, as the optical signal
propagating through the fiber, the signal is subjected to both attenuation and delay
distortion.
These effects cause degradation of the signal as the light propagates and may reach a
stage beyond which it may not be possible to retrieve the information from the light
signal. At this stage a repeater is needed in the transmission path. The repeater consists
of receiver and transmitter. The receiver section converts the optical signal into
corresponding electrical signal and this electrical signalis amplified and recast in the
original form. This reshaped electrical signal which is in the form of binary form is sent
into an optical transmitter which is converted into optical signal and feedback into the
optical fiber.

ADVANTAGES of Optical Fiber:

2. Optical fibers can carry very large amounts information.

3. The materials used for making optical fibers are silicon oxide and plastic,
both are available at low cost.

4. Because of the greater information carrying capacity by the fibers, the

cost, length, channel for the fiber would be lesser than that for the metallic
cable.

5. Because of their compactness, and light weight, fibers are much easier to
transport.

6. There is a possibility of interference between one communication channel

and the other in case of metallic cables. However, the optical fiber are
totally protected from interference between different communication
signals, since, no light can enter a fiber from its sides. Because of which
no cross talk takes place.

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7. The radiation from lightning or sparking causes the disturbance in the

signals which are transmitting in the metallic cable but cannot do for the
fiber cable.

8. The information cannot be tapped from the optical fiber.

9. Since signal is optical, no sparks are generated as it could in case of

electrical signal.

10. Because of it superior attenuation characteristics, optical fibers support

signal transmission over long distances.’

Limitations of Optical fiber communications system:

1. Splicing is skilful task, which if not done precisely, the signal loss will be so
much. The optic connectors, which are used to connect (splicing) two fibers are
highly expensive.

2. While system modifications or because of accidents, a fiber may suffer line break.
To establish the connections, it requires highly skilful and time consuming.
Hence, maintenance cost is high.

3. Though fibers could be bent to circles of few centimeters radius, they may break
when bent to still smaller curvatures. Also for small curvature bends, the loss
becomes considerable.

4. Fibers undergo expansion and contraction with temperature that upset some
critical alignments which lead to loss in signal power.

List of formulae

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

Problems:

1. A medium in thermal equilibrium at temperature 27 0C has two energy levels with

a wavelength of 1x10-6m. Find the ratio of population densities of the upper and
lower levels.

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

2. The ratio of population of two energy levels is 1.06x10-30. Find the wavelength of
light emitted by a source at 330K. Given: Planck’s constant: 6.634x10 -34JS, KB:
1.38x10-23J/K

3. Calculate the ratio of stimulated to spontaneous emission for a system in thermal

equilibrium at room temperature in which the radiation of wavelength 1.39x10 -6m
is emitted. Comment on the result.

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4. Find the wavelength at which the rate of spontaneous emission and rate of stimulated
emission become equal at a temperature 500K.

5. A relative population of (1/e) is often considered representative of the ratio of

population in two states at room temperature. Determine the wavelength of
the radiation emitted at that temperature. (where ‘e’ is exponential term).

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6. The average output power of laser source emitting a laser beam of

wavelength 10x10-6m is 50mW. Find the number of photons emitted per
second by the laser source.

7. A laser operating at 10.6x10 -6m emits 3.5x1018 photons per second.

Calculate the output power of the laser, if the input power is 100 watt. Also,
find the percentage power converted into coherent light energy.

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Calculate the length of the laser resonating cavity to obtain laser output of
wavelength 9.4x10-6m, and 10.6x10-6m, if the magnitude of standing waves in
the cavity is 1.89x104.

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

A semiconductor laser has a peak emission of radiation of wavelength of

1.24x10-6m. What is its band gap in eV.

A laser beam of output power of 1 mW focused as a spot having a diameter 1

micrometer, calculate the intensity of the laser beam.

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He-Ne Laser:

Construction:

Laser
(632.8nm)

Construction:

 The He-Ne laser consists of a long and narrow discharge tube made up of quartz.

 The tube is filled with helium and neon such that number of helium atoms is greater
than neon atoms.

 The Ne atom provides the actual energy levels between which the laser emission can
occur, hence, Ne is referred as active system. The purpose of He atoms is to help in
achieving the population inversion in the Ne atoms.
 The flat quartz plates functioning as Brewster windows are fixed on either side of the
tube.
 The electrodes are inserted in the gas mixture and are connected to the radio
frequency power supply (Electrical pumping)

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Department of Physics, SIT Dr. H.M.S

 Two reflecting mirrors are fixed on either side of the tube and are coated by silver,
such that one of the mirrors is fully silvered and other is partially silvered (Resonant
Cavity).

 The continuous laser beam is transmitted through the partially silvered mirror.

Working:
HELIUM NEON
E2 E3
Meta Stable State collision
E1 E4
Meta Stable State 6328Ao

11523Ao LASER

Pumping
E5
Excitation of He atoms
due to electron collision spontaneous
emission

M Metastable
State
Ne Atoms return to
Ground state by N.R.T
due to Collision
with walls

Ground State Ground State

He – Ne energy level diagram

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Working: When a high voltage is applied across the electrodes, fast moving electrons are
produced due to discharge in the gas. These free electrons are moving towards the
positive electrodes at that time they collide with the atoms in their path.

Since the number of He atoms more in the gas mixture, the collisions with the He atoms
occur in large number.

As a result the He atoms are excited to metastable states E1 or E2 of He system. This is

called I kind of collision and can be represented as

e1 + He He* + e2

where e1 and e2 – energies of the electrons before and after collision.

These energetic helium atoms collide with the neon atoms in the ground state. Because
of close coincidence in the energy values (E1=E4, E2=E3)), resonant energy transfer
takes place from helium to neon atoms. As a result, the neon atoms get excited to E3 and
E4 levels, whereas the excited helium atoms return to the ground state. This is called 2nd
kind of collision and can be represented as
He* + Ne Ne* + He
Here, the states E3 and E4 are called as virtual metastable states because the energy
values of E3 and E4 of Ne are equal to the E1 and E2 metastable state of He. Thus
population inversion built up between E3 and E4 levels with the lower energy level E5
which leads the laser transitions. [E3 to E5 transition gives laser light of wavelength
6328A and E4 and E5 transition yields laser light of wavelength 11500A]

Following the laser transition, the atoms from E5 level undergo spontaneous transition to
M level. Later they return to ground state by non-radiative transition resulted by colliding
with quartz wall.
The He-Ne laser operates in continuous wave mode as the neon atoms are excited to
upper levels continuously through collision.

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1. What is optical fiber? With a neat diagram, explain the structure of an optical
fiber and represent the propagation of light in the fiber.
2. What is an acceptance of angle for an optical fiber? Obtain an expression for
angle of acceptance in terms of refractive indices of core and cladding of the
fiber.
3. Deduce an expression for numerical aperture of an optical fiber. Mention the
condition for propagation of light in optical fiber.
4. Derive an expression for numerical aperture in terms of refractive indices of core
and cladding of an optical fiber. What is meant by acceptance cone?
5. With neat block diagram, explain the application of optical fiber in point to point
communication. Explain any two reasons of optical transmission loss in optical
fibers.
6. What is the principle behind the functioning of optical fiber? Mention advantages
and disadvantages of fiber optic communication over conventional
communication system.
7. What is fiber loss? Explain the attenuation mechanisms.

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